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  #1  
Old 10-21-2009, 06:11 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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Default Any other steel-stringers getting the nylon string bug?

I still consider myself essentially a steel string player and I love my acoustics; however, I have found that of late my nylon string gets as much playing time as, if not more than, my steel strings. There's something kind of warm and initmate about the feel and sound of nylon string guitars. So far I've done the rounds of crossover guitars, and I think I'll have to think in terms of getting a genuine classical guitar next. Anyone else in danger of being converted?
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Old 10-21-2009, 06:48 AM
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Brent Hutto Brent Hutto is offline
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I have a nice, older classical guitar. Every so often I get the "bug" and for a week or so that's all I want to play. As you say, that warm and soft feeling and ease of expressive playing is a nice contrast to my every day steel string (usually with a pick) playing.

In fact, spending a few months last winter playing on nylon when I first got that guitar has sort of spoiled me for steel-string fingerstyle. I love playing with a pick on my steel-string guitar but when I do fingerstyle it drives me crazy not to have the range of dynamics and articulation that I do on nylon strings. My classical tone production is not good (actually it's quite atrocious if I'm not playing regularly and keeping my nails up) but it is just soooo easy to shape a phrase by varying the volume or to bring out a certain voice while holding the others back. That takes a lot more effort on steel strings.
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Old 10-21-2009, 06:53 AM
HymnLover HymnLover is offline
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I actually was converted years ago. I have always enjoyed doing my own arrangements of hymns (hence, my user name) for solo offertories in church during a traditional service. I also play in a contemporary servce and find that the nylon string is a great compliment to lots of the things we do, depending, of course on the style of the piece. It really works well with piano, too. I still use my steel string for some of the solo stuff, but use the nylon about 75% of the time. I had a Taylor NS62 I used for a few years, but ultimately traded it for a Martin 000-16SRNE. It has a 1 7/8 fingerboard so is a little narrower than a true classical, but has the traditional cedar top with Indian rosewood back and sides. It also came with a factory Fishman ProBlend installed. I used an old mid-80s Chet Atkins CEC for a while, but just couldn't get the sound I wanted. The Chets are great for jazz, though. Anyway, probably more information than you wanted, but I confirm that I am a nylon string fan when warm and mellow is what you want.
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Old 10-21-2009, 07:29 AM
Kindness Kindness is offline
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I think it is amazing how many pieces can be played on nylon. For example, Kishibe and Oshio play on acoustics, but their music sounds absolutely wonderful on my classical guitar. I even play some Eva Cassidy and it sounds wonderful.

Lisa
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Old 11-30-2009, 06:53 PM
Goofball Jones Goofball Jones is offline
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Don't mean to resurrect an old thread, but I too have gotten the bug to actually switch over to a classical nylon string guitar.

At the moment, I only have a Martin D16 (and a MiM Strat, but that doesn't get played much). I play fingerstyle about 99% of the time on it and it sounds fine...though with the 1 11/16" nut it's a bit cramped, but I get by.

I recently went into a music store because I'm in the market (well, in the next 90 days or so) to getting a decent acoustic...around $3000 or so will be my budget. Anyway, the Taylor and Martin corners in the store were kind of crowded so I meandered over to the classical section and picked up a Ramirez classical. Beautiful guitar btw...cedar top and rosewood back and sides, very nicely put together. Anyway, I was a little intimidated at first with the 2" wide nut-width, but that quickly dissolved away. WOW, it was love at first listen. My fingers seemed to just effortlessly fall into place and my right hand was in heaven with all that room to play. The only thing that turned me off a little was when I would strum some chords, since I have no nails on my hands really it was the fleshy part of my thumb and the sound sounded like a ukulele.

Anyway, I could see using this thing for everything, and of course I wouldn't be the first. Willie Nelson for one flat picks "Trigger" and I love that tone he gets. Honestly, I could see this thing being a great all-around guitar. Maybe I've got rose-colored glasses on or something, but I was very smitten with a nylon string classical.
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Old 11-30-2009, 08:27 PM
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After several decades of intensive 5-string banjo playing, I got sort of turned on to guitar about 6 or 7 years ago. I had a mediocre Takamine classical (all laminated wood - pretty good guitar actually, considering) that I had gotten maybe 20 years ago but had not played much, and I got really into fingerstyle and a bit of classical. I then got a Strat and Tele, and played all this stuff on those too (classical stuff can sound pretty cool on a Strat - you can get an almost pipe-organ sort of sound out of a Strat), along with still playing the classical.

