Wes from Wpg Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I play both electric and acoustic. I used to play an old nylon strung classical. I really liked the tone and the feel of the nylon strings, but the guitar was old and the top was warped. I bought a new dreadnought acoustic, nothing fancy, just a $200 Oscar Schmidt Washburn that I got used for $100. It plays OK, but I still like the feel and sound of the nylon strings. I still have a new set of Dean Markley ball-end nylon strings from my old classical. Aside from a possible truss rod adjustment to compensate for the lower tension, are there any drawbacks to using these on a fullsize dreadnought? Has anyone else done this? How did it sound and play? Any input would be appreciated before I go home and try it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Well, aside from possibly wasting the old set of ball-end nylon strings, I can't see any harm in it. But I would bet that the flat-top will sound pretty lifeless with'em, as the steel-string flat-top tends to be a bit overbuilt even for its intended strings, let alone nylons. And, the nut and the bridge will be set-up for the smaller diameter steels. Intonation may or may not be off, as well. But, if you try it out, let us know what the results are. Keep us posted! -k 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...
ObviouslyCool Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Wes, Been there, done that. Used an old Epiphone with clasical strings for a few years until I got a Fender built for them. I think we all agree with Caeven that you certainly won't hurt anything. When I changed mine, I didn't have any intonation problems. Mind you, the bottom of the string is at the same heigth you had before, so you won't be changing the string heigth in relation to your finger board at the bridge. You may be changing the heigth at the nut because of the string grooves there. Of course, their are other reasons in the string diameter change that will effect intonation. My Epiphone has a fret just in front of the nut, so I didn't have the nut problem. (Did you guys know that? There's a fret there?) The guitar's volume was decreased a lot, as can be expected, but the low strings sounded pretty boomy and quite nice. I had a friend that used classical 5th and 6th strings on his Gibson Humingbird for years, as he liked the bass response and greater flexibility he got from them. Go for it. I used to know everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Originally posted by ObviouslyCool: "My Epiphone has a fret just in front of the nut, so I didn't have the nut problem. (Did you guys know that? There's a fret there?)"Ah, that's literally called a zero-fret, and has been a point of debate for a long, long time amongst designers and luthiers. It's got a lot of good points, and as long as it's done with proper craftsmanship, is perfectly fine. The nut is relegated to being a string-guide when used with a zero-fret; and you get a nice, low action, and open string notes that sound more like your fretted string notes, as both are fretted now. I really am unsure of the arguments against the zero-fret, but it should be noted that most makers don't use them for whatever reasons. -k 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...
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