Loudest Guitar

[johnra]

I just notice when playing my classical guitar and then playing the church's Yamaha F210, all metal strings, that my classical guitar is much louder. Which guitar is normally the loudest. Metal strings or classical plastic strings on which guitar? I always thought that metal strings would be the loudest, however, my only experience then was with an electric guitar. Please inform me - I want to learn more about this sound/volumn thing.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by johnra

I just notice when playing my classical guitar and then playing the church's Yamaha F210, all metal strings, that my classical guitar is much louder. Which guitar is normally the loudest. Metal strings or classical plastic strings on which guitar? I always thought that metal strings would be the loudest, however, my only experience then was with an electric guitar. Please inform me - I want to learn more about this sound/volumn thing.

Quality classic and Flamenco guitars are considerably louder than corresponding steel-string types.

[Diamondave]

Were you playing them side by side? Playing your classical in a small room at your house and the steel in a large room at a church may trick you a bit...

Some guitars just rock, classical or steel, and some are soft and mellow... I'd say on average a steel is louder than a classical, plenty of exceptions I'm sure....

[Diamondave]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

Quality classic and Flamenco guitars a considerably louder than corresponding steel-string types.

Yea I've played some high quality classicals at Trilogy that blow my mind.... Especially the Flamenco, it's like they are plugged in...

[hesson11]

Originally Posted by Diamondave

I'd say on average a steel is louder than a classical, plenty of exceptions I'm sure....

My experience has been just the opposite, but I guess that's what makes life interesting!

-Bob

[benplaut]

Loudest steel string I've played was a Rainsong jumbo, but I presume that a concert classical is very loud.

[Glennwillow]

I think my Gibson AJ (steel strings) is about the loudest guitar I've ever heard. I'm not a particularly talented classical guitar player, but I've never played a classical that had that same kind of volume...

Then again, maybe I am missing something...

Regards, Glenn

[benplaut]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Then again, maybe I am missing something...

fingernails?

[johnra]

Originally Posted by Diamondave

Were you playing them side by side? Playing your classical in a small room at your house and the steel in a large room at a church may trick you a bit...

Some guitars just rock, classical or steel, and some are soft and mellow... I'd say on average a steel is louder than a classical, plenty of exceptions I'm sure....

Played both for my wife in our bedroom. I ask her to listen to sound and volumn. I played single notes of Amazing Grace on the Yamaha. Then picked up the Classical and did the same. She replied that the classical was the loudest for sure which is what I thought. As a side note, I have both guitars tuned to "drop 3 tuning" and I then barr with capo on the first fret. I love the sound there and ease of playing.

[Glennwillow]

Naw... I've got fingernails and use them wisely.

[David Hilyard]

Interesting question. I have 4 guitars I play regularly, 3 steel string and 1 classical. I've never thought of any of them as quiet guitars. Just for fun, I just played them all, one after the other, through the cycle 3 times. I took into consideration the age of the strings on one, while the other 3 all have strings about the same age. I tried to use the same attack, fingerstyle (acrylic nails and a thumbpick) on all of them. They are all of comparable quality. Without question, the classical won out every time, listening from the player's perspective. (I don't have an audience right now.) And the classical is the smallest of them. I would have guessed the Lowden would have won, since I've always considered it a very loud guitar. And it is, but for my ears, the classical was bigger sounding. That's a jumbo steel string vs a Hauser size classical. It would be interesting to actually measure the loudness, quantitatively. Or at least with several people listening in front, and tally the vote.

The guitars played:

http://www.davidhilyard.com/images/4_Guitars_003.jpg

[Diamondave]

What if there were a bunch of instruments playing in a bluegrass jam? Not just sitting on a bed... Wonder if an average classical would cut through the other instruments and be heard like a Tony Rice dread?

[semolinapilcher]

Fingerstyle to fingerstyle the classical is louder.

But unless you're Willie Nelson, to use a pick you need a steel string.

I've always assumed that a good flatpicker on a dread would be a pretty good match for a good classical player on a classical guitar.

Much of the modern "fingerstyle" stuff could not be performed without good amplification.

[devellis]

I think a great deal depends on the style of playing. For fingerpicking, some classical/nylon guitars can probably compete very well. They were designed to fill a concert hall with sound before there was electrical amplification. But if you're talking about aggressive strumming or flatpicking, I'd put my money on steel.

[ocarolan]

"Loudness" doesn't necessarily convey the whole story, and, when it comes to being heard in real-life situations, isn't necessarily the most important factor.
When playing with other instruments then the overall sound spectrum comes into play - you can be clearly heard even when not especially loud provided there are few frequencies competing with your guitar, ie play with a flute and a bass and it's easy to "cut through" even playing quietly, but play with a piano and it's hard work!
When playing solo, the projection of guitars is a crucial factor. For instance, my cedar/mahogany small body Fylde Ariel is subjectively loud to the player partly because of the very fast response to even light fingerpicking, and also because it does generate quite a large volume of sound, being a lightly braced 12 fret design. However, it does not project that sound as well as my spruce/rosewood Fyde Oberon. The Oberon seems almost shy and retiring from the players standpoint when compared to the Ariel, but because of its rosewood back it projects the sound far better and is actually much louder to a listeners ear than the Ariel if they are some 20 feet or so away.

Keith