[johnbeam1]

I'm fairly new to the guitar and this site has inspired me to go out and buy an acoustic classical style guitar... I got a Washburn Classical Style Guitar
its acoustic with a pickup...

and it has 3 steel strings on the bottom and 3 nylon on the top three strings...
My question is can I put all steel strings on this guitar and get a brighter more
full sound? Will this damage the gutiar or make the sound worse?

Thanks for the help....

[wjp01908]

Hi John beam and welcome to the site.

Please don`t put steel strings on your nylon strung guitar - it will almost certainly damage it. You`ll find that the 3 "steel" strings are in fact nylon cored with a metal winding over it to make them heavier and give a lower note.

A guitar made for steel strings is constructed with extra bracing in the body as well as, usually, a steel bar running through the neck ( the "truss rod"). It needs all this to cope with the extra tension that steel strings put on a guitar.

Nylon strings do come in different grades or tensions - a harder set may give you a brighter tone as may new strings in any case - probably your best bet is to get down your local music store and invest in a few sets of strings of different tensions and makes and experiment for a week or so with each until you get the sound you want. Ask for advice at the shop.

It`s just a suspicion I have, never having played much on nylons, that there is a fair amount of technique involved in getting a good sound out of a classical guitar too - the sound may improve as you do.

HTH

Will

[rpe]

Good answer Will!. By the way johnbeam, don't be surprized when you change your strings and it takes a long time for them to stop stretching. Your guitar will be miserably out of tune every time you pick it up for as long as a couple of weeks. This is normal. I have found that high tension nylons stretch slightly quicker than the lower tension strings.

rpe

[fletchcrik]

You should stretch the new strings when you put them on ie, pull them outwards with your fingers. The great players do this and they settle down much quicker.
Keith (UK)

[6string]

I wish they made the whole set like they do the 3 bass strings

[scotty_b]

Originally Posted by fletchcrik

You should stretch the new strings when you put them on ie, pull them outwards with your fingers. The great players do this and they settle down much quicker.
Keith (UK)

yes that is great advice.
People have seen me changing strings before a gig or in between sets and asked about that, and if you do that you can get a guitar restrung in about 5 minutes and it is ready to go for some serious playing.

[rpe]

Originally Posted by scotty_b

yes that is great advice.
People have seen me changing strings before a gig or in between sets and asked about that, and if you do that you can get a guitar restrung in about 5 minutes and it is ready to go for some serious playing.

For steel string yes, but no way with nylon!

[fletchcrik]

If Richard Smith, Buster B Jones and John Knowles do it, it's good enough for me. They're three of the greatest fingerpickers in the world. Buster B. even made a video to demonstrate it.
Keith

[6string]

Originally Posted by fletchcrik

If Richard Smith, Buster B Jones and John Knowles do it, it's good enough for me. They're three of the greatest fingerpickers in the world. Buster B. even made a video to demonstrate it.
Keith

If you can find that video please post a link, that would be interesting

[BobGamacho]

2 Questions related to this subject:

As a fingerstyle player on a Seagull S6 who is interested in picking up a nylon stringed guitar,

1) What is the normal life expectancy of a set of classical stings?

2) How do you know when it's time to change strings with nylon strings?

And, actually a 3rd question:

Any suggestions on a video somewhere on the net on how to properly change a set of nylon strings?

Thanks!

Rob

[si16]

Try this one Rob.

[BobGamacho]

No ****! I don't think I ever took a look in that section. Thanks for forwarding that for me!

Rob

[cooledit]

hi, there all of you

even though a new member

i change strings every 2 month sometimes 3 weeks.
I play Classical guitar, and yes I always stretch the strings I do it like this.

I change them strings by string so 1st for first. then i tune up the string not much but lets say for the 1st maybe 10 round so it is steady a little bit firm.

Now I hold the guitar between my legs use the left hand fingers hold down the string maybe in 1st fret or second what ever I prefer then I use the right hand thumb and middle finger and pull out the string and back a little bit swoppely a few times.

then tune it up full that 1st string and on to the next string until the set is on.
tune the guitar full and do the stretching again. play for 5 min and tune hereafter as needed.

when i play normally and tune my guitar afterwards i tune the guitar and when if I overtune one string I do not lower the string I try to strecth it to get down.

I get my strings from:

stringsbymail.com

I use:

hannabach Gold 825MT, Silver hard tension is what is going on my guitar next as the bass it a bit too mellow.

I Play on a Jose Ramirez 2CW an absolute beaty.

[Justapicker]

Originally Posted by BobGamacho

2 Questions related to this subject:

As a fingerstyle player on a Seagull S6 who is interested in picking up a nylon stringed guitar,

1) What is the normal life expectancy of a set of classical stings?

2) How do you know when it's time to change strings with nylon strings?

Rob

The treble strings last longer on a classical that the bass strings do. You'll hear the bass strings begin to lose clarity, develop a "muddy" sound and begin to lose intonation. I tend to change the basses about every two weeks and the trebles around once a month.