Lately I've been thinking about trying my hand at nylon sting guitars. I've never much liked nylon strings. I've played guitar for 50 years, and the last time I played a nylon-string for more than 20 seconds would be 49 years ago. But all things change. I've been watching a few people on You-tube make nice sounds on nylons. A couple of years ago I threw away my picks and switched to fingers (mixture of flesh and nails), which makes a difference. And now I'm thinking about adding a nylon strung guitar to my little collection.
So what do I do about playing nylon string guitars?
- (a) Nothing. It's just another form of GAS. The urge will pass.
- (b) Borrow one from a friend.
- (c) Buy a cheap one. See how I go. Move on up to something nice if and when the desire is there.
- (d) Buy a nice one. Try it out. If it doesn't work out, sell it. Lose some money.
(a) Makes sense.
(b) is a non-starter. I don't know anyone who owns a nylon-strung guitar!
(c) Two reasons not to buy a cheap one. First, all my other guitars are good ones. If the nylon one is not somewhere up near the standard of the steelies, I won't play it. Second, I'm not buying anything made in China. I'll stick to places with decent labour practices and verifiable, legal timber sourcing. (Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, USA, maybe a few other places.)
(d) is the only other sensible possibility besides the do-nothing one. I could buy something nice.
If I do buy one, it will probably be new. Yes, second-hand would make sense, but there are only two second-hand guitar shops this side of Melbourne, 800 kilometres to the north. One of the local second-hand guitar shops seldom has anything in nylon-string, the other has nice stuff but is quite expensive and ... how do I put this ... I don't really want to buy anything there that I can't make my own quality and value assessment of. I can make my own judgements about a Guild or a Gibson or a Maton or a Martin but I don't know enough about nylon-strung guitars to confidently buy second-hand from that place.
So I could end up buying a new one. Possibilities I have discovered so far are Esteve (Spain), the Godin Group (Canada) and probably some Japanese makers (excluding Yamaha because MIJ Yamahas are very expensive and I don't want a Chinese one). Doubtless there are others. I'll probably end up driving to Melbourne to buy as the local shops - good as they are for Maton, Cole Clark, Taylor, Martin, Guild, and Gibson - only have Chinese nylon guitars.
Should a steel-string player look at crossover nylons? Or is it better to go full-on classical? I'm fine with a wider nut (up to 50mm - my 12-string is 50mm after all) but not sure how I'd go with the traditional high classical guitar action.
Sorry for so many questions. I'm just thinking aloud really.