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Why You Don’t Give a Damn about the Difference between Steel String Guitars and Classical Guitars – It’s a Coke-Pepsi Thing…
So, are you a Coke or a Pepsi person?
I’m a Coke guy myself – but hey – everyone’s different…
Maybe Pepsi has it’s advantages– it probably tastes better and blah… blah… blah…
Even if Pepsi’s your beverage of choice, at the end of the day you walk into a fast food restaurant, and, while you’re day dreaming about last nights episode of ‘Entourage’ the chick behind the counter asks you what you want to drink and you automatically blurt out coke …
I know you’ve done that before…
But I’m getting off track…
What the heck does this have to do with steel and nylon string guitars?
Well the thing is, each has advantages and disadvantages (I’ll go into them in-depth below). Each has enthusiasts (some of them damn crazy)
But at the end of the day if you’re a new guitarist and you want to learn, go with the popular one, the one everyone picks despite themselves – steel strings are the coke of the guitar world.
And here’s why…
Steel String Acoustic Guitars
Steel string guitars are popular, used by musicians the world over. They are everywhere and almost ever popular band and artist of the last 50 years has used them. But what are they?
Steel string guitars have four brass bound strings and two shiney silver strings (the two highest pitched strings).
The closer string spacing and even string tension make steel string guitars the only choice if you want to learn guitar strumming – strumming nylon strings sucks.
Depending on the string gauge and the quality of your guitar, your strings can sound from ‘tinny’ to ‘deep and bassy’…as in bass like…think Johnny Cash..and it burns burns burns…nevermind..
At first, the steel strings will murder the tips of your fingers but after a while, once you get calluses, the pain will just evaporate.
The bright red fingertips are worth it though, because once you master a steel string guitar you will be able to reproduce that bright sustaining tone you love from all your favourite songs
Classical Nylon String Acoustic Guitars
It’s pretty obvious, but classical guitars are used by classical guitarists to play a beautiful mellow, almost sweet sound. Not the type of thing you associate with Metallica, but guess what?
Heavy metal guitarists – I’m looking at you Metallica – use classical guitar a lot for the acoustic parts of their songs – most of these guys were classical guitarists long before they embarked on their stadium filling careers.
Getting Back to the Differences
The classical guitar uses nylon strings for the top three treble strings rather than metal strings.
Classical guitars have a wider fret board and are nearly always played with the fingers.
This changes the sound –BIG TIME. Nylon strings give a more muted, mellower tone.
Classical guitar strings are usually much lower tension, and there is also a noticeable difference in tension between the nylon treble strings and the metal bass strings.
These two factors can make it awkward to play pick style strumming with the same kind of evenness that can be achieved on a steel string acoustic.
So Which Guitar Should You Choose?
Steel Strings!!
Unless you are only interested in classical guitar styles you are limiting yourself if you don’t first purchase a steel string guitar.
True – nylon strings don’t hurt you fingers as much and finger picking is a heck of a lot easier but strumming nylon strings with a plec is a disaster waiting to happen – why put yourself through the hassle?
Do you really want to specialise before you start – it’s like choosing a degree course in kindergarten!
Steel string guitars let you try a bit of everything – yes you can still finger pick on a steel string guitar- yes you can strum on a steel string guitar – you can do everything you need – and branch out later.
Well that’s my daily rant finished – except for one thing – DO NOT under any circumstances ever attempt to put steel strings on a classical guitar. Your guitar neck will end up as bent as… I’ll leave the end of that metaphor to your imagination…
September 2, 2008 at 8:23 pm | Learn Acoustic Guitar | No comment