Hi, anyone got any thoughts on nylon string guitar brands / models? I’m thinking I might get myself one but I don’t have the same sense of what is good or not compared to my knowledge of electric and steel string acoustics.
I like to buy middle of the road gear so something that is nice but not so expensive that it’s getting into the realm of diminishing returns.
The local guitar shop sells mostly Cordoba, Takamine, and Taylor.
I’ve used Taylor brand strings for many years. Good quality at a fair price point. YMMV.
I might’ve been a bit vague. I’m looking to buy a guitar not the strings.
IMO you can’t go wrong with a Yamaha. You can spend as little or as much as you want. I got one about a year ago for $250 or so and am very pleased with it. It has a solid cedar or spruce (I forget which) top and sounds pretty decent.
The type of guitar you’re looking for is called a “classical guitar.”
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern acoustic and electric guitars, both of which use metal strings.
I know your shop doesn’t see Yamaha, but I agree with @Jaycat.again I played one for many years and will get it back some day (it’s my dads).
Check FB Marketplace and Craigslist. I often see Yamaha guitars for sell in nearby Spokane, WA.
Thanks, however, as your link says, it is also known as a nylon string guitar.
When I took classical guitar lessons, we never called it a “nylon string” guitar. But you call it whatever you like. 
Thanks for the Yamaha recommendations, I agree they are a nice brand. My first steel-string acoustic was a Yamaha and my current Maton, though much more expensive, doesn’t sound nearly as nice as how I remember the Yamaha sounding.
There may be Yamaha’s in the bigger, city stores. (I’m just outside Wellington, New Zealand.)
My teacher and I both had Taylor acoustic/electrics. I think mine was a 214CE and would likely run you about $1500 or so. I liked it a lot. Good tone, comfortable.
A nice looking guitar. $2300 New Zealand dollar-bucks which is at the upper end of my budget. Not a classical guitar either but I appreciate the vote of confidence in the brand.
I feel a lot of loyalty to the Yamaha brand. When they came along in the late 60s they were the first decent, affordable guitar for beginners. I started out on a Silvertone that had action about a half inch high. The Airlines, the Kays, the Harmonys, all junk, til Yamaha came along.
You mean the stuff that demands higher dollars today due to Jack White and others 
I have a 50s Harmony Rocket. It sounds fantastic with those screaming gold foil pickups but it’s not much of a player unless you loved choked bends and high action. It was given to me, so I cannot complain too much. The action is slowly getting higher as the body bellies in on itself so I never keep it strung to pitch.
Thanks for the suggestions. In the end I was restricted by what was available in country and after playing both a Takamine TC132 and TH5C along with several Cordoba guitars I decided on the TH5C. A slightly modern take on a classical guitar it has a cutaway and a pickup for recording / performing. The neck width is 51mm as per a more traditional classical guitar and it still has the body to neck join at the 12th fret so it’s not what you would necessarily call a “fusion” guitar.
The TC132 and TH5C were very similar and I chose the TH5C mostly because I preferred the look and feel of its ebony fretboard compared to the rosewood on the TC132. It also has an all solid body whereas the TC132 was just solid top and back, but any difference in sound wasn’t detectable to me in the store.
Coming from the electric and steel-string acoustic world, I had “fun” doing my first string change and was surprised to learn it can take a week or more of playing before the nylon strings settle in and hold their tune.
Unfortunately I’m just a hack and can’t do justice to the quality of the guitar, but I’m enjoying it so far.
Unlike steel strings, nylon wants to “return to wherever it’s been,” meaning that they’ll gradually fall in pitch when tuning up and rise in pitch when tuning down. You’ll notice the former every time you change strings and the latter when tuning down for alternate tunings like drop D, DADGAD, etc.
Interesting, thanks.
She’s a beauty! I just got my old Guild steel string back after a neck reset (and other work) and I’m loving it! But, I look forward to getting a nylon 6-string again (I have two nylon 4 stringers - one in GCEA and the other in DGBE).
I’m thinking of getting one of my acoustic guitars restrung with nylon strings. Are there any issues I need to be aware of in general?
Here’s a pretty in-depth article about putting nylon strings on a steel string guitar. There are apparently some issues.
Sure you can, and lots of guitarists do. Sounds like shit most of the time, but plenty of pros do it.
@slicedalone, if you’re considering doing that because of the neck width of most nylon-string guitars, it’s in your interest to get used to the wider neck and playing with your fretting-hand thumb behind the neck. It’ll strengthen your hands and develop your playing in ways that steel-string guitars won’t.
Mind you, it’s just an option to consider and only my opinion.