Odd Nylons...
02/09/25 09:26 Filed in: mo john
I have just sealed a deal on a rather curious cheap and cheerful 24 fret 'Tanglewood Discovery', which I I will be collecting later this month. It's Chinese made (of course) and seems to follow the same lines of my Yamaha APX 9NA. This new one should take the weight off the APX for rehearsals and practice. This on top of the small bodied EKO NXT, which has been given the task of handling alt-tunings.
I additional I am in negotiations on another truly oddball 'silent' nylon stick guitar, with the hold up being clarifying that the internal electrics are working OK.
I'm increasingly drawn back to the nylon string for many of the new pieces, and can see that modern builders have aso been experimenting (D. Slaman etc). I briefly owned a Yamahas APX 500N (F-hole) back in the early 2000s, but the scale was too short and the neck too thin for my fumblings. I know there is a longer scale (N2) version but I have yet to track one down at a reasonable price.
I also tried Godin SA (Ebony fingerboard) but never really took to it, so moved it on. My stereo Ovation Classical from the '70s was also sold around the same time. I tried replacing that with a Cordoba 14 Fusion, but again it was quickly moved on.
I did, however, manage to hold onto a Godin Duet Nylon with a Rosewood fingerboard during the upheavals and have another couple of curios - one a wonderful Maccaferri style gypsy nylon which is fully acoustic, satisfyingly LOUD and will probably be buried with me. I had to drive over 500 miles to pick it up off Gumtree, but the E-W slog was well worth it.
I additional I am in negotiations on another truly oddball 'silent' nylon stick guitar, with the hold up being clarifying that the internal electrics are working OK.
I'm increasingly drawn back to the nylon string for many of the new pieces, and can see that modern builders have aso been experimenting (D. Slaman etc). I briefly owned a Yamahas APX 500N (F-hole) back in the early 2000s, but the scale was too short and the neck too thin for my fumblings. I know there is a longer scale (N2) version but I have yet to track one down at a reasonable price.
I also tried Godin SA (Ebony fingerboard) but never really took to it, so moved it on. My stereo Ovation Classical from the '70s was also sold around the same time. I tried replacing that with a Cordoba 14 Fusion, but again it was quickly moved on.
I did, however, manage to hold onto a Godin Duet Nylon with a Rosewood fingerboard during the upheavals and have another couple of curios - one a wonderful Maccaferri style gypsy nylon which is fully acoustic, satisfyingly LOUD and will probably be buried with me. I had to drive over 500 miles to pick it up off Gumtree, but the E-W slog was well worth it.