I got the urge for a good quality acoustic guitar about 5 years ago, and waffled between getting a steel string and a classical, and ended up with a very nice Burguett classical. I played everything on this guitar for over 4 years. If I could have only one guitar, I think it would be a classical guitar.

I only recently "completed" my guitar collection by getting a good steel string (well, um, two). I've been playing these steel strings (first a Martin 000-15, and then an amazing Goodall) almost exclusively since August, but the classical is still very special to me, and I will be getting back into it at some point.

Some of my fingerstyle pieces just don't sound right, or not as good, on my steel string guitars - especially not on the Martin. The classical is perfect for some of these - in fact, they were written on that guitar - though some other pieces I wrote on the classical really work better on the steel strings, because they benefit from the resonant sustain of the steel string.

I got a bit into recording last summer, and I have to say, my classical guitar records fabulously!

The only thing that has gotten in the way of going back more to the classical is that my cedar/rosewood Goodall has an amazingly rich and warm sound that is reminiscent of my classical but with more ring and more sustain, and getting to know this mesmerizing guitar has taken up most of my guitar time recently. This Goodall works really well for some, though not all, of the pieces that otherwise worked best on the classical (so, I guess, if I could only have one guitar, this might give my classical some stiff competition, but the classical would probably still win out).
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Old 11-30-2009, 08:58 PM
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Isn't it funny how things work out. At home, I'm always practising and playing my steel string. These days, when I work gigs, I'm hired to play my nylon classical. Yeh! at 63, I still get work every month, can you believe it! I played just a week ago, for 3 hours, Saturday nite. I play mostly cover tunes and most think my music is "romantic". Some have described my playing as "awesome" but believe me, I'm only average. My classical guitar makes me sound better than I really am!
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Old 11-30-2009, 09:05 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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I have a Taylor NS-sereis crossover, and yes, I have my periods where I really enjoy playing songs that sound right on nylon strings. I wish the Taylor NS that I have sounded better acoustically than it does, but still, for the cost, and considering that I don't have to deal with that 2" nut width, I'm OK with this guitar.

Yes, nylon can certainly sound nice...

Regards, Glenn
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Old 11-30-2009, 10:01 PM
wcap wcap is offline
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And I should add....

Classical Gas (for example) just doesn't sound right on a steel string (not even on my Goodall).

Sometimes you've just got to have a classical guitar!
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Old 12-01-2009, 09:45 AM
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I started on a classical guitar way back in '62. I spent many years looking for a steel stringer that didn't have the narrow neck like most steel stringers because I had gotten used to the wide classical neck. Then I found my Gibson F-25 which is a steel string with a 2" nut just like a classical. Now I switch between steel and nylon without any adjustment issues.
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Old 12-01-2009, 09:50 AM
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I'm addicted to the nylon sound for certain things.....and that's why I did a "buy back" on my Loriente Clarita over the weekend. I missed it dearly and have hardly put it down since.
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Old 12-01-2009, 09:57 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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Since starting this thread, I've added an Orpheus Valley Fiesta classical in cedar and rosewood (all solid) to the group. Yes, it's got that 2" nut width (!), but it sounds wonderful and has a pretty low action for a classical. Great price, too; they're worth a look.
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Old 12-01-2009, 03:25 PM
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I actually killed two birds with one stone - I bought the Godin MultiAc Synth ready nylon. I can now squash that nylon feeling and play around with some neat synth sounds at the same time.
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Old 12-01-2009, 03:51 PM
Aaron Smith Aaron Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grampa View Post
I started on a classical guitar way back in '62. I spent many years looking for a steel stringer that didn't have the narrow neck like most steel stringers because I had gotten used to the wide classical neck. Then I found my Gibson F-25 which is a steel string with a 2" nut just like a classical. Now I switch between steel and nylon without any adjustment issues.
Probably 10 years ago, I had a chance to buy a 60's Martin D-28S, the "S" stood for "Spanish", and it had the 2" wide neck like a classical instrument. I decided not to buy it, and I've regretted it ever since!
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Old 12-01-2009, 04:27 PM
Goofball Jones Goofball Jones is offline
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I also see many people get intimidated by the 2" wide fretboards, as was I before I picked one up to play. I have smallish hands also and thought I'd never be able to play one. But I don't know what it is, it's just not an issue at all. I had no problem fretting any chords or barre-chords or anything I "thought" I would encounter.

The wide fretboard is a non-issue, so don't let that intimidate anyone.
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