steel or nylon string for 1st timers?

whodoo

friend of mine is getting guitar lessons and wants to get a guitar. he's asked my advice (so i immediately dived on boards!:D)

just wondering for a 1st time is steel string or nylon better. i'd say nylon but my friend is defo not going to get a nylon string.

any advice or arguments for and against nylon or steel for beginners?

thanks

w

Blackhorse Slim

There's no reason to get a nylon string guitar unless you are learning classical or flamenco. Steel strings from the start, build up those calluses!

Malice

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

There's no reason to get a nylon string guitar unless you are learning classical or flamenco. Steel strings from the start, build up those calluses!

I wouldn't necessarily agree. I started out on a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar and I much prefer the mellower sound compared to a steel-stringed acoustic, regardless of the genre of music being played.

Also I've moved this to the Instruments forum as it's probably better suited to there.

Alanstrainor

whodoo wrote: »

friend of mine is getting guitar lessons and wants to get a guitar. he's asked my advice (so i immediately dived on boards!:D)

just wondering for a 1st time is steel string or nylon better. i'd say nylon but my friend is defo not going to get a nylon string.

any advice or arguments for and against nylon or steel for beginners?

thanks

w

I'd say it all depends on what your friend wants to play. I can't see any real benefit to nylon strings, except for the first few times you pick up a guitar, your fingers will be conditioned in a couple of weeks with a steel string, and you'll never have to think about it again.

rcaz

Steel strings will hurt, but there's no way around it. Get it over with

And Malice, I'll have to disagree. Steel and nylon sound so different. Classical doesn't sound right on steel, and, I dunno, country doesn't sound right on nylon. The only real solution is both

seanybiker

steel obviously.

Malice

El Pr0n wrote: »

The only real solution is both

Nah, the real solution is just to go electric . I can't even remember the last time I played either of my acoustics (ironically enough I have both a steel and a nylon stringed acoustic ). I suppose that's one of the many hassles of living in shared accommodation which might be something for the OP's friend to think about. How are their housemates going to react to someone belting away on an acoustic guitar in the evenings?

Kenny_D

Start with a steel string. You need to build up callouses on your fingers. Starting with a nylon is for wimps If you prefer the sound of a nylon and plan to play classical then by all means just get the nylon but for general use just invest in a nice yamaha or something to start with. Stay away from really cheap 100 euro guitars because the action will be high, they'll sound horrible, will put you off playing and really hurt your fingers

Tomas911

GStormcrow wrote: »

Stay away from really cheap 100 euro guitars because the action will be high, will put you off playing and really hurt your fingers

Not neccessarily, some shops actually set up the guitars properly so they have better actions than the standard crap you get in the likes of argos.

Eoin Madsen

I would say it depends on the medium-term objectives. If he's not into classical guitar, then playing a classical guitar doesn't make much sense. :pac:

If he's planning to play your average rock/pop, or intends to progress to playing electric guitar or bass, then learning on a steel-stringed guitar is the logical place to start.

And I'll second the Yamaha suggestion.

Kenny_D

Tomas911 wrote: »

Not neccessarily, some shops actually set up the guitars properly so they have better actions than the standard crap you get in the likes of argos.

If you polish a turd, its still a turd. Most cheap guitars wont be set up as they're not worth setting up. Most would require a lot more than a simple setup to get to reasonable playing state. They guitars are simply not very well made at that price range and a simple set up wont fix it. Deff stay away from anything from argos.

I'm not saying you cant pick up a cheapish guitar thats half playable but you'd have to try out a few before buying. Again I'd recommend either Yamaha or Simon&Patrick guitars for beginners

OK-Cancel-Apply

Willie Nelson uses a nylon string guitar if I'm not mistaken.

Lands Leaving

I started on a nylon string and when I moved to steel it wasn;t so much the pain but the distance between the strings that caused a problem. I was constantly hitting the string above and below the one I was after, especially when fingerppicking. I still have a nylon, love it too, but a steel string sounds better playing simple chord songs and thats where everyone starts so I think a steel string is the way to go. If you get into classical/flamenco or plan to play it at any stage I'd recommend owning both to be honest! A simple steel string acoustic can do everything well imo, versatility is important for a beginner, it allows you to have more options as to the direction you want to go.

torresfan

Nylon strings are a nightmare for a beginner unless you like practicing the art of tuning your guitar over and over again. Steel strings all the way.

partyatmygaff

I'd say get a steel string straight away. Nylon string guitars usually have a very high action, they need to be tuned very regularly and the neck on Nylon strings is much wider than a acoustic or electric guitar. The fretboard is flat and very wide so playing will be difficult.