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I am looking at few Classical Electrics under $500.00 US and was just wondering what make and model would my fellow forum members recommend if they were making the purchase for themselves?
The only criteria besides the above stated budget would be a more narrow than standard fretboard as I still want to be comfortable playing chords as well as picking and I have always found the broad/standard neck nylons are just too large for my hands to be able to chord comfortably.
Looking for a little guidance here ladies and germs . . . Thanks!
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Danny, I went through this exercise last year. I looked at classical and flamenco guitars. I can't recall the exact models, but I only found three classicals with approx 1 3/4" necks rather than 2". A Guild approx $1100.00 cdn. Great balanced sound with lots of projection acoustically, and electrically. An Ovation Folklore? with nylon strings. Sound to me was a bit bright and stiff. Also a bit quacky on electric. A