Caevan O’Shite Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I've been trying on nylons; 'n' I've got nothin' but wood, 'n' it's all good... Yhup, that's right- I've fallen for classical guitar, straight-up full-on acoustic and nothin'-but. A friend recently loaned me an ancient Sears-Silvertone classical, that she originally purchased new in the late '60s; I'm told that it had actual gut strings on it then. It's been collecting dust atop an old upright-piano for years, perhaps decades. It's got a cedar top (I think), maybe mahogany sides 'n' back, mahogany neck, a black fretboard that might be ebony or somesuch, and a pretty standard set of dimensions for the neck, string-spacing, dead-flat non-radius fretboard, etc. I find that I wouldn't mind a cutaway, what with the 12th-fret neck/body joint 'n' all; but, overall, it's quite playable... It sounds surprisingly good, once tuned-up and gotten the hang of; the tone of the 1st and 2nd strings- especially the 1st- there're some annoying, unwanted overtones there, and the basses could use a little more punch 'n' pizzazz, but essentially it's enjoyable to play since I found the right way to adjust my 'touch' with each hand (easy to throw-off the intonation with the fretting-fingers, digital attentiveness is a must). It's been a looong time since I even picked up a classical- or flamenco-style guitar. I like it. I think I'll have to check out some pricier (and hopefully proportionately nicer) classical-axes next time I'm in a shop that has some... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 that is cool Caevan. i would love to have a classical as well. i didn't know what to expect when i first clicked. then it all made sense. m buddy has a Yamaha classical and it is actually very nice. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 18, 2006 Author Share Posted June 18, 2006 Hey, since typing that, I've found that some of the unpleasant overtones and sympathetic rattle 'n' buzz are due to the excess bit of string-tails laying against the top behind the bridge/tail-piece, where they're tied-on; givin' 'em a nice pedicure, clippin' 'em off there, has helped quite a bit... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruupi Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Trying on nylons and getting nothing but wood could certainly be taken the wrong way. I love playing classical style guitar. Steel strings ring to much to control the balance between notes. Just the feel of nails and fingertips on nylon strings is inspiring. I tried for years to get used to a classical wide flat neck and just never liked those. I play a Godin Multiac nylon string that has a bit of radius to it and it sodved all my problems. I never had gotten a good tone out of acoustic classicals. But with the amplified Godin I didn't have to worry so much about volume and projection and it freed me up to just concentrate on what sounded best. I still haven't been able to record this setup well, it sounds to electric, especially in the bass. Hopefully I will figure out how to mic this rig up, it sounds so good in the room but so sterile on recordings. My soundclick site: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=397188 My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/gruupi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caprae Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I sold my early 80's Japanese made Yamaha last year to a commited classical guitarist. He wanted mine over all of the pricier new ones he looked at. And it was your standard $200 classical at the time. My sons started picking it up only after I got it out to ship and were pleasently surprised at "how easy it is to play". You might want to look for older rather than newer. Locally we have a guy with a very nice recording studio who plays classical and jazz. He says he is getting to where he can't stand electrics any more, mainly because of all of the slop he sees coming through his studio. Raise your children and spoil your grandchildren. Spoil your children and raise your grandchildren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justus A. Picker Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 If you're near a college or music institute that has a classical guitar program, check campus ads for used guitars. Sometimes students upgrading to concert level guitars will let some really nice ones go fairly cheap. http://www.smokedsalmonband.com/exile/exile1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted June 19, 2006 Author Share Posted June 19, 2006 Originally posted by Justus A. Picker: If you're near a college or music institute that has a classical guitar program, check campus ads for used guitars. Sometimes students upgrading to concert level guitars will let some really nice ones go fairly cheap. An excellent idea! Also, often enough students leave the most incredible things behind in dorm-rooms when they leave, abandoned to be collected when the places are cleaned. A nearby Ivy-League University has quite the rep for awesome-swag-left-by-rich-kids. These things are occasionally (legally) available for purchase; I understand that some pretty niiiiice guitars and such are amongst the windfall from time to time... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Ferrington III. Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Originally posted by Gruupi: Trying on nylons and getting nothing but wood could certainly be taken the wrong way.Oh, good. At least I wasn't the only one that had to look twice at that thread title! Band MySpace My snazzy t-shirt empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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