Composite acoustic or Rainsong advise

[teddys]

Need a little help from anyone there with any experiance with composite guitars.
I have a killer little Baby Collings that is pretty perfect. Problem is that I tend to leave my guitars out to grab and play. I don't baby em. When there is NO humidity in the NY winter, I will case and humidify it.
I want somthing that gets great tone, fast neck, single cutaway (I bend and play the upper neck alot), that doesn't need all the fuss. any suggestions?
Thanks

[jgm]

I own a CA Bluegrass standard - excellent instrument and, since it can sit out on a stand without humidity worries, turns out to be one of the most played guitars in the house. The things are extremely tough - I used to do repairs in Vermont and these days live in a dry part of Colorado and you could get nothing more humidity friendly.

Haven't played the cutaway style yet. If you like fast necks you'l like these - my only beef with the guitar is that I like bigger round necks and this is a medium slight V. Plays great though.

[teddys]

thanks for the info

[Ogre]

Hey there old friend! The new CAs are really improved. I don't believe you can go wrong. The tone won't be as good as your Collings baby, but you can certainly leave them out without the same dire consequences.

[JohnSS]

I think the Rainsongs are excellent guitars. Impervious to weather conditions, and they play and sound excellent. If you need the cutaway for delicate finger picking and crisp leads, then you'll probably opt for the Grand Auditorium Windsong model. If you want that sonorous J-200 oomph, check out the Jumbo. The Dread is a reasonable compromise between the two.

[dryland]

Teddy,

I have two Rainsongs, a WS1000 and a DR1100. The WS is basically a deep body OM-style with cutaway and Fishman electronics, pickup, and internal mic. The DR1100 is a standard dread w/o any electronics. Both sound good and play great. The neck is sort of a med-round flattened "C" (or oval) shape.

They don't sound like my Santa Cruz guitars, but I did not expect them to. They sound good in their own right, however, very clear and articulate; and, since they sit out on the stand, the tend to get played the most.

I bought them to fulfill a specific role: that is, a guitar that can take the harsh temperature and humidity swings we have in AK and can travel without being babied. In addition, they are both great, well-made, playable guitars that sound good to boot.

Get one.