Nylon strings on a G series Takamine

Balrog68 · October 2017

I'm in the market for a classical guitar but before I commit to buying anything I was thinking of putting some nylon strings on an old G series Takamine.
Anyone ever tried this? Will it just sound naff?

ICBM · October 2017

You mean worse than a G series does with steel strings on?

Probably, but not that much. Are you going to use it amplified? That should work quite well even if the acoustic sound isn't great - I've done a couple of electro-acoustic steel-string conversions like that for players who wanted a giggable nylon-string sound.

Aside from cutting the nut grooves out a bit wider there aren't any real issues - just remember to pull the strings as tight as possible before tying them at the tuner posts, or you won't be able to wind on enough string to get up to pitch without wrapping it over itself, nylon takes a lot more stretching than steel.

Balrog68 · October 2017

Thanks for the input...I'd not even thought about the fitting of the strings. The missus has offered to buy me a classical, I just thought I might try to make use of what I have already.
I don't need the Tak. I don't even know the nut width on it, classical guitars tend to have a wider neck I believe (never had one).

ICBM · October 2017

Balrog68 said:

Thanks for the input...I'd not even thought about the fitting of the strings. The missus has offered to buy me a classical, I just thought I might try to make use of what I have already.
I don't need the Tak. I don't even know the nut width on it, classical guitars tend to have a wider neck I believe (never had one).

Yes, usually 50mm or sometimes even more - steel strings are usually 42-45mm. That's one of the reasons I got asked to do the steel-string conversions - a lot of people who are used to playing steel-string guitars standing up find the very wide (and usually fat) neck a problem… it really needs the proper classical playing position with the neck up at an angle and thumb behind.

It will actually be easier to do with a Takamine than the ones I did, which had pin bridges - with those you either need to find ball-end nylon strings (they do exist) or tie a big knot in them - with the Takamine bridge you will be able to string it like a normal classical. The intonation may be a little out on the B and G strings (classicals are the other way round, the G needs to be longer than the B ) but you probably won't notice too much.

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Nylon strings on a G series Takamine

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