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 See the video review of the RainSong Concert Series CS-WS1000N2
Carbon fiber’s design virtues—stability and resistance to humidity, temperature shift, and rough handling—have always been reason enough to consider carbon-fiber guitars for travel and stage use. And though carbon fiber, or composite, guitars may never replace wood in the hearts, minds, and ears of some traditionally oriented guitar players, use of the material isn’t a novelty or passing phenomenon. As composite guitar builders hone and refine their designs and better exploit the strengths of carbon fiber, they are producing instruments with the playability of any wood acoustic guitar along with a tonal nuance and personality all their own, as evidenced by the RainSong CO-WS1000N2. The carbon-fiber-guitar pioneer’s newest model is an evolution of its successful grand auditorium model, with additional features like an adjustable truss rod and a unidirectional carbon top designed to introduce some of the sonic properties of a wood soundboard.
SUBSTANTIAL CARBON-FIBER BUILD
As is the case with most unpainted composite guitars, the back, sides, and neck of the CO-WS1000N2 surface reveal the cross weave of carbon-fiber cloth that’s the foundation of most composite manufacturing. However, due to the use of unidirectional material—which doesn’t have the crisscross appearance of standard woven cloth—the RainSong’s top features an almost wood grain–like pattern. A fancy and swirly abalone rosette and shark-shaped mother-of-pearl fretboard inlay hint at RainSong’s Hawaiian origins (the company was founded on Maui in the early ’90s) but also offset the gunmetal-colored carbon fiber.
The CO-WS1000N2 is a substantial-feeling guitar with a body that’s unusually deep (5 inches) for a concert-size instrument and RainSong’s girthy N2-style neck (designed with input from blues-rocker Steve Miller and luthier John Bolin, who built guitars for Keith Richards and Lou Reed, among others). But in general it’s comfortable to hold and play, and the neck’s U-shape, which recalled a few mid-century Kay guitars that I love, proved to have excellent playability, equally suited to barre chording and quick legato runs. According to RainSong, the mass of the N2 neck also helps transfer vibrational energy to the soundboard.
RICH, SPARKLING VOICE
Players who prefer a tonal palate favoring the high end will readily embrace the acoustic performance of the CO-WS1000N2. Everything from a first-position D chord to single notes played up at the 20th fret are rich with sustain and high-end harmonic content likely to surprise those unfamiliar with the potential of a well-built composite guitar. I’ve been working in E A D G A E tuning lately, and the RainSong is a great vehicle for the sparkly, chiming character of that tuning. But it also responded exceptionally well to droney songs in C tuning that rely on bass overtones and sustain, and the deep body and lightweight, braceless top demonstrated a remarkable vibrational liveliness that you can feel as you play.
As for the RainSong’s amplified tones, courtesy of Fishman Prefix Plus-T electronics, I was able to capture the guitar’s shimmering character and bass sustain equally well through a Yamaha PA, Fender Acoustasonic 30 amp, and UltraSound Pro-250 amp. The light top and deep body that make the RainSong sound so rich and lively acoustically can make it prone to feedback if you’re not careful, necessitating some fine-tuning with the guitar’s tone controls and notch filter and the amplifier’s EQ. In general, lower bass settings on both the guitar and amp help alleviate feedback and rumble. At lower volumes, the RainSong felt very expressive and reactive to nuanced picking and fingerstyle work. The light top is very active, however, and occasionally makes incidental top taps as loud as those you might hear from a soundboard transducer—making the RainSong an exceptionally expressive instrument for a fingerstyle technician, if somewhat less ideal for a physical and aggressive strummer.
NONTRADITIONAL TONES, PLEASURE TO PLAY
There is no doubt that the CO-WS1000N2 is a true player’s instrument. It sounds great whether you’re picking a delicate fingerstyle piece or thumping blues when unplugged. For players looking for a contrast to the more familiar voices of traditional guitar designs, the CO-WS1000N2 is a rugged, rich-sounding instrument that’s ready for the stage or studio and a real pleasure to play.
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