Nylon string for playing gigs w/amp?

[rufustf]

I don't want to take my '74 Paco Marin to peoples wedding ceremonies/other gigs anymore, and my old yamaha nylon string with a pickup has too narrow a neck for my current tastes (I only like 2" [52mm] at the nut, 650mm scale) and is inferior quality-wise to my standards. On other acoustic instruments I like the K & K pickup blended with a Myers feather pickup (really a small condenser mic). So, I'm looking for something that's in the ballpark playing-wise as my Paco Marin, but that I can plug into an amp. I'm also a big fan of the french polish finish though I'm open to other things as well with the exception of glossy poly. I just loathe glossy poly.

I've found that production guitars that come with a pickup installed seem to be designed around the pickup and don't have very good acoustic quality when played as such. They lack in projection and response, and dynamically don't behave much like a quality nylon string guitar.

So I'm considering the following:

1. A La Cañada 115, or lower priced Vasquez-Rubio or other hand built guitar and then install a K & K.
2. A "production" guitar that behaves well acoustically that I'm currently unaware of.

I'm hoping there are some other professional guitarists here that can turn me on to some options. I'm really leaning towards the "get a good nylon string and install a pickup" option as the K & K is quite unobtrusive to a guitars acoustic performance, but of course want to keep an open mind as there's a lot of options these days. Thanks for your suggestions! J

[DoryDavis]

Had a Rubio once, and loved it. One I miss, sorry I sold it.

You might look a the Cordoba 55FCE. Made in Spain, electronics in USA, (case in China).

2" fretboard, substantial neck, thin body.

I got mine about a month ago and really like it, it is good to go, take it out of the case and start gigging: Good luck

Here is a 45 second clip of me playing mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViR...ature=youtu.be

[ceciltguitar]

You could do worse than this:

https://reverb.com/item/6511214-manu...coustic-guitar

It is a very well made guitar with a natural finish and decent electronics already installed, as well as 24 frets for playing all kinds of high note melodies for the type of events that you described.

[rufustf]

Thanks for your suggestions!

The Cordoba, while clearly a good choice for an on-the-job workhorse, doesn't make the cut because of the thinner neck (it is 50mm, not 52mm at the nut, a small but quite noticeable difference on other guitars I've played).

The Manuel Rodriguez,..well, I'd imagine it does play and sound good, but I can't get over the lack of a sound hole, and I can't own something with the dude's initials cut into the top instead of the traditional sound hole. It's just too hideous. It's the polar opposite of my aesthetic taste. Having not mentioned anything like that in the criteria, I can see why it would be recommended.

Also, I'm not too keen on these thin body styles. I can't imagine that this could be a plus for a guitars acoustic performance as much as a bane as I've only seen pickup-installed models with this feature.

Please don't take my criticisms and not appreciating your input: I do. I also want to help any future contributors to this thread have a better idea of what I'm looking for in a guitar, so this actually helps out the process quite a bit, and I'm grateful for it, so thank you both for your recommendations.

Anyone else?

[ceciltguitar]

Here's a Cordoba C9, a full body classical guitar with a 52 mm neck that is NOT too thin being offered at a good price:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=544256

It does have 2 sound ports, and you would have to add a pickup.

[Red_Label]

Originally Posted by rufustf

Thanks for your suggestions!

The Cordoba, while clearly a good choice for an on-the-job workhorse, doesn't make the cut because of the thinner neck (it is 50mm, not 52mm at the nut, a small but quite noticeable difference on other guitars I've played).

The Manuel Rodriguez,..well, I'd imagine it does play and sound good, but I can't get over the lack of a sound hole, and I can't own something with the dude's initials cut into the top instead of the traditional sound hole. It's just too hideous. It's the polar opposite of my aesthetic taste. Having not mentioned anything like that in the criteria, I can see why it would be recommended.

Also, I'm not too keen on these thin body styles. I can't imagine that this could be a plus for a guitars acoustic performance as much as a bane as I've only seen pickup-installed models with this feature.

Please don't take my criticisms and not appreciating your input: I do. I also want to help any future contributors to this thread have a better idea of what I'm looking for in a guitar, so this actually helps out the process quite a bit, and I'm grateful for it, so thank you both for your recommendations.

Anyone else?

I love my Cordoba F12 with K&K Pure Classic pickup. But it's got a glossy finish and slightly narrower neck. Regarding the the thin bodied instruments... when playing amplified it really doesn't matter. In fact, the deeper the body, the harder it is to dial woofiness/boominess out of the amplified sound. The shallower bodies also resist feedback better. I actually got rid of the three Espana series Cordobas that I had (FCWE Reissue, 55FCE maple and 55FCE Ltd) because I didn't care for the wide/chunky neck on them. The many Chinese Luthier series instruments that I've owned have had narrower necks and I prefer that. Both of the body styles in those series sound similar plugged-in. If the thinner bodied Espanas had smaller necks, I would have kept them because they made better gigging instruments due to that more comfortable body.

I've gigged classicals and flamencos up to the $4K value, and the Cordoba GK Pros have been my favorites so far to gig (or own for that matter).

[DoryDavis]

You won't notice the 2mm difference in the Cordoba FCE55, because the neck itself is so nicely chunky. You should try a thin body for live work, not for everybody for sure, but they have won me over. Fun to play too.

If you are somewhere you can try one it'd be worthwhile. Best of luck whatever you decide.

[Rudy4]

Sounds like the La Canada 115 and a K&K Pure Mini with an end pin jack might be your best option.

[napman]

Originally Posted by DoryDavis

Here is a 45 second clip of me playing mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViR...ature=youtu.be

Never mind the guit, I'm impressed with your performance

[DoryDavis]

Originally Posted by napman

Never mind the guit, I'm impressed with your performance

Thank you! Made my day!

[rufustf]

Thanks, lots of helpful suggestions from everyone. The sheer difference in price of the cordoba models vs. a luthier guitar w/ a pickup installed definitely has me considering a few concessions with the criteria. I do still want one that'll be great acoustically which is why the thin bodies are not in the running, but there's certainly a lot to chew on here. Thanks! J

[Palle]

Alhambra in Spain make classical guitars with traditional methods and with consistently good quality control (and makes some of Ramirez' models afaik). Higher end models in solid wood (and especially from 8C - 8P and up - I'm very happy with my 8C ceder-rosewood model) are good guitars and are produced with Fisher prefix blend as an option. Prices in Europe are quite reasonable - I don't know about in the USA.