ParlourMan Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 So, unless I'm mistaken we have a few boys in here who dabble in the Nylon strung world. I'm looking to pick one up, I need one for a few tunes with my dodgy covers band. Preferably not too ridiculous looking, budget is set to upper low / lower medium, say around £350-500. Lower the better though. I am fairly virginal in this realm though so who can clue me up for what to look at? Cheers in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yea I don't know much about them either PM but check this bloke that posted some Nylon string blues on the AGF, I thought it was excellent. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268644 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Cheers FB, will check it out later, Soundcloud is a filtered site here.... amusingly enough so is the Euromillions website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Hi I was lucky enough to get my sister's old broken 60's Takamine and had repaired - vintage sound 60's nylon never played, well maybe twice, and now really nice with a setup by a great luthier near my house! I was thinking of getting a Fishman u/s pickup installed as my Fishman Aura Spectrum thingy has sound images for nylon strings.... So I guess what I am trying to say - look at a few in the pawn shops, if you find a reasonable one get it luthered to suit! There are probably billions of Yamaha's sitting in pawn shops that have been played twice, then ouch - eff that - out etc..... If you are looking for expensive, there are plenty of REAL expensive Spanish ones... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Just recovering from initial disappointment about lack of erotic content... :blink: IMO Yamaha can do most things extremely well at all price points One thing to consider is body depth...there are 'full fat' versions as well as 'slim bodied' options And the recent 'Silent Guitar' is a total trip...great visual impact with good sounds... Going way overboard would be the Godins with synth access... V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 not wanting to be the voice of discontent, but I've gone through a bunch of nylon string guitars, and still can't seem to find one that does it for me. These seem to be hard instruments to "settle down" with. They are "different" From intonation issues, finding the right strings that eventually hold tune, to finding one that doesn't have a wide/fat/aka HUGE neck. ARG! I have 3 other acoustics, (Steel String) rock solid players, these Nylon stringed instruments, are just finicky IMO. Maybe I'm just too picky? I've currently got a MR, (Manuel Rodriquez) A-Cut, it's ok now, but I've had to have it worked on a few times, and still keeping the bugger intonating cleanly up past the 5th/6th fret is something that has me scratching my head. Adding insult to injury, there is no truss rod on these MRs, I had to have the neck heated to straighten it out soon after I bought it. WTH? (it was $1k with case..) I had a Takemini that was an absolute DAWG, (CDSS132,, something I think??), it sounded pretty good, but the intonation of that guitar sucked beyond belief. The pickup/electronics did everything but microwave popcorn. I would have been just happy if it played in tune up past the 5th fret. I've tried a few Yamaha's and owned one for a few weeks. I thought they seriously lacked tone and they all had weird vibrations, like loose braces or something when you'd hit Bb or a C on the E strings. Next please! I've come to the conclusion, (over many years of looking and horse trading) that the only way to solve the issue and find one that plays, sounds, intonates properly is to spend a lot of money. and I'm just not prepared to do that. I played a few Taylor Nylon strings and they appear to be more stable, but I aint willing to fork out the +/- $3k it would cost to own one. My search for now is suspended, as I'm trying to LIVE with the MR, it's ok now, but still not really where I think it could be. One more trip to a luthier, finding the right guy to solve the problem is the key thing... the only thing I can offer, in the price range you are looking at, PLAY as many as you can, you may find one that fits the bill. I think Cordoba has some in that price range too, I've tried many of these, and I've left them on the rack.... GOOD Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I have a friend that is a VERY accomplished classical guitarist, and seeing what he does with the instrument, decided I should have one to plunk around on. I picked up a Chinese made Alvarez AC60SC with on-board electronics for $300 (similar model without electronics was $200). It's a very nice instrument and serves my purpose well at a reasonable price. A "decent", good playing classical can be had for very little money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Well I dabbled for a long time, picking up a very small but technically interesting repertoire, but in terms of instrument never moved beyond my cheap BM student model. When that died I already had my Gibson electric and then started in on steel-string acoustics. Things have no doubt moved on apace since I was loving the nylons. But