Smokey SMH

About 12 years ago I purchased a RainSong WS-1000. It was a great guitar and had several features that my wooden guitars did not have that I loved. Several years later I got in a financial bind and ended up selling it and some other nice gear. I vowed that once I dug out I would get another Carbon Fiber guitar. I already have a great Martin D-18 dreadnought and an old Guild maple jumbo but I really wanted something a little smaller and more stage ready and not so susceptible to the serious ups and downs of Colorado weather that I could occasionally fly with and leave in my vehicle for an hour or two without destroying. I have had some damage to a guitars (cracked ebony bridgeplate due to dryness) and I have heard of and seen some real horror stories due to the very dry cold winters and relatively hot summers. So I got the RainSong Smokey for $1499 from Sam Ash via Amazon. Wow!!! It's got a WS-1000 size body with a 12 fret to the body neck with a cutaway. I liked the tone and playability right away' although the action was a little on the low side for my taste. When I threw on some Medium gauge Martin Tony Rice Monel strings (it came with some lighter DR Black Beauties) and tightened up the truss rod just a bit I was in love. This guitar plays as good or better than the nicest acoustics I have ever played. The tone is very piano-like with more sustain than any other guitar I remember. It is a dream for fingerpicking and easier to fret than my other guitars which also have medium gauge strings on. Two reasons I like it even better than my old WS-1000 are the truss rod and no shark inlays. I like the unadorned starkness of the all black scheme. When I put medium strings on the WS the neck bowed too much and since it had no truss rod to adjust I took them off. I suspected heavier strings would really drive the top on the Smokey and make it sing and I was totally right. If you are mainly playing a driving bluegrass or similar style with lots of fast chord slamming this might not be the guitar for you but it really suits many other styles well. I can't resist going through all types of music every time I pick it up which is not always the case with my Martin or Guild. I end up playing Hendrix, SRV, Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Collective Soul etc..as well as the Dylan, Neil Young, Bluegrass and Blues I usually play on acoustics just cause it is so easy to play and sounds so good. The electronics and tuner work great and RainSongs are great stage guitars with a volume 3 EQ sliders and phase tweaking but the most important aspect to me is how it sounds and plays unplugged and I am very happy on that front. I can't tell you how great it feels to get something that exceeds my expectations in every way. Good luck!

The RainSong Smokey SMH is a wonderful sounding and playing guitar. I also have a 2010 Martin D-41 Special and a 1979 Guild D50 which are both great sounding/playing wood guitars.. IMO the Smokey has a different sound than my wood guitars more digital and precise sounding and less woody/earthy sounding, however, I still prefer the sound of my wood guitars over the Smokey. The Smokey's High and Mid-range tones are crystal clear as demonstrated by the excellent harmonics on the 5th, 7th and 12th frets. Although bass is not bad I find it a little lacking/thinner compared to my wood guitars. The biggest advantage and really why I bought the Smokey is I travel a lot and was always worried about the temperature and humidity with my wood guitars, with the Smokey I don't worry anymore. For those that purchase the Smokey I do have a few suggestions that I feel have improved the Smokey's sound and look. #1 Change the strings and get those poor sounding Black DR's off. I have used both Martin LifeSpan SP (light) and D'Addario EXP16 strings and both give the guitar a MUCH better sound. #2 I added a thin self sticking clear pickguard from StewMac and this helped to eliminate top surface noise generated by the pick and or my fingers. #3 I changed the bridge pins from the black Tusq (which were not that bad) to John Pearse Black Buffalo horn with Abalone dots from Strings and Beyond. Lastly and strictly for looks I added Jockomo inlay stickers Abalone Blue to the Rosette, Fret Board and Bridge (Abalone blue Snowflake style) and Headstock (Small Vine - Abalone blue). The inlay stickers work great and IMHO give the Smokey a much better and custom look..

I own performance level Martin and Taylor yet my Rainsongs, of which I own three, are my go to guitars for everyday use...on the back deck, on the boat, left in the automobile back seat on sunny days. The need no babying. While I enjoy playing the Smokey, I feel the CO-WS1000N2M just projects better when not plugged. And, has slightly better range. I don't know if its due to the lighter-thinner top, longer neck, different strings or the days the guitars were made...Smokey is a geat guitar, very playable and looks cool. I suggest listening to both if possible.PS; my other Rainsong is a nylon string parlor guitar. Totally different animal.

Excellent sound, great look, good price. This is guitar is a show stopper. Not only does it sound great plugged or unplugged, people love the look and want to check it out. Very happy with the purchase and would buy again.