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  #31  
Old 12-08-2010, 05:48 PM
Kindness Kindness is offline
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It's funny, Oshio plays on a steel string. I have played "Windsong" on both steel and nylon, and much prefer it on nylon.

If I am travis picking, obviously this sounds better on steel. But I am beginning to lean towards nylon with fingerstyle. I will see once I start working on Simon Fox's pieces.
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  #32  
Old 12-09-2010, 09:58 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Hi Matt,

If nylon is your sound, go with it. I, too, own a Taylor NS74CE and think it's a very nice guitar. I, too, learned to play on a nylon string guitar when I was 16, about 46 years ago, but fairly soon moved over to steel strings.

My preference is for the ring and depth of sound of steel strings, though I enjoy the sound of nylon for certain kinds of songs. But there are plenty of pros over the years that have done good things with nylon strings, and when I hear their music, I know it was right for them. You just have to find your sound.

Best of luck,
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  #33  
Old 12-10-2010, 05:18 AM
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open-road-matt open-road-matt is offline
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Hi Glenn!
Nylon sure feels right right now. It could be because of the newness of it but it just seems to have a more pleasing overall sound, feel etc. so I am going to run with it!

I was just curious as to whether or not this has happened to others. It's been fun to read about all the jumps people have taken from steel to nylon.

Matt
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  #34  
Old 12-10-2010, 10:15 AM
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I have owned nylon-string guitars since around 2000, first with an Ovation Legend nylon, then sold it to go to a Godin Concert Grand multiac nylon. I found I did not play the Godin much at all. I had hoped that the Godin would allow me to play at extremely loud volume levels when plugged in, but never had the opportunity to do it. In other words, I was avoiding using the guitar as it was being less appealing to play nylon for me.

So I sold the Godin and got an Ovation Custom Elite steel-string to replace it. I wanted it for a fairly inexpensive stage guitar. Worked great! That is until my wife started to complain that she really missed hearing a nylon-string guitar at home. Huh! Never thought I'd hear her say she missed any of my guitars!

Anyway, I thought more about it and decided I'd try to sell the new Ovation and if I could, I'd simply get another Ovation nylon as I always liked the sound of it acoustically (it was a shallow bowl) but just didn't like the feedback.

Well, I now have a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI pedal which has anti-feedback capabilities and so I figured using it not only to make the nylon sound better but also for the feedback circuit should work just fine for the Ovation Classic 2073LX guitar.

I recently sold the Custom Elite and have now ordered the Ovation nylon. I'm looking forward to it. With its 1-7/8 inch nut width, it should make it a lot easier for me to play.

Will I switch completely over to nylon? No. I think there are so many songs that I play that simply requires the cutting power of steel especially when strummed. But I tend to play my softer songs with nylon. I prefer to use the nylon when playing fingerstyle or solo guitar work on things like smooth jazz tunes. It's a nice compliment to that kind of music.

So no, I'm going to be going from one guitar to the other. I can't switch completely one way or the other.
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  #35  
Old 12-12-2010, 06:01 PM
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I've ended up somewhere in the middle. I really like folk and flamenco on nylon with a bit of classical thrown in. And folk and blues on SS. Different expression for different moods.
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  #36  
Old 12-13-2010, 10:16 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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Steel string guitars matter more to me, but having a good nylon string has also been very important for me over the last few years. What's more, I've had quite a job settling on one. I've been through some classicals and some crossovers before buying the latest one, which is a Godin ACS SA electric nylon string. Touch wood, I'm pretty happy with this right now. I have the Roland GR-20 guitar synth, which I put through my Soloamp. Once I add the vocal harmonizer, things can get quite interesting!

But aside from the weird sounds, some jazzy songs and gentle ballads sound so nice on a nylon string guitar. It won't replace my first love of ragtime and blues on a steel string, but it's a real contendah, Charlie, a real contendah ...
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  #37  
Old 12-18-2010, 09:16 PM
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Well...here's my experience...

I've always liked the sound of classical guitars, and this whole new breed of crossovers really piqued my interest. I play in an acoustic duo (me: guitar/vocals, him: cajon/vocals) and thought a nylon string would really lend itself to an interesting sound. We play mostly original material that I've written.

I ended up getting a complete steal on a Cordoba Fusion 14 RS on eBay. I really wasn't intending to get a guitar so soon. I was leaning more toward the Taylors, and likely something other than the 24, which would have been even more $$$, but I took a flyer on the Cordoba auction at what I really considered to be a no-risk price.

The item was a store demo, and it came (as described in the auction) with a cheese grater neck (extremely rough, in desperate need of filing fret edges). Fortunately, at the price I paid for the guitar, I was willing to take a file to the frets myself. I got the one designed for the job from Stewmac, and I'm happy to say, everything's good in that department now (if I do say so myself).

So, the guitar sounds great...really, really good, IMO for a guitar in this price range. The action was high, but I tightened the truss rod, and I find it, now, very easy to play. In fact, it's the guitar I played primarily around the house from the time I received it (even before I filed down the frets). It also has wonderful electronics...I find that, with a 50/50 blend between the SBT and UST, it sounds very natural and warm.

I didn't get a chance until today to use it with my "band". We had had some gigs over the last several weeks with limited rehearsal time, and I didn't want to risk unproductive practice time by trying to introduce a new instrument. My normal "stage" guitar is a dread - Takamine EF341SC - and the differences between the 2 instruments were enough to make me want to wait.

