Is It Worth Having a Decent Nylon String as a Jazz Guitar Player

[jseaberry]

I play my nylon string as much as I can, and my suggestion is to keep it simply because, for me, it forces me to be very, very aware of clean sound and technique; a pickup and amp hide a LOT of unintentional sounds that you don't even notice.

[rpguitar]

I have owned several excellent full size nylon string guitars, mostly flamenco models, and have kept one of them. I consider it like sushi. I don't want to eat sushi every night; in fact, it's not my primary diet at all - just an occasional treat. However, when I do have a craving for it, there is no substitute whatsoever. And also, one shouldn't bother eating mediocre sushi. You find the freshest and highest quality you can.

Of course, some people don't care for sushi at all, so there you go.

A really nice, solid wood, pro-level responsive classical/flamenco guitar is about as pure an expression of the guitar's form as it gets, even if it's only an occasional indulgence.

[docbop]

I play my nylon string as much as I can, and my suggestion is to keep it simply because, for me, it forces me to be very, very aware of clean sound and technique; a pickup and amp hide a LOT of unintentional sounds that you don't even notice.

When I was a recording engineer that was the biggest shocker to guitarists who never recorded before how noisy not only their gear was, but their own playing. The mic hears all the noise that you don't playing live. Practicing on a steel or nylon string, or plugging direct into a recording device you hear all the string noise from fingers and other movement.

A big shocker was how many rattles their amp cabinet had. Working guitarist would usually have a nice quiet recording amp and pedals then separate live amp.

[Greentone]

I started out on classical guitar. I have two Yairi classical models from 1963, that my father bought in Tokyo. This was before Kazuo and Sada Yairi split and well before Alvarez. I also have an early Ibanez electro classic cutaway. These are great jazz instruments. Frankly, they sound like my acoustic arch tops. They are great for bop style.

[guitarmikey]

Get a nylon if you can afford. Even a cheap one, I have a thinline Laguna cutaway (chinese) that I prefer to jazz with. Have a Takamine Santa Fe, Strat mIJ, Tele Affinity with humbuckers, for smoothern jazz sound, but still, love these nylon sounds.. So thin and smooth, so underskin, and so dinamic if meeded. Unique sound of a nylon glissando! Every guitar player should get one, just in case. Mine has larger neck, that I hate, but played a little classical with my big hands, I am mainly a piano player, so found out why the neck needs to be like that.
get one!

[yebdox]

I love playing jazz and brazilian on a nylon string... first got the idea after hearing Scofield's "Quiet" (above - great album!) and seeing Metheny include one in his vast repertoire. Lately, I spend lots of time trying to cop stuff from Leo Amuedo - fantastic guitarist who is a wonderful accompanist on nylon for Ivan Lins and Trijntje Oosterhuis. It's just a beautiful tone to have available - warm, but percussive if need be, full. I have a Godin Multiac SA, a Takamine acoustic/electric (132 SC? don't recall, but a cutaway) and most recently, a Yamaha Silent Nylon.... preferences in that order, but the yamaha really needs a new nut and setup. I play both with a pick and with fingers, though I have very little classical technique on board.

Its a different world that teaches me to phrase differently, to value every note and appreciate the harmonic overtones that are not as full on steel string. But get one with a narrower neck and get it set up properly for you. Can't recommend the Godin's highly enough, they are a really good value in my book, and I've played several duo gigs with just that... nice contrast with a steel string archtop.