Help!! Nylon-Electric guitars.....

[Kuz]

First, I don't play classical and I don't play much finger style.

I am looking for a Nylon-electric guitar in the vain of Lee Ritenour's style in his FourPlay recordings.

SO I went to Sweetwater music while I was traveling through and played a couple Godin Nylon-Electrics. I played them through the new Fishman LoudBox amp. I was less than thrilled. The guitar was very piezo "boungy" sounding.

As I made my way North on my trip I stopped at Elderly Music and played a Yamaha NTX700 guitar through a Genz Benz amp. It sounded A LOT BETTER.

I am really looking for feedback on these type of guitars. I will use it for recording and plugged into a recording unit (not mic'd).

Could it just have been the Fishman amp?
Are the Yamaha's just that much better sounding plugged in?
Are there other guitars that are better for around $1K or less?

Thanks!!!

[fep]

Did you try these Godin's and dial in just the condenser mic and then mix a little (or none) peizo. These are the most natural sounding Godins.

Godin Guitars

Godin Guitars

Do you know what Ritenour uses and how much it costs?

Why not record an acoustic nylon guitar with a condenser mic? That's a great sound.

[BigMikeinNJ]

I beat myself up trying to find a nylon-electric guitar pretty bad. I tried 'em all: the Chet's, the Ovation EA68, the Godin's, some Yamaha's, Takamine's, even a really way wild Mosrite... With eq boxes you can dial in a lot of extra tone (separate from what is on the guitar itself). Of all the ones I tried I found the Godin (an AES Slim) to be the nicest sounding for me - I just could not get used to the Tele feel the body had (I'm a hollow body kinda guy).

[djelley]

I have the Godin ACS SA and it did take a while to get the sound that I wanted. You can tweak the EQ quite a bit and I like it now. The attack is a little on the "crisp" side and it will never sound exactly like a true acoustic, but I love the body and the feel of the neck.

[Kuz]

Originally Posted by fep

Did you try these Godin's and dial in just the condenser mic and then mix a little (or none) peizo. These are the most natural sounding Godins.

Godin Guitars

Godin Guitars

Do you know what Ritenour uses and how much it costs?

Why not record an acoustic nylon guitar with a condenser mic? That's a great sound.

I know that Lee Ritenour used a Sadowsky with FourPlay, but he used a Yamaha Silent guitar for his Overtime DVD/CD and it sounded INCREDIBLE. The guitar cost, what, $499. I also realize that this is LEE RITENOUR, his fingers, and a VERY expensive PA.

I just wanted to know if people have tried several of these guitars, which was their favorite.

Seems like I need to revisit the Godin. I don't want to mic the nylon guitar because I want to send it straight to the board (via an Axe Fx).

Has anyone specifically compared the Yamaha nylons plugged in verse other nylon electrics plugged into an amp/PA?

Lee playing the Yamaha Silent guitar Live....

[Vihar]

I think it was the Genz Benz amp taming the edges of the piezo's sound.

[Doctor Jeff]

The Alvarez AC460C is a nice guitar for about $6-700 new. Great pickup system.

I am also quite enamored of Taylor classical A/E's. There's one model I've seen for <$1000 - NS24CE. It has a narrower nut width than the Alvarez and a radiused fretboard, so better for jazz or crossover stuff.

Both of these guitars sound great unplugged, which is a plus and not true of all nylon string A/E's.

[fep]

I don't know what he's using in the first vid?

I think the sound of the yamaha silent guitar in the 2nd vid sounds closer to a acoustic classical guitar. But it is a piezo on that guitar, maybe it's just the way he's processing it. That is an interesting guitar, the sides come off for fitting into an airplane. And the price is pretty reasonable.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

[krusty]

Careful eq and selection of image through a Fishman Aura, and you would be hard pressed to distinguish my Godin ACS-SA nylon from my Alhambra. I'm not saying they sound identical, but in an amplified situation, the Godin sounds just like a miced acoustic.