Members Ashley1! Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Does anyone know why classical guitars have nylon strings? Why don't they have metal strings like an acoustic guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Because! When they have been invented, even violins had gut strings. Nobody was able to a) machine steel to such tight tolerances and b) build small handheld instruments that could withstand the extreme pull of steel. So, when the Lute and the Guitar - the now called "classical" style - was invented, they did not have anything but gut. Not even Nylon. But you can go and play "classical" music on a steel-string. But do not try to put steel strings on a classical guitar. It will fold itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 They have nylon strings because the animal rights people don't like catgut , which is actually made from sheep or goat intestines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Not an issue about animal rights. More like an issue about tuning stability, string consistency and simply the effort that had to be put into gut strings. Also, they smell and feel stiky. I don't like them at all. But some baroque players still believe that gut is more "period correct" than nylon.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Not an issue about animal rights. More like an issue about tuning stability' date=' string consistency and simply the effort that had to be put into gut strings. Also, they smell and feel stiky. I don't like them at all. But some baroque players still believe that gut is more "period correct" than nylon....[/quote'] OK , I'm just trying to stir something up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 And, of course, nylon strings have a different sound to steel strings. Many people prefer that sound and I am one of them - I like steel strings too but if I had to choose I'd pick nylon. In fact I've done the opposite - I've fitted one of my steel string guitars with nylon strings - it's now probably my most-played guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Even today in some forums when a person gets a new guitar the members will sometimes say happy goat day and or post pics of the animal since it once was an integral part of the instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 20, 2014 Members Share Posted October 20, 2014 Way back near the turn of a few to six centuries ago, when Henry Ford was switching from prairie schooner production to the horseless carriage, there was a sudden need for guitars, which was a vision of old man Gibson, to sing praises of western looking urban pioneers. Old Henry started that sod-buster fad by designing very cool looking prairie schooners. Everyone wanted one but there was no road to use them on except ones that went west, out of town. Well, the cowboys (original native inhabitants of the west) were okay with the influx of urban squatters but they needed lot's of strings for their Gibsons. Gibson had traded them J45s for running herd duties on his cattle investments. For the cowpunchers, cattle gut wasn't cutting it on the Gibsons. It gave them a certain cowtone and being a pretty eclectic bunch, they were looking for something more and that Martin feller was still stuck in Germany. They wanted other tones. Old Henry, having experimented with the new vulcanizing of rubber for his horseless carriage tyres, came up with nylon as a byproduct. It was kinda revolutionary like Moses' invention of Velcro to attach all the animals in the Ark to the walls when the 40 days and nights got a little tossy-turny. Anyway, nylon did revolutionize the world. Mr. Tupper became a rich man, that's for sure and the guitar string makers found a great use for it. They found they could use it to make really inexpensive, tough filaments for snaring feral cats. They'd snare these wild beasties and use their guts to make strings. Cowboys, being resourceful, caught onto the idea and began snaring cats themselves. They traded their teeth for the filament. Hearing this, Henry, being an philanthropist extraordinaire, bought the used teeth and gave them to denture makers providing services to the toothless poor. Anyway, it wasn't until one penniless cowpoke discovered he could use the snare filament as a guitar string that actually started a new market for the stuff. And, because the original nylon material was black from the pitch used in tyre making, another entrepreneur gave us Black Diamond Strings. It might have been Neil Diamond. I'm not sure so don't quote me on that. Otherwise, I don't have a clue about guitar construction, or why they used string material that compromised tone for ensuring the lightly built tone boxes of the period didn't collapse. That's for the experts on this forum to tell you more about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members recordingtrack1 Posted October 21, 2014 Members Share Posted October 21, 2014 dang my eyes are burning....must be the smoke from all that pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 21, 2014 Members Share Posted October 21, 2014 Yea, gets all over the fingers, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted October 21, 2014 Members Share Posted October 21, 2014 True true ... on the bright side black nylon stockings then came into existence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffmeister lives Posted October 21, 2014 Members Share Posted October 21, 2014 Does anyone know why classical guitars have nylon strings? Why don't they have metal strings like an acoustic guitar? If God didn't want Man to eat meat, then why did He make it taste so good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members recordingtrack1 Posted October 22, 2014 Members Share Posted October 22, 2014 True true ... on the bright side black nylon stockings then came into existence I somehow think you wouldn't look good wearing those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted October 22, 2014 Members Share Posted October 22, 2014 I somehow think you wouldn't look good wearing those. Opinions vary ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members recordingtrack1 Posted October 22, 2014 Members Share Posted October 22, 2014 Opinions vary ... The Horror......The Horror.....The Rocky Horror!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 23, 2014 Members Share Posted October 23, 2014 I think the OP has a very good question. I read Manuel Velazquez's interview in which he remarked about wishing he could get his trebles to sound as good as a steel string guitar emits. This guy was a very well respected maker of classical guitars. So, that begs the question: Why didn't he make steel string classicals? He'd'a been the first. Hmmm, Neil, I think there's elbow room in the boutique market for change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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