Nylon strings don't stay in tune as much as steel strings?

[SteveS]

Originally Posted by M1tty

.....One thing amazes me is how much volume the classical guitar produces when picked with fingers (flesh). My steel strings didn't do this for me......

Maybe you need a good/new steel string.

[Kabalan]

hi
after playing nylon string guitar for all my life, now i perform more in a steel
strings guitar, the first reason is the tuning! i have a beautiful 8 string(very
expensive) with great tuners, gilbert( very expensive too) everything started
when i got a apx-5 yamaha( a cheap one) for record a music film, i was surprised with the tuning in the high notes, even playing chords, really in my classicals i can not get this perfect tuning,,, i have been talking with luthiers
about, some ones things has to do with the construction, a steel top is ticker
and overtunes tends to be more exacts, with my experience( iam professional) the only classical i try with perfect intonation are top guitars
romanillos, hauser, smallman, etc. that makes the difference!!
by the other side a regular steel guitar has a nice comfortable intonation.
it is not a rule just my personal experience.
Eblen Macari

[RamóN]

Hi, in my experience one thing that works is not playing inmediatly but let the strings seat for a while on the guitar and tune it regularly. That way i find that they stretch at their own time and you constantly keep them at the level of tension (tuning) you want until they get "used" to it.

So i put the new strings, let the guitar seat without playing and i retune it everytime i can and the guitar needs it. That way the strings start to need less retuning and thats when i start playing and fine tune till the strings finally get their desired tension without going out of tune.

That method works for me at least.

By the way this is my first post so hello to everyone.

[Kabalan]

Originally Posted by RamóN

Hi, in my experience one thing that works is not playing inmediatly but let the strings seat for a while on the guitar and tune it regularly. That way i find that they stretch at their own time and you constantly keep them at the level of tension (tuning) you want until they get "used" to it.

So i put the new strings, let the guitar seat without playing and i retune it everytime i can and the guitar needs it. That way the strings start to need less retuning and thats when i start playing and fine tune till the strings finally get their desired tension without going out of tune.

That method works for me at least.

By the way this is my first post so hello to everyone.

welcome to the forum!
tuning half tone upper, helps to stretch the new strings, after doing this
left the guitar with out playing for 20 minutes, the strings will been in regular
tune after this process.
Eblen

[RamóN]

Thanks for the welcome, havent tried that method of tuning an upper half, will do it with my next set which is needed soon because my strings sound like a stretched rope would by now

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by M1tty

Thanks guys, so that's the trick with tuning nylon strings. I'll start turning one step above then turning it down to normal tuning on steel strings as well.

One thing amazes me is how much volume the classical guitar produces when picked with fingers (flesh). My steel strings didn't do this for me.

And fingerstyle is so addictive

I think the range of expression you can get from nylon is higher than steel. As far as the tuning goes, even if you think the tuning machines are OK, they may indeed still be slipping. Replacing them wouldn't cost all that much and may be worth a try.