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I will give CF a trial. Is there an okay-sounding small nylon-string CF guitar at a "give-it-a-try" price? If I like CF, I'll give it away & upgrade.

Any suggestions or comments will be very much appreciated.

Unless you're a 'man of means' and a grand is nothing to you, there's no 'cheap, give-away' priced CF guitar that I'm aware of. You're best bet is to do your homework and snatch one up here on AGF in the classifieds for a good price that you can then 'try it out' and if you decide you want to try something different then you can sell it for what you paid and move on/up. But unlike a wood guitar that has entry level laminate guitars you'll be hard pressed to find anything of quality in the CF lines.

Thanks Methos. I see Klos CF guitars on Ebay under $1K. Are they okay-sounding, do you know?

Of the new variety, I believe Rainsong has the most inexpensive nylon string carbon fiber guitar. Last I checked, it could be purchased for 2.3k$ (without electronics).

The only other manufacturer I know of is Emerald, and that brand would cost a minimum of 1k$ more than the Rainsong option.

If anyone knows of other options, please don't keep it to yourself! :-)

The options are somewhat limited, or at least a mixed-bag.

There was Blackbird's now-discontinued Rider travel/classical, which had true-classical nut and string spacing (but a shape that didn't seem lap-friendly). I'd love to see them make a Savoy variant, with hybrid-width nut (1 7/8") and slightly wider saddle spacing. That'd be amazing.

Rainsong makes their nylon parlor, but they don't adjust nut or saddle spacing for the extra "travel" of the classical strings. I once strung my Rainsong parlor with John Pearse Folk strings ("classical" bass strings, nylon-coated braided-wire trebles), and it sounded pretty good...but the extra travel of the strings didn't feel right with such cramped spacing. And though Rainsong advertises their nut as 1.75", it's actually quite a bit tighter than that. I don't know why, and I haven't seen much discussion of that...

I have yet to play Emerald's lattice-braced nylon...it's the priciest option. But it has pretty ideal "hybrid" specs (slightly wider 1 7/8" nut, radiused fretboard), a cool headstock, and Emerald's stunning sculpting. I wonder if the top is thinner than Emerald's standard top...in my experience, Emerald tops seem plenty thick without bracing; given the bracing, I hope it has a thinner top than Emerald-standard.

EBAY lists KLOS Carbon Fiber Acoustic Guitar HERE for a base price of $599 + $39 shipping. Any good, I wonder?

The listing shows stiffening rods at added cost. All kidding aside, please explain what that means.

Not a lot of hands-on with the KLOS in this forum. The wood neck negates much of what is positive about an all carbon fiber guitar. I don't see any option for a nylon string version. I assume a "stiffening rod" is a truss rod, but that is just a guess on my part.

It may be a decent guitar as long as you go into it understanding it isn't an all carbon fiber guitar. If it were me (and it isn't), I'd continue to save up the bucks and get a proven instrument from one of the established CF manufacturers. Or, shop the classifieds here. Carbon fiber guitars are a niche (compared to wood guitars), and the nylon string offerings are even harder to find.

There are a lot of good reasons to give CF a try, but one needs to understand the higher cost of materials and production. Entry level in CF is a higher floor than with wood guitars. The search will be worth it.

There are a number of CF nylon strung instruments available on the new and used market. Most of them have already been listed. I've tried them all and think they are all worthy.

The Rainsong Parlor has a narrow nut width, but I've adapted and found that it has made my playing a bit more precise. It is a nice guitar, sounds sweet, and can, once in a while, be found used for around $1000.

Blackbird has produced three nylon string guitars which can occasionally be found on the used market. The Rider came in two versions, classical and flamenco. The nut width is the traditional 2" and the sound comes very close to a classical wooden instrument. As one forum member pointed out, the Blackbirds are slippery--they are best played with a neck-up. Blackbird also did a limited edition of five Super OM nylon string guitars. The Super is not a small guitar and I have only ever seen one on the used market.

Emerald has been the widest variety of nylon string guitars with X7, 10, & 20versions. The 7 would be the small guitar of choice and once in a while a used on becomes available.

Your best bet is, as noted, is to keep an eye on the classifieds of this forum. Reverb and Ebay are also worth watching.

I've owned them all through my hellishly clever buy-high-sell low program. I've had no problem selling them and counted any loss as rental fee.

You might also consider letting forum members know where you live and see if you can get invited to a play session.

Good luck in your search.

10Q Evan! I will be on the lookout for the Rainsong Parlor at EBAY. I don't use Reverb's website because of that unremovable big strip of links they put on every web page. On my small-screen laptop, it's a real PITN.