ever get tired of steel string and switch to nylon?

[eyesore]

I play out at some gigs, for years .Recently I have been getting tired of playing my Martin OM for gigs, well that may be an exaggeration. But I wanna switch it up but not sure how it will sound with a nylon string guitar. I play a lot of Blues and 70's stuff. How do you guys think it would go over if people would be listening to a nylon string guitar? I don't even own ;yet but they are very accessible.

[Pickcity]

I doubt if the people will even notice, or care.

If it sounds good, it is good. It doesn’t matter which strings you are using.

I never asked an audience their thoughts on my choice of instrument or strings. I had what I had and they got what they got.

If you want to play nylon then that’s what they will get.

Just how I see it.

[Glennwillow]

Every time I try a change from steel strings to nylon, I am disappointed at the lack sustain. (I'm not talking about just changing strings; I'm talking about using a very good crossover nylon string guitar.)

There are some things that sound really good on nylon strings, but for me for the large majority of music I do, steel strings is the sound I love.

Some players over the years have done well with nylon strings. Kenny Rankin, Jose Feliciano, Charlie Byrd, for example. But most players use steel strings. Nylon works well for jazz.

- Glenn

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by eyesore

I play out at some gigs, for years .Recently I have been getting tired of playing my Martin OM for gigs, well that may be an exaggeration. But I wanna switch it up but not sure how it will sound with a nylon string guitar. I play a lot of Blues and 70's stuff. How do you guys think it would go over if people would be listening to a nylon string guitar? I don't even own ;yet but they are very accessible.

I picked up a wonderful 1968 Ramirez Estudio in January from a pawn shop of all places.....must be dead person’s or a divorce or......foolishness to pawn this one!

I was looking because I had my sister’s school classical 1972 Takamine fixed after it sat in the old box in my cupboard for many, many years since she gave it to me after maybe two lessons! Anyway I was liking the nylon thing and was curious about a better model and then...no sooner had I thought it and zoosh, there it came!

So I have been playing the Ramirez for an hour in the mornings at home, and rotate through my acoustics to play in the evening. I am a 100% bare fingerpicker and have tried about everything I know on the nylon by now.....blues to classics to classical to jazzy to latin....played right all sound good to me but......strumming is awful but Robert Johnson style is good.....

They need a lot of time put in! Over the years, there was always somebody’s classical in the corner at house visits or handed to you to show your stuff......and it is just.....not much! Cannot be played with the same ‘touch’ as your steel. I love it for all kinds of different fingerpickings, I do! But if I as gigging, I doubt I would jump between nylon and steel - one or the other as they are so different in many respects playing and live sound in a PA/amp would be hard to set easily. Maybe a ‘crossover’ could be coaxed?


BluesKing777.

[rollypolly]

I’ve been thinking about a nylon crossover like a Taylor 214cen to try to use for jazz. I don’t really want a gypsy jazz guitar and can’t afford a really good archtop but I think nylon can achieve some of that tone we hear from certain famous players. For 70s rock that might be tough but hey maybe just put your own spin on the songs. People will sing along regardless.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by eyesore

I play out at some gigs, for years .Recently I have been getting tired of playing my Martin OM for gigs, well that may be an exaggeration. But I wanna switch it up but not sure how it will sound with a nylon string guitar. I play a lot of Blues and 70's stuff. How do you guys think it would go over if people would be listening to a nylon string guitar? I don't even own ;yet but they are very accessible.

No problem for Chet Atkins, Willie Nelson, or Zac Brown. It can work, but if you're gigging the larger problem will be amplification and nylon strung guitars are less stable if there's small changes in temperature, etc.

[LAPlayer]

Originally Posted by eyesore

... ever get tired of steel string and switch to nylon?
....

Nope. Never.

[Coler]

I'm not saying I tired of playing steel string but I did pick up a crossover/hybrid for some variety. I was more pulled to it curiousity/desire to try it than pushed by boredom.

It was a good call. It has expanded my repertoire - not that I couldnt try to play everything on a steel string but some stuff just sounds nicer on it.

Also there are things it is more particularly suited for.

But the main thing is variety. Same reason I like to play .y 12 string.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Almost no one in the audience will notice what kind of guitar you are playing as long as it sounds good. Play whatever you feel like.

I've recently started teaching a group of beginners to play guitar. Some of them have nylon strings and some have steel and most didn't know that there was a difference until I pointed it out.

[cyclistbrian]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

I’ve been thinking about a nylon crossover like a Taylor 214cen to try to use for jazz. I don’t really want a gypsy jazz guitar and can’t afford a really good archtop but I think nylon can achieve some of that tone we hear from certain famous players. For 70s rock that might be tough but hey maybe just put your own spin on the songs. People will sing along regardless.

Years ago either in an article posted here on AGF or in Fretboard Journal I read a large part of Willie Nelson's move to nylon was to get the tone he heard on Django recordings. I say go for it!

[musicman1951]

I actually went the other way. I love the sound of classical guitars, but they are difficult to amplify keeping that same tone. Not that the amplified tone is bad, but it's just different and seems to lose some of the sweetness.

For me there are some songs that just sound better with the nylon, and others that just sound better with the steel.

I agree that most of the audience won't care one way or the other.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by eyesore

I play out at some gigs, for years .Recently I have been getting tired of playing my Martin OM for gigs, well that may be an exaggeration. But I wanna switch it up but not sure how it will sound with a nylon string guitar. I play a lot of Blues and 70's stuff. How do you guys think it would go over if people would be listening to a nylon string guitar? I don't even own ;yet but they are very accessible.

Hi eyesore
A student model of a full-sized Yamaha classical is affordable, and probably fun to experiment with.

[TBman]

I've done the switch, playing just nylon for a few months now. I don't perform, but if I did I would stick to steel if I was plugging in. Nylons sound a bit more quacky to my ears. If you are mic'ing the guitar then never mind.

There are quite a few crossover guitars out there. Cordoba makes two, the Fusion and the Stage and I think Yamaha makes one too.

[zuzu]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi eyesore
A student model of a full-sized Yamaha classical is affordable, and probably fun to experiment with.

Alvarez also makes some very nice affordable nylon string guitars. My nylon string guitars are played regularly, but I have only used one twice, when amplified, in front of an audience. Both times were with a microphone and pro sound techs handling the sound...sorry! I do not recall the mic on those occasions. But maybe you could make that work in your personal set up. The correct microphone will be very important. The few times I've recorded a nylon string a large diaphragm condenser did the trick, but may not be what you want in a live setting.

Happy experimenting!

[mr. beaumont]

Doubt people will notice or care.

I go on long kicks where I play pretty much only nylon. I'm in one now, have been for over a year. Might change for summer, but I'm not complaining...