Thinking of trying something with nylon strings, or maybe flats on an archtop - but what?

brucegill

Been wanting to try a nylon stringed guitar for ages but have no experience at all. 

I’m not going to be playing flamenco, or classical tbh. More Jazz/Folk/American I suppose. 

Latest Jeffrey Martin album seems to have a fair bit of Nylon strings going on as a reference (correct me if I’m wrong)

I see Lowden do one, but hard to judge from reviews by classical players thinking they sound shite. 

Maybe it’s more a flats on an archtop I should try? 

https://youtu.be/7iKyhgJAMck?si=-2e8jybUT51SYqJJ

Any advice? 

Tannin

Dunno about flats on an archtop but flats on a flattop are pretty bloody awesome. Flip over to Lord Of the Strings in the Netherlands and get yourself a set of Gallii flats - https://lordofthestrings.com/en/guitar/acoustic/6-string/galli-ajf1252-bronze-80-20-flat-wound-medium-light.html These are just a different world. I love them! 

I tried them on my Huon Pine Cole Clark Angel (superb!) and my spruce and rosewood Maton Messiah (OK, but not great) so it depends a bit on the guitar you put them on. But real flats are a different world for sure. 

brucegill

Tannin said:

Dunno about flats on an archtop but flats on a flattop are pretty bloody awesome. Flip over to Lord Of the Strings in the Netherlands and get yourself a set of Gallii flats - https://lordofthestrings.com/en/guitar/acoustic/6-string/galli-ajf1252-bronze-80-20-flat-wound-medium-light.html These are just a different world. I love them! 

I tried them on my Huon Pine Cole Clark Angel (superb!) and my spruce and rosewood Maton Messiah (OK, but not great) so it depends a bit on the guitar you put them on. But real flats are a different world for sure. 

Honestly had no idea you could get acoustic flats!? That’s another rabbit hole haha. Thanks for the info

Timcito

I'm sure the Lowden nylon string would sound heavenly, but the price would be out of this world, too!

The challenge, at least for me with nylon strings, is finding a good-sounding and playing one at a reasonable price. 

ESBlonde

As regards nylon strung, I bought an Ibanez GA6CE-AM to scratch an itch. Not much more than a fancy pedal, and it got rave reviews online. I took a chance and it’s everything I expected, very pleased. I’m not a classical guitarist and no intent to be, but I’m inspired to play differently on this thing. The bonus is that it plugs in and sounds pretty good, fantastic when you consider the price.

bertie

would nylons be too low tension on an arch-top ?

brucegill

bertie said:

would nylons be too low tension on an arch-top ?

Sorry, I meant a normal flat top nylon string guitar vs a arch top with flats

TDubs

When I was looking a couple of years ago, Cordoba had ‘crossover’ versions of their models that had a smaller nut and neck. I think the C9 was an all solid model available in a crossover model. They’re not crazy money but depreciate massively like most acoustics so if you can find one on the used market then all the better.

brucegill

TDubs said:

When I was looking a couple of years ago, Cordoba had ‘crossover’ versions of their models that had a smaller nut and neck. I think the C9 was an all solid model available in a crossover model. They’re not crazy money but depreciate massively like most acoustics so if you can find one on the used market then all the better.

Many thanks. I’ll check those out

MSedg

Cordoba C10 - if it’s good enough for David Gilmour…

MSedg

Sorry, there was supposed to be a link there but it won’t work on my phone. See the video to “Yes I have ghosts” if you want to see him playing one.

joeW

I wholeheartedly recommend a nice archtop and lovely big ol flats.  Good for any clean tone not just jazz. 

brucegill

joeW said:

I wholeheartedly recommend a nice archtop and lovely big ol flats.  Good for any clean tone not just jazz. 

Are they reasonably loud acoustically? I had a Waterloo AT for a while that was lovely and loud enough, but never tried flats on it.