Well, I've threatened to do it. I've written about doing it. Finally, I did it. I just brought home my RainSong Black Ice jumbo guitar. This is my first venture into owning and playing a guitar that is constructed of graphite.
I got a great trade-in for my Taylor's, and even walked out with a very nice check for the difference in the price. The Taylor's were probably the best and prettiest guitars I owned. However, I never played them! They were great gifts from a friend, who blessed my moving on from them.
I must say "so far so good." The sound is a bit "purer" to me than that of a wooden guitar. My Martin's are a bit louder, again to my ear, and I haven't yet played into a microphone to tell for sure. My RainSong came with light guage bronze strings and I really prefer phosphor-bronze. So I will be putting on a set of medium phoshor-bronze in a week or so. RainSong customer service is pretty good. I was told that I "might" have to adjust the neck a quarter-turn when I put the mediums on. I've got the right tools to do it. Should be no sweat.
This guitar is a keeper . . . I've already made that decision. I've only had it for a couple of weeks, and I am just scratching the surface of what it can do, and what I can do when I play it. I have been pleasently surprised so far. But I will admit, I went into this knowing it wasn't going to sound like a wooden guitar.
Oh, did I mention, it's one of the largest guitars that I now own, but it's also the lighest? Oh, what a sincere pleasure it is to play this guitar for the usual 50-60 minutes of singing and playing that I do in front of senior adults in nursing homes or community centers.
I'm certainly not a purist by any means. I have no "relationship" with guitars like others do. They are tools for what I need them to do. But this guitar is a "banger." By that I mean it's a guitar that is impervious to humidity, heat and cold, which along with sunlight are the enemies of guitars that are made with wood. A RainSong can supposedly be left in sunlight with no damage, not that I will ever try to find out if this is true.
High humidity, low humidity, no change in sound. That's good for me, as I'm in usually in New Mexico for a week or so in early fall. Most of that time I play outside. The case it came with fits nicely under the bed in our Grand Designs Imagine 2970rls travel trailer. Looking, and sounding, good so far!
More to come.
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