I will say that a well-chosen cheapie can do a good job. Seriously, a budget ply BM can cut it on stuff as up-and-down the fretboard as Villa Lobos. Won't have magic tone, but will sound quite OK. (I don't find that nylons bring out quite so much difference in tone from different solid wood bodies as steels.) Still, as Versatile says, Yamaha were always considered very good in the mid-price range, and were much played by contemporaries whose parents wanted to fork out a bit more (since like me, most of the other kids were saving their personal pennies for something electric). And I do think that solid wood won't do you any harm. The money you're looking to spend should get you some of it too, at least on top. Might even get you a decent enough Spanish-made instrument from a cheaper company. Rather than companies, I'd think in terms of materials, though. As said, not too convinced that it will make much difference whether you have rosewood or hog back (or other) - not in the way that it changes the tonality of a J45. Evidently hog will be cheaper, and you won't get much solid rosewood for your buck, I imagine. Much more important, I'd say is the top material. Personally, I'd always go with cedar over spruce for nylons, but I'm classically indoctrinated. Some do swear by spruce, but it always makes me think of German nylon strings, which are more Dana, the Singing Nun and Julie Andrews than Paco da Lucia, Segovia and Julian Bream. I'd ask the artist formerly known as Matt Sears (now signed out as Duende) for advice, but he's no longer frequenting the likes of us. I seem to remember that he loved his Godin electric nylon for applications requiring muchachos PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 PM, a couple of years ago I decided I wanted the variety nylon gives. Looked around a bit. Tried many. Got a Cordoba Gipsy King. It is spruce/ cedar flamenco style. Thinner body and neck with a cutaway and good Fishman electronics. Neck is slightly narrower than normal classical and body slightly thinner. GC here is selling them for around $600USD it was by far the best playing and sounding of all I tried, including several at 2x the price. Yamaha is the benchmark for these ( excluding the luthier custom ones as in steel string worlds), but I really like Cordoba. G'luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 One question is whether a traditional classical guitar is what you want. These typically have dead flat, very wide fretboards, and it may not be that easy to switch between these two types of guitar over the course of a gig. The nut width on my true classical is about 53mm, or a bit over 2 1/16". It may be that some of the more hybrid-type nylon string models are the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 One question is whether a traditional classical guitar is what you want. These typically have dead flat, very wide fretboards, and it may not be that easy to switch between these two types of guitar over the course of a gig. The nut width on my true classical is about 53mm, or a bit over 2 1/16". It may be that some of the more hybrid-type nylon string models are the way to go. Agree, however apart from the strings, the classical/flamenco sound is a function of the body and bracing primarily. The neck/fingerboard of course impact as well. Chet Atkins used a hybrid I believe. I looked at it but it was too steel string sounding too me. So you need to decide what the balance sb between neck width and sound. I found it wasn't too hard to switch between the two neck widths but then I don't mind an occasional buzz or three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Type, I'm not quite sure as I don't have a great deal of experience with nylon hybrids or fully classical designs. Bigger, flatter neck isn't too much of a problem. What is leading me to think hybrid is that I'd like to play it in a similar manner to my gibbons rather than sat with it in a classical position. More to think about I guess, ideally the budget would be low, function over anything else as it would be a fringe purchase really, just for a few tracks with the wee covers band venture. Saw some sigma model for under 200GBP, price is certainly ideal :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I've got a LAG Nylon string guitar. It's a low-end model. Cost just over $200. Has a pickup in it. Not a bad guitar at all. I hadn't owned an nylon stringed guitar for years and got this one just have one again. I'm real satisfied with it. Good sound, and naturally very easy to play after nothing but steel strings for years and years. Definitly a much mellower tone than steel. I've used it at a couple of gigs and it's a good guitar. A nice instrument. A nice guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Here is a modern day "indie" performer who has embraced the Nylon string guitar and introduces it to a young audience. Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and as himself.... camera angle is terrible, but the sound of the guitar is beautiful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wUDI_B-cKw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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