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Old 02-05-2019, 09:31 AM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Netherlands
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Since you are a steel string player I suppose you are looking for a crossover nylon guitar.

Keep in mind though that traditional nylon string guitar dimensions are a tried and tested formula. Deviate from those and you enter a grey area with a few potential pitfalls.

Steel string players often expect that a lower nut width will make a nylon string easier to play for them. Unfortunately this is not always true. If you do not adapt your technique to a classical hand position this could actually make a nylon string guitar quite difficult to play.
That is... unless you (or your luthier) make sure to lower the string height. In my experience a standard nylon string action (4mm at the lower E and 3mm at the high E) does not work at all for a crossover nylon. So what you need are high tension strings to allow for a lower action.
My Emerald X7N was set up quite high at 4mm on both sides and I am still in the process of tweaking its action. It is now at 3.8 to 3.5 but I would like to reduce the treble side some more.

And then there is the issue of slipping. I have a nut width of 47.6mm (1 7/8") and a string spacing at the nut of 41.5mm. This puts the outer strings quite close to the edge which (in combination with the 16" radius) causes the high E to slip off occasionally.
In addition, if I play a chord with an open high E, I sometimes accidentally mute that string. Sure, that is probably just my sloppy playing but it would be nice if this guitar was a little more forgiving.
If I could do it over I would insist on getting a 48.5mm (or even 49mm) nut for this string spacing.
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Rainsong Smokey SMH
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Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝
Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝
Alhambra 3C CW
Eastman AR910CE
Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator
Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089

Last edited by mountainmaster; 02-05-2019 at 09:37 AM.
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