Switching From Steel String to Nylon

I've always been a steel string player but after getting involved with the uke, I'm leaning more toward a nylon string guitar. I just love the warm sound and the comfort it offers. I've only found one though that I could try that was to my liking...a Taylor.

I'm not looking for a flamenco or classical guitar, but a nylon stringed folk guitar that has about 1 3/4" nut width and a radiused fret board. I know Ovation offers some models as well. Does anyone know of any others they could point me toward?

I know La Patrie makes a hybrid/crossover nylon string guitar w/radiused fretboard. Can't recall the model.

Cordoba Fusion series or the Cordoba Iberia GK Studio (GK stands for Gipsy Kings who are sponsored by Cordoba). From my experience, those sound better acoustically than the guitars I've played from Taylor, LaPatrie and Ovation/Applause.



The finishing details however are better on Taylor and LaPatrie. The Cordobas may require someone to round and smooth the fret ends. I've experienced sharp fret ends on three recent samples from the current year. Older ones were better. Might be a quality-control hiccup. I can take care of these in 30-40 minutes so it's not a bother for me.

The LaPatrie hybrid is the Concert CW. It's also available in sunburst and black.

Yamaha also has the NTX series for those who prefer 14 frets to the neck, narrow necks, and cutaways. I haven't yet played these but I like Yamaha classical guitars a lot. The NTX and NCX were designed with input from Rodrigo y Gabriella.

In the vid below, Gabriella plays the NCX and Rodrigo plays the NTX.

Thanks for that! The Yamaha NTX1200R looks to have everything I'm looking for. Now to find one to try out. I'm digging it.

Yamaha acoustic electrics...just thinking of them myself this morning.

BTW one of the best sounding classical gits I've heard recently was a $299 Cordoba...

In general you can get more value with a nylon string guitar than a steel string at the same price point.

luvdatuke said:

In general you can get more value with a nylon string guitar than a steel string at the same price point.

Click to expand...

Wish I could say the same. I play primarily classical and flamenco guitars. Based on my experiences, you can't get a decent all-solid classical (new) for under $500 but you can get a decent all-solid steel-string for $300 (and at one time, Musician's Friend was blowing out some good ones for $100!). IMHO, we nylon players don't get the economies of scale.


The really nice thing about the Yamaha acoustic-electrics is their ART pickup system. Probably one of the best ways to shape your tone.

This is the 3-way system on steels. The nylons use a 2-way system.