New Member

I just stumbled upon this group this evening, so I thought I'd join up.

I have a sunburst Rainbow II that I've owned about 3 years. I bought it from my friend DeWitt Scott at Scotty's Music in St. Louis, MO. I have a closet full of guitars, including Fender Strats and a nice Gibson ES-335, but I really prefer playing the Westone. The sound is awesome and the neck is better than most of my other guitars. I usually play 2-3 gigs a week with two different groups, so I play quite a bit. Our groups play a lot in nursing homes in the STL area, so we play a wide mix of music - mostly what the residents want to hear. A little country, a little bluegrassy stuff, old show tunes, Forties and Fifties standards, some Gospel, but very little that resembles jazz or rock. Back in the Sixties I was lead in a rock band, but now I drive a Cherokee, not a converted hearse, and haul my gear around on a 4-wheel cart!

I've heard that my (RIP) friend Bobby Caldwell was instrumental in the design of the Rainbow. Bobby was a phenomenal player in the STL area, and worked for St Louis Music for a number of years. The story goes that when SLM began negotiating with Matsumoku to build them a 335 clone, they sent Bobby to work with Mats to develop the design. I knew Bobby worked for SLM, but I never knew exactly what he did for them. If any of you can shed additional light on this story, or debunk it as a myth, I'd like to hear it.

I primarily use Peavey steel guitar amps when I play out. I have a Nashville 400, Nashville 112 and a Vegas 400. They have mega power and headroom with zero distortion.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Mike

Welcom to the Forums

Cant help with INFO on SLM....but welcometo the Forum.

GtrGeorge

Sounds like you have more info on the Rainbow than us, but welcome here!!

I do know that those who have 'em, like 'em lots; personally I'd only have a white one - I saw one of the Kemps playing a white one in the video for "True" and boy, it lit a fire!!

That said, a friend here has a Vantage 455 which is the most spectacular 335 I've ever seen and I'm well envious....

Very cool info, thanks for that. It's always nice to get a little more knowledge of these great instruments. I love my Rainbow, its probably the favorite of all my axes right now. The quality surpasses so many other more expensive semi-hollow bodies. Welcome to the forum!