Can you put nylon classical strings on a steel string guitar?

BillDL · August 2023

I mentioned in my previous comment that nylon strings on a steel string guitar would "most likely sound like one of those very shallow bodied electro-acoustic nylon string guitars that are really intended to be played amplified". The Gibson Chet Atkins CE/CEC "Classical Electric" guitars, and similar types by Godin, Ibanez, Fender and others are more like chambered solidbodies with a soundboard glued on than they are hollow instruments, and as such the acoustic sound from them is quiet, not very resonant, and with little projection at all. In contrast I have a Freshman (Manuel Ferrino) MFAC Slim Classical with a Fishman under-saddle piezo strip that is built as an acoustic guitar, but has a very shallow body that's just more than an inch deeper than a thinline Tele. Although it does produce some natural classical sound when unamplified, it's lacklustre and lacking in projection until it is amplified. That was the style of guitar I was referring to.

ICBM · August 2023

BillDL said:

The Gibson Chet Atkins CE/CEC "Classical Electric" guitars, and similar types by Godin, Ibanez, Fender and others are more like chambered solidbodies with a soundboard glued on than they are hollow instruments, and as such the acoustic sound from them is quiet, not very resonant, and with little projection at all.

The Gibson is actually almost entirely solid - it did apparently have some chambering but largely for weight reduction, rather than any acoustic properties. I nearly bought one recently, in fact - but I decided not to as it's purely a stage guitar, it has next to no acoustic volume, not even enough for a satisfying home-practice sound. It was also really quite heavy, despite the supposed chambering.

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Can you put nylon classical strings on a steel string guitar?

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