RainSong is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

manufacturer company based in

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 13,069 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is east of Bothell. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, a win ...

. RainSong makes

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

(graphite) bodied

steel-string acoustic guitar The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply ...

Company

RainSong Graphite Guitars is a guitar manufacturing company originally based in

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and moved to Woodinville Washington to allow for easier distribution. RainSong products are sold in 30 US states,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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, and

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. RainSong manufactures approximately four or five guitars a day, producing around five hundred to one thousand in a year. RainSong guitars cost $2,000 to $4,000 depending on the model.

Creator/Current owner

The creator of RainSong, John Decker designed the guitar, like most inventions, out of the necessity for a product that didn't exist. This idea was sparked when Decker was playing guitar for a wedding in

when it started to pour. This posed a problem because his guitar was wooden and would warp after coming in contact with moisture, completely ruining the body of the guitar. He was caught in the dilemma of if he should continue to play and ruin his guitar or should he run for cover and risk angering the bride and family. After this experience, he was determined to create a guitar that could withstand the weather and humidity that

offered. Decker had an extensive background in physics, specifically in

plasma physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...

. He earned his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in plasma physics in 1966 from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

then worked for the

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

as a physics researcher. Then after he moved to

and worked as the manager of the

s optical observatory. In 1981 he went into business for himself in cooperation with Luther Lorenzo Pimentel and was determined to create this guitar that he could play in any weather. After finding the perfect recipe for the guitar and making a successful business from it, he then retired and left the business to his son-in-law. Coomar took over the business from Decker, his father-in-law, and decided that keeping the company in

had too many business disadvantages. Coomar, who is originally from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and then graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, decided to move the business to Woodinville in 2001 since one of his toolers, Beaver Machine Works owner Rod Brower, offered him a building for rent.

Manufacture

John Decker's background and extensive research, conducted at the Sperry Rand research lab in Sudbury, Massachusetts where he focused on plasma stability helped him develop a guitar made from graphite. Using data research he conducted on the stiffness and density properties of wood, he figured out composite materials that had similar properties to this. Most materials, such as plastics and fiberglass, were rejected because they were too stiff or extremely heavy. He finally settled on graphite which is a composite material of carbon fibers in an epoxy matrix. The materials are shipped from

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, at subzero temperatures in order to keep the material malleable. It is then shaped, hardened and cured by baking at 200 degrees for several hours. This process uses the same technology for bonding the pieces of the bridge and neck together that is used in making planes and rockets and other satellite equipment, therefore its much stronger than any other bond classic guitars and made with like wood glues or

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

which can still warp and decay with time and weather changes. No matter the weather, rain or shine, you can still play on the guitars, hence the name RainSong.

Sound

Pure

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

guitars produce a tone that is clear, rich and resonant, similar to a piano, with a treble that rings with clarity and a bass that is warm without being muddy. They have showed up in the hands of longtime rockers Steve Miller and

Daryl Hall Daryl Franklin Hohl (born October 11, 1946), known professionally as Daryl Hall, is an American rock, R&B, and soul singer. He is best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Hall & Oates, with guitarist and songwriter John Oa ...

. Dr. Decker said the most responsive possible guitar soundboard would be one with infinite stiffness and zero mass, so that the energy from the slightest tug of a finger on a string would translate most efficiently into moving air instead of diffusing as heat in the structure of the instrument.

RainSong body styles

RainSong offers five different body styles of their guitars within several different “series”. Their body types they offer which are shown in the graphic below are the DR (dreadnought), the JM, The OM, the WS, and the PA. Each is designed for a different effect and sound quality. Some are made to be louder or softer or just to be more visually pleasing or comfortable. Each of their series are based around an idea or concept. As of 2017 their series collections are named “Concert Hybrid Series” which are made to be good harmony guitars, “Hybrid Series” which are described to have a mellow blend effect on the tone at a more affordable price point in comparison to the other styles, “classic Series” which are engineered to have crystalline clarity in their tone, “Concert Series” which have a warmer tone to them, and last but not least the “Black Ice Series” which are the artistry guitars that feature intricate design patterns on the body of the guitar and every guitar is unique in both appearance and tone.

References

External links

* {{Guitar brands Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Companies based in Woodinville, Washington