I decided to make a foray into a nylon string guitar. I'm a Taylor fan and got a Taylor Academy 12e-N. Grand concert body with a radius fret board (not a classical setup). Ideal for a guy who has owned 11 Taylors over the years. Anyway, my question is: I've seen these little plastic units that you can string on the bridge end of the nylon string. They fit flush with the bridge and eliminate having to loop the string through the bridge holes and then do the standard bridge tie routine. Anyone have experience with these? I've watched about a dozen videos about restringing a nylon and everyone has a different method. Don't want to botch a restringing; the D'addario Pro Arte carbon strings recommended are $18.00. Muchas Mahalo
Missed this when it was posted. My Taylor nylon NS-34 (300 series Grand Auditorium body) went through several sets of strings. I always suffered through the tying of knots classical style -- you DO get better with practice. But I ran across these recently and saved a bookmark for future use: https://www.rosetteguitarproducts.com/new-page/
I have not used them, but is this what you had in mind? I was gifted a nice Guild classical guitar a few years ago, but still use the tie method.
Those are what I saw. I've resolved to do the tie. However, I have switched strings. The Pro Arte carbons that came with the guitar were beyond noisy on slides. My wife asked if I was just doing something to irritate her when I was playing. I would have sold the guitar if I couldn't fix this. I swapped out the three base carbon strings for D'addario nylons and solved the problem. I like the fit of this guitar that has a built in armrest, but I think I'd like a cutaway or 14-fret to the body. Getting anything above 12th fret makes me change fingering. I do like noodling on the nylon though. Different sound and feel. I do find the wider nut ( I think it's 1.8) tricky getting used to, particularly on some Jeff Peterson arrangements with long stretches. Tough on an old guy with small hands.
Edited by - chunky monkey on 04/16/2022 07:14:26 AM
I have used Worth fluorocarbon strings on my ukulele. They slip easier on each other, so the knot requires and extra loop to hold them onto the bridge. A regular classical guitar knot just pulls through at tension. But they would be squeak-free for slides.
I tend to avoid slack key on my twelve-fret guitars because I do play up to frets #15 and #17 at times. Most of my guitars are 14 fret to the body and many have cutaways too. I should probably get out the classical and try some F Wahine tuning on it. I play several Keola Beamer arrangements in that tuning, and steel strings are getting a bit tough to barre up high these days.
Nylon String Guitars
Posted - 02/09/2022 : 3:53:56 PM
