Thanks for stopping by Thomas Rein Guitars. As you navigate around the pictures and videos here, I hope you get an idea of what my guitars sound like. I have a few dealers that I try to keep stocked with a guitar, but sometimes the demand is such that some months will pass before I can get a guitar placed with these fine retailors. Theirs and my current inventory is displayed on the “Inventory” page.

My steel string guitars come in 2 basic styles: New Style and Vintage Style.

My New Style guitars incorporate many cutting-edge design features that are meant to take the steel string guitar into new sonic and ergonomic territory. Standard New Style elements include French polished soundboards, double sides, and my proprietary RJN neck joint, which stands for Rein Adjustable Neck. The RJN is similar in concept to many 19th Century guitars which allowed all action adjustments be carried out by turning a bolt recessed in the heel of the neck. While the 19th Century guitars relied on lots of “play” in the neck attachment to achieve adjustability, the RJN maintains maximum wood-to-wood contact throughout its entire adjustment range. There is no loss of sustain or solidity of tone with the RJN. It solves the two big problems that plague steel string guitars: periodic action adjustments and neck resets. The string height off the fretboard will change with humidity changes, higher with elevated humidity and lower with lower humidity. The standard way of keeping a guitar playing its best through these cycles is to take the strings off and raise or lower the bridge saddle. This is not too serious, but is a nuisance and usually one puts it off until the guitar is simply unplayable. A neck reset is more significant, especially with a glued-in dovetail. Finding a qualified repairman who can do a skillful neck reset is difficult and usually results in an extended period of being without your guitar as the work is completed. Invariably, a neck reset will change the sound of the guitar because the height of the strings off the soundboard is increased, which adds more torqueing pressure on the top. This change in tone could either be positive or negative and is difficult to predict. The RJN makes it possible to keep the string height at the player’s preference with a simple twist of a hex wrench, while the guitar is up to pitch. A neck reset will never be necessary and the tone of the guitar does not change with action adjustments because the height of the saddle stays the same. The height of the saddle can be set for the optimum tone of the guitar and simply left there.

My Vintage Style guitars are made in a more traditional manner and lend a familiar sound. All models have wood binding because I vastly prefer the look to plastic and, oddly enough, wood bindings make a difference in the sound. I have chosen some of my favorite vintage shapes for this style: a slope-shouldered Dread, a Double O 12-fret with slotted head, and a guitar inspired by the famous picture of Robert Johnson. The particular style of doming of the soundboard I use for these models yields a stable action. Should a neck reset become necessary, there is no glue holding the neck on and tipping the neck back a bit is an easy process. French polished soundboards are an option on all Vintage Style models.