Today, we had a fairly lengthy practice, and I took only the Cordoba. I will say this - I still really, REALLY like this guitar (especially for the price), and it worked wonderfully for some songs, BUT - it's simply not something I can use for everything we play, whereas the Tak is. I don't want to deal with 2 guitars at gigs. I use an A&H Zed 10 FX mixer, which doesn't allow me enough inputs to keep 2 guitars in full-time (I've modified my Tak to be dual source...internal electronics and a Miniflex 2mix), and I'm not interested in changing it (I live the Zed 10 FX in both sound and size).

So, even though part of me REALLY wanted to jump to full-time nylon, I think my Cordoba will be relegated to home use, recording, the occasional open mic, or maybe showcase-type gigs where we're not playing a large portion of our repertoire.

I would advise anyone, though, looking to get into the crossover market to checkout eBay for Cordoba Fusions that are in-store demo models (that's what mine was). I hear bad things about the "Jet" models, but there are plenty of the other ones out there. They are a joy to play and sound particularly good plugged in.

BTW - I am primarily a strummer. I switched to a thinner pick with the Cordoba. I found that what fingerpicking I did on the Cordoba was great - much easier for me, thanks to the slightly wider spacing of the strings, and sounded very good. I knew using a nylon for a lot of strumming may be a bit of a stretch, but, hey Willie Nelson does it, right? And, if I was playing a bunch of his songs, I'd probably go full time with this Cordoba.

Bottom line, though: the Cordoba completely satisfied me, as far as what I was looking for in a nylon guitar - I just came to the conclusion that the nylon string won't work for everything I need to do (accounting for my playing style, of course).
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  #38  
Old 12-18-2010, 09:24 PM
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I think in a band situation, the steel string just cuts through a lot easier. Nylon has a hard time doing that.

But if you are playing nylon as a solo instrument, like jazz or smooth jazz players do, then nylon can work fine in the mix.

Strumming a pop / rock tune with a nylon in a band situation would just be too hard to compete with all the noise (I mean sounds...) that the rest of the band is making. Just my opinion, of course...

Check out the audio tracks in my signature line and listen to the instrumental tunes. Nylon is used on those...
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  #39  
Old 12-18-2010, 11:12 PM
ediverudt ediverudt is offline
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I have made the switch and it happened entirely by accent. I purchased what turned out to be a really great guitar for very little while repairs were being made on my steel stings. I have never looked back. A great nylon string is an amazing guitar a poor one is useless like many people have said you don't change because you want louder or more sustain you change because you want to hit the string 10 different ways and get 10 different sounds.
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  #40  
Old 12-19-2010, 10:55 AM
ferg ferg is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forensicguy View Post
I think in a band situation, the steel string just cuts through a lot easier. Nylon has a hard time doing that.

But if you are playing nylon as a solo instrument, like jazz or smooth jazz players do, then nylon can work fine in the mix.

Strumming a pop / rock tune with a nylon in a band situation would just be too hard to compete with all the noise (I mean sounds...) that the rest of the band is making. Just my opinion, of course...

Check out the audio tracks in my signature line and listen to the instrumental tunes. Nylon is used on those...
We do primarily rock/pop stuff, but it's not *really* a band, per se - it's just me and a percussionist. Some of my issue may be gaining a better feel for the instrument - as I continue to play, it may come around, but we do have some driving tunes (insofar as they can be given the composition of the band), that I just don't see it ever working for without a completely different arrangement.
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  #41  
Old 12-19-2010, 06:20 PM
john bange john bange is offline
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It is sad that all the renewed intrest in "nylon string guitars" or maybe more correctly, hybrid and crossover guitars has not manifested itself as an increase in sales to warrant more builders to offer new models. It seems that they are moving away from new offerings.
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  #42  
Old 12-19-2010, 06:44 PM
Play2PraiseHim Play2PraiseHim is offline
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Yes there does seem to be a big hole where crossover offerings are concerned. Im not even sure if the discontinued Martin or Larrivee nylons are available special order. For some reason when these models were standard they were not big sellers.
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  #43  
Old 12-20-2010, 09:40 AM
Garthman Garthman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john bange View Post
It is sad that all the renewed intrest in "nylon string guitars" or maybe more correctly, hybrid and crossover guitars has not manifested itself as an increase in sales to warrant more builders to offer new models. It seems that they are moving away from new offerings.
It is sad. And it also means that crossover guitars command a much higher price - more than one would expect from their specification.

I solved the problem several years ago by putting nylon strings on a normal dreadnought guitar - works great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuuc0f0frLE

Sorry it's a bit blurred - first time with a webcam LOL

La Bella 850BHT hard tension strings.
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  #44  
Old 12-20-2010, 09:47 AM
ferg ferg is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Garthman View Post
I solved the problem several years ago by putting nylon strings on a normal dreadnought guitar - works great:
That's really cool! It's a very interesting/unique sound - not only is it a "hybrid" in shape and size, but I'd say the sound is very much "hybrid", whereas I definitely feel the sound of most hybrids are similar to that of a traditional classical, that actually sounds like a cross between a traditional nylon string and a dread, which makes sense - since that's exactly what it is.
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  #45  
Old 12-20-2010, 10:41 AM
Garthman Garthman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferg View Post
That's really cool! It's a very interesting/unique sound - not only is it a "hybrid" in shape and size, but I'd say the sound is very much "hybrid", whereas I definitely feel the sound of most hybrids are similar to that of a traditional classical, that actually sounds like a cross between a traditional nylon string and a dread, which makes sense - since that's exactly what it is.
Thank you. It's just a cheap laminate dred (albeit well set up) but it's also probably my most-played guitar.

LOL - why spend $$$$$$$$$$$$ on a hybrid
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