Gigging Nylon

[mr. beaumont]

I can speak to the Grand Concert Duet Ambiance, as I own and gig with one.

First of all, this particular model has a surprising amount of acoustic volume. They are a little deeper than some of the other models...they're easily as loud unplugged as a cheap laminate nylon string, which makes them great for practice.

Plugged in, of course, is where they truly shine. I'm able to get realistic nylon sounds out of almost any amp (PA is best, but even with a small amp it can sound great and "real.")

The Encore is a very cool model, and very affordable. Because it uses a soundboard transducer, you can use flamenco techniques like golpe and they come through. There's good videos on YouTube of this, look for a guy who's playing metal/flamenco or whatever he calls it (sounds stupid, but the music is actually great and he's a great player). The acoustic sound is not quite as realistic as the Duet Ambiance, so that's the trade off.

Obviously, these guitars are marketed at performers in jazz/pop/rock/world music styles, they'd be laughed out of a classical recital, and rightfully so...there's nothing like a real concert classical guitar. But for the player who needs nylon sounds in band environments and doesn't want to deal with mics and feedback, these guitars are FABULOUS.