Nylon string electric

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by ultrabot90, Dec 29, 2009.

  1. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    I've heard there are many solid body nylon string electrics. Some questions regarding the same.

    1. Will a chambered body (eg Godin Multiac Nylon SA, Godin ACS SA) do as good as a solid body for distortion?
    (My intended usage will initially be guitar->amp, and eventually (hopefully!) guitar->roland vg99/gr20->amp)

    2. Can I get a steel string electric to be restrung as a nylon string?
    (this, if possible, would actually save me a HELL lot of problems, and probably void this post.)

    3. If #2 isn't possible, which would be the cheapest solution for an electric classical with which I can play in distortion?

    Most importantly
    4. How similar will the feel of an electric nylon string and a regular concert classical be?

    Thanks.

    Edit - 5. Can you percussion-tap (golpe) on an electric classical?
     
  2. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    I don't think your normal pickups are going to help you much with nylon strings. You'll need piezo pickups AFAIK.

    Why do you want to play an electric classical guitar with distortion?

    I don't think normal nylon strings will work with a full scale electric guitar. But I bet someone's tried it and had good results.
     
  3. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Should've been more specific. Here's exactly what I need - A guitar with polydistortion, which feels just like a classical guitar, meant to be played fingerstyle.

    Yup, I'll need piezos if I (manage to) install nylon strings on an electric.

    Perhaps I should also mention that I will not use an amp to distort (it wont allow for polydistortion) - it'll be achieved through the Roland VG system (whenever in the distant future I get it.)
     
  4. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    What's the inspiration behind this? Taking neoclassical shred to a new level are you?
     
  5. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Lol, just something I wanted to try out...
    But I guess I might as well stick to classical <3

    (hoping for prices of the involved stuff to come down; Perhaps I'll use my 7er to learn touch style till then.)
    Edit - w00t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E0hK8HwhLI&NR=1
     
  6. flood

    flood New Member

    restringing an electric stipulates modifying it...

    an all-graphite or carbon fiber reinforced neck would be a must so that there is no warpage due to the sudden lack of tension.

    you would need a completely new bridge design.

    i still think it would be possible though, but pointless... the kind of money those necks cost, as well as the custom bridge design and finishing, plus the hex piezos, you can simply buy a godin SA and save yourself the hassle.

    the kind of distortion you are looking at lacks the highs... it's softer and very pleasing to the ear... you probably checked out that polydistortion sample i sent you on matthias grob's page.

    i would actually advise a body as solid as possible, to minimize the chance of feedback.

    touch style on a classical has been done with varying degrees of success... you need a lot of finger strength to get the same volume out of nylon strings, which just defeats the point of touchstyle in the first place IMO. chapman stick FTW. love the tone and they're remarkably responsive to even very light touches. figuring the instrument out s a bit of a whammy though. hope i own one someday.

    i still think the godin SAs are your best bet, since it has pretty much everything you need on board. also, communicate with matthias grob; he's a great guy and probably one of the gurus of hexaphonic guitars, seeing he constructed the paradis with rolf spuler initially.
     
  7. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    I could try putting the heaviest gauge, extra hard tension nylon strings to circumvent the neck problem...

    ...Okay, that's it for any vestiges of ideas for converting the 7 string to nylon.

    I pretty much like the SAs, would buy one right away if it wasn't for the price, but...About solid body design, all I keep running into is 'chambered', a hybrid of sorts. How immune those are to feedback is one crucial question.
     

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