So in the Bar Brawl thread SqrlCub slams me for putting steel strings on my Yamaha classical.
So what’s wrong with that? I’m not gonna use any wuss-ball NYLON strings. How’m I supposed to get that proper ‘buzz’ sounds out of nylon strings?
And just to make certain that I’m viewed as a complete philistine it also has scars from the pick up I put on it once!
you dont put steel strings on a classical!! That buzz isnt supposed to be there!!
ah, well, each to their own
Ooh! I know this one! Classical guitars usually don’t have the reinforced neck that other guitars have, so steel strings will eventually “bow” the neck. You must have amazing calluses.
I was in a band once where the guitarist used nylon strings on an electric designed (surprise) for steel.
It took our roadie about an hour a day to tie the little balls onto the strings.
picmr
I like the buzz. I’ve used that buzz onstage. It can be a show stopper!
And I have had, in the past, amazing calluses. But playing an electric makes them go away. No tension on those strings there!
shorin-ryu is correct. Most classical guitars don’t have a truss rod and even if they do the bridge, the nut, and the tuning mechanisms are not designed to hold the tension of steel strings on the guitar. I am under the impression that you may be confusing your ACOUSTIC guitar with a CLASSICAL guitar. They aren’t the same thing, you know. An acoustic guitar can hold the steel strings all around and not have a problem. Even a crappy $100 acoustic guitar can do that where even a $5000 (yes, thousand) classical guitar will warp to no end from the bridge and sound board and the neck with steel strings. I have seen it happen. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
HUGS!
Sqrl
PS. The easiest way to tell manufactured acoustic guitars from classicals is by counting the frets to where the body starts. I bet yours has 14 frets rather than 12. If it does have 12 trade it in for an acoustic and bury the poor thing in the backyard because you essentially made it worthless to practically any classical guitar player out there, even the youngest beginner. You should know by now that the quality of the instrument effects your technique.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Jonathan, you can’t use regular steel strings on your classial guitar. As shoyu --er-- shorin-ryu said, the neck is not reinforced to withstand the extra tension. A non-classical acoustic has a truss rod through the middle of the neck that prevents warp caused by the tension.
You might try using the thinnest gauge steel strings out there, but you’r going to run into problems with the wound strings. IIRC, you can buy hybrid strings – the 4th, 5th and 6th strings (D, A, E respectively) are wound over nylon (a la classical), while the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (E, G, B) are thin-gauged steel. It’s a compromise, but it allows you to get the folk-guitar sound on your classical.
Be careful not to scratch up your top, though, since you don’t have a pick guard.
:: has to be said ::
The quality of my instrument and my technique are impeccable.
Do not dink with the spelling…
Oh yeah, SouthernStyle?
Well, I’ll take my Hello Kitty vibrato over your instrument any time!!! BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA
