Nylon or Steel strings for live gigs

[hotroad]

I am considering a new guitar as evidenced by my other posts in this forum. Now I am wondering if a nylon string CF might be a good performance guitar for me with its more mellow tone....or is it.
I play plugged in all the time. I play solo and its usually a combo of flatpicking and strumming to back my vocals. What do you think? Appreciate any responses to this.

[trovador]

If you don't have one yet, it would be nice to add it to the mix. Is there one that you can borrow?

[bufflehead]

Honestly, to me nylon-string guitars sound a bit dead. Fine if you're playing classical, or maybe vintage folk, but not for most contemporary music.

[egordon99]

If you want your songs to have a nylon string guitar accompaniment, then purchasing a nylon string guitar would be a good plan.

[Caddy]

I think it is great to have both. The nylon string guitars really fit some songs and types of music. Really nice for finger picked stuff.

[Italuke]

It's an entirely different thing. I play both, but there are only a few songs that sound good on both. You simply can't do heavy strummed, or fast flatpicking on a nylon and have it sound halfways decent. And there are some that you can pick on a steel string, but need the nuance of the nylon.

YMMV, but most people, in live settings, guitar with vocals, are better off with steel.

[lodi_55]

I gig exclusively with nylon. It has a warmth and depth I think steel strings can't match. But it all depends on what you're playing!

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by hotroad

I am considering a new guitar as evidenced by my other posts in this forum. Now I am wondering if a nylon string CF might be a good performance guitar for me with its more mellow tone....or is it.
I play plugged in all the time. I play solo and its usually a combo of flatpicking and strumming to back my vocals. What do you think? Appreciate any responses to this.

It all depends on the tone you may want

[Jim Comeaux]

I guess it all depends on whether you think that you are Billy Strings or Willie Nelson. Don’t you think that it will depend on what kind of music you want to make?

[hotroad]

Originally Posted by Jim Comeaux

I guess it all depends on whether you think that you are Billy Strings or Willie Nelson. Don’t you think that it will depend on what kind of music you want to make?

Yes. I appreciate the wisdom here. Think I will stick with steel for what I do but try to eq so it sounds like a nylon on some songs.

[Justinian]

When I was wearing young men shoes I used to play long gigs (sometimes 6-7 hours) and my Yamaha NTX nylon crossover saved my life and fingers. Very often I was getting compliments for sound even if I was playing hard rock style (when I get inspired during the night) which means with little effects and creativity you can play any style of music.