I don't have a Rainsong but have gone through much experiementation with my Legacy with strings.  Carbon because it is a purer sound I think is more influenenced by these choices.  My guitar came shipped with PB Elixirs and I when to 80/20's to brighten it.  That seemed to work but then I put PB back on and find those very nice as well.  I think it can add good viarity.  I also went to mediums and it did kick it up, very nice.  Then I got a hand issue and I thought I would try extra light PB Elixir just till they got stronger.   To my delight it tended to add more sparky to the bass epecially the low E.  Total surprise.  Bottom line strings are cheap, you never know what good things you will find. I have a bluegrass set patiently waiting its turn but having fun with the extra lights right now.  Fun because noone goes in that direction.

steve

Steve,

Best of luck with the hand and interesting results with the extra lights!  They probably won't work for me, because I do things like tuning the low E to C, which I think would give me a rubber band sound if I used EL's  :)  I've got a guitar I've put a .58 on the low E and a .14 for the high E which works really nicely for C or D tuning, but I'm not sure that would work on a Rainsong. . . 

dave_elliott

I believe the H-WS1000 that was sent on the road trip had medium strings on it when it came to me, and the sound was nicely balanced (actually the "sound" of that guitar, as well as its playability,  convinced me to buy the H-DR1100N2 ... I wanted a dreadnought).

Ashvin and the other folks at RainSong are quite knowledgable about the what strings are OK for their guitars, so maybe he/they will jump in.

Hope this helps,

Ray

While choice of brand, composition and gauge of string will influence the sound of an instrument, these tend to be a very subjective and personal decisions. 

We have designed and setup our instruments to perform well (sound and playability) using light gauge strings at concert pitch.  If you decide to go to lower tunings, you would need to increase the gauge of your strings to achive the same level of string tension on the soundboard -- and the same level of perfomance.

I hope this helps.

Ashvin

Ashvin,

Any thoughts about Elixer 80/20's versus phosphor bronzes on the HWS1000?  I agree about the mediums being better with open tunings.

dave_elliott

Hi Dave,

Late last year, when I had my last RainSong DR1000 Dreadnought, I switched the factory-installed Elixer PN11052 Acoustic 80/20 Bronze NANOWEB 12-53 light-guage strings for D'Addario EXP-17 Medium 13-56 Phosphor Bronze strings. I found the medium-guage D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings allowed the guitar to achieve more punch and volume than with the light-guage Elixer strings. The tone was a bit warmer than with the Elixers, and the guitar still had a nice graphite sparkle to the upper mid-range and highs as the D'Addario EXP coating is, I believe, thinner and perhaps more of a chemical-change coating compared to Elixer's polymer coating. You'll find that D'Addario EXP strings sound more like uncoated guitar strings, but have a bit more finger-squeak, and are less-costly than Elixer strings. Also, the D'Addario EXP strings don't shed any material as does Elixer's Nanoweb coating after some playing time with a flat pick. If you like Elixer strings, you could try their PN16102 Medium-guage Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb strings.

I found very little action change on my RainSong DR1000 after going to medium-guage strings. The neck relief stayed about the same and the top torqued slightly upward (as it would on a wooden guitar). This raised the action height at the 12th fret by about .005", and I left it as is as the guitar still played easily but had more more power with less fret-rattle. A sanding of about .010" off the bridge-saddle's bottom would have brought the guitar back to its previous light-guage action height. It is safe to change strings on a RainSong, and with your H-WS1000, you have the truss rod to tweak the neck relief to your exact liking should a neck-relief change occur when going to medium-guage strings. I haven't tried medium-guage strings on my RainSong Classic WS1000 as I want to keep this guitar as is for general playing. I'm planning on getting another RainSong DR1000 Dreadnought which I'll switch to medium-guage strings.

Regards,

RainDance

Thanks RD!  I hadn't thought of the EXP's although I use Dadarrio regular PB Mediums with a .58 bottom and a .14 top on a couple of my wood guitars.    I found a set of Elixer 80/20 meds in my string box last night and I put them on the HWS1000.  Will have to let them settle in and see how they sound as a first experiment.  Didn't have to do anything to the nut or saddle, the mediums work as well as the lights in terms of feel.  Maybe I'll mix a few types. . .I'm thinking a PB medium on 6 and 5, the 80/20's on 4 and 3.   Wonder if anyone does that?

dave_elliott