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  #1  
Old 07-22-2019, 07:18 PM
agfsteve agfsteve is offline
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Default Which Yamaha Silent Guitar to get: Steel or Nylon?

I have never played a nylon-stringed guitar, and I am planning on getting a Yamaha Silent Guitar, but I'm considering getting the nylon one with the narrower nut (there are two nylon ones, and the one I'm thinking of has a 1.9 inch nut).

One reason is that I'm assuming the nylon one is quieter in terms of how much a person nearby can hear--can someone testify to that? I want the sound to be as close to silent as possible.

Another reason is that the steel one has a nut size of 1.69 inches, and I'd prefer 1.75, although obviously 1.69 is closer than 1.9 to 1.75.

My concerns if I went for the nylon are:
- Stringing a slotted headstock: never done it before (at least the bridge end of the restringing task looks easy, so hopefully I would have no surprises there)
- Obviously the nylon sound: I would NOT be playing classical music, just fingerpicking folk, blues, and pop tunes
- String feel: Don't nylon strings roll around on the fretting fingers or something?

Part of me wants to try nylon to have something different.

Does anyone know how the quality / tone through headphones of the nylon one compares to that of the steel string one? I will only be playing it through headphones, so I don't really care about any differences heard through an amp.

Thanks!
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Old 07-22-2019, 08:03 PM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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From experience, I'd go for the steel string model. I own many Yamaha guitars and if you replace the 43mm factory nut with an aftermarket Tusq 43mm nut, the string spacing is a little bit wider. The steel string "silent" guitar is pretty quiet and I cannot see the nylon models being any more quiet. Also, if you primarily play steel string, I personally would not spend $600 to experiment to see if you like nylon string guitars. Stringing them is tricky. Any once you get them strung up, even if you stretch them like a steel string, the strings stretch FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND NEVER STAY IN TUNE. Go for the steel.

I have owned the steel string SLG100S and it was a fine guitar. I got hard up for some cash and regrettably sold it in a pinch.

If you wanna try a nylon string, go to a music store and play one for about 10-20 minutes. The strings feel weird compared to steel. Especially the top 3 e, B and G strings. They are much larger in diameter. And the flat fretboard is way different too.
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Last edited by YamahaGuy; 07-22-2019 at 08:08 PM.
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Old 07-22-2019, 09:25 PM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agfsteve View Post
I have never played a nylon-stringed guitar, and I am planning on getting a Yamaha Silent Guitar, but I'm considering getting the nylon one with the narrower nut (there are two nylon ones, and the one I'm thinking of has a 1.9 inch nut).

One reason is that I'm assuming the nylon one is quieter in terms of how much a person nearby can hear--can someone testify to that? I want the sound to be as close to silent as possible.

Another reason is that the steel one has a nut size of 1.69 inches, and I'd prefer 1.75, although obviously 1.69 is closer than 1.9 to 1.75.

My concerns if I went for the nylon are:
- Stringing a slotted headstock: never done it before (at least the bridge end of the restringing task looks easy, so hopefully I would have no surprises there)
- Obviously the nylon sound: I would NOT be playing classical music, just fingerpicking folk, blues, and pop tunes
- String feel: Don't nylon strings roll around on the fretting fingers or something?

Part of me wants to try nylon to have something different.

Does anyone know how the quality / tone through headphones of the nylon one compares to that of the steel string one? I will only be playing it through headphones, so I don't really care about any differences heard through an amp.

Thanks!
I have the SLG200N and think it sounds fantastic plugged in to the Yamaha thr5a amp and through headphones either directly or out of the amp although the amp takes some tweaking with the phone amp to get the best out of it.

I play various things on it and they all work. With the thr5a you can also change the sound to be something a little less nylon if you choose.

I am currently running Savarez fluorocarbon high tension strings and they have a feel that is closer to steel as they are narrower and higher tension on the trebles

It still isn't silent when you play it but I get very little in complaints from my daughters while playing if they are watching TV
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Old 07-22-2019, 09:32 PM
Wellington Wellington is offline
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My friend has a steel string silent he plays in church all the time, plays great and sounds fantastic.
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Old 07-22-2019, 10:02 PM
JohnW63 JohnW63 is offline
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I'm not sure where YamahaGuy is coming from.

It is NOT hard to string a slot headed guitar. You put the string through the hole and turn the peg. I try to get the string to overlap the first wrap as soon as I can. That locks it down.

It does NOT stretch for ever. It just CAN stretch a bit longer than a steel string guitar.

I would suspect it is a little quieter than the steel one, just based on the less amount of twang sound that a nylon string has.

I have the SLG200N. I have a lot of fun with it. I use it in headphones to practice and plug it into a pedal board and amp to have fun. ( Don't leave the patch cable plugged in, even if the guitar is off. You could use up your batteries rather quickly. The "mic" setting of the preamp will do that. )

Get "hard" nylon strings, if you are more used to a steel string. They react to bending notes better than the normal tension ones. Not that they react a LOT to bends, but the soft ones don't do much at all.

The neck is wider, and flatter than a steel string guitar. Find a nylon string guitar in a nearby music store to give that type of fretboard a feel.

The sound of a nylon vs steel is less sharp, but also more deep. It's like a shift in the sonic range. You could call it moody, I guess.

Lots of folk stuff was played on nylon string guitars, so that shouldn't be a sound issue for you. The preamp has reverb and chorus settings, if you choose to use them. I find them to be cool to add for blues and jazz sounds.

The new models, within the last few years ( The 200 series ) have a blend knob that has a choice of a "modeled Mic" sound and an under saddle pickup or anything thing from one to the other. I like that range, as the "mic" setting sounds a little less " pick-up-y ", but some songs work well with a little electric sound. The 100 series only has the pickup choice.

The SLG series is not silent. People in the room will hear you. Just like if you strung a steel string or nylon string across two fixed points and strummed it. But, put on the headphones, turn up the volume and set your sound and you can go to town and they don't hear it any louder.
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  #6  
Old 07-23-2019, 04:53 AM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnW63 View Post
I'm not sure where YamahaGuy is coming from.

It is NOT hard to string a slot headed guitar. You put the string through the hole and turn the peg. I try to get the string to overlap the first wrap as soon as I can. That locks it down.

It does NOT stretch for ever. It just CAN stretch a bit longer than a steel string guitar.
My perspective is from my experience with a classical guitar. As for the re-stringing being tricky, I was primarily referring to the bridge end more so than the headstock and. And of the 4 sets of strings I've tried, my experience is that they stretch a lot and I have to tune up all the time, unlike with steel string. Maybe I just have horrible tuners on my classical. I string them up locking them down at the headstock end and I still get the stretching.

Also, I totally agree with the change in the sonic range comment. I actually like the bass response from nylon string guitars.
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  #7  
Old 07-23-2019, 05:04 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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I don’t own any Yamaha guitars, much less any of their Silent Guitar models. So “I don’t have a dog in this fight,” so to speak.

What I do have is experience playing guitar, and what I have found is that the touch required by steel string guitars is different than the touch required by nylon string guitars. If the main purpose you intend for this instrument is practice, to me it seems more practical to choose the steel string model, since the steel string acoustic guitar is your primary musical focus.

Just a thought....


Wade Hampton Miller
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Old 07-23-2019, 05:21 AM
JC. JC. is offline
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I have the nylon version. You stressed the need for silence....neither are completely silent in the sense that if you sit on the sofa strumming with average force, a person next to you would hear *something* (especially wearing headphones which tend to make us think we aren't making any noise when we are). Strummed, they are perhaps a little quieter than an unplugged electric. The point I am trying to make is that they are not absolutely silent.

I wouldn't make the choice based on differences in unplugged volume - the difference would be minimal.

If you have an electric, I'd suggest using that with a cheap headphone amp as a test before spending quite big on the Yamaha (or just play the electric unplugged).
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Old 07-23-2019, 05:58 AM
Daniel Grenier Daniel Grenier is offline
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Get both. Life is too short.
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  #10  
Old 07-23-2019, 06:06 AM
colder colder is offline
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Stringing a nylon string guitar isn't hard, it's just something different that it takes a couple of tries to perfect. I've never had any terrible tuning problems, but they aren't like a telecaster where you could throw it off building and it would still be in tune. They slip between playing sessions, but you're already tuning at the start of each session aren't ya?

Personally I like the feel of nylon strings. That soft feel is very comfortable and so easy on your left hand. It's a good option for people with fretting hand issues too, take a little diversion onto your nylon guitar.
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Old 07-23-2019, 06:12 AM
agfsteve agfsteve is offline
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Thanks so much, everyone, for the advice so far.

I did try playing my electrics unplugged, and also through a little headphone amp, but it left me unsatisfied, hence the interest in the silent guitar.

Wade's comment makes a lot of sense, since I will be doing the silent practice in order to play better on only steel string (unless I were to play the nylon through an amp, but I am not planning on that).

So at the moment I am leaning towards the steel string. I'm kind of holding out for Guitar Center / Musician's Friend to send me a 20% discount coupon, which they've done before if I haven't bought anything from them in a while, which I think is the case. I don't know how much longer I can hold out, although I did buy a bass (Ibanez Mikro Bass) which is being delivered today or tomorrow, so it might keep my itchy fingers away from my wallet for a while longer.
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Old 07-23-2019, 06:51 AM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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Would either of these make a good travel guitar in terms of being less vulnerable to the elements?

I've not played one yet, but I could go either way with the steel/nylon question.
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Old 07-23-2019, 07:06 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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They’re good travel instruments if you don’t mind having to plug them in to hear them.


whm
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Old 07-23-2019, 08:36 AM
TokyoNeko TokyoNeko is offline
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I'm in the same boat as agfsteve right now; looking for a killer deal to pop up, as $649 is a pretty steep price to pay.

I once owned the older version (SLG110). That one didn't have a blend-in feature between the pickup and the "mic." I'm curious as to how the "mic" would sound. Word has it that it's an emulation of an LS-26 recording at a studio.
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Old 07-23-2019, 09:25 AM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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As I was reading this thread I was going to chime in that I found a killer new restock deal on Amazon with a guitar bundle for my nylon. It had a crappy setup but that was easy to fix

When I went to look for the link I found a new intriguing option. The Alps DRA E300 Accoustic. I have no idea if it's any good but I did find a u tube review that sounded pretty good.

It's primary advantage on the Yamaha is that it is way more portable. From the stated dimensions it looks like it will be close to my tenor uke in travel size. I ordered one on a lark to give it a try as Amazon has a full return policy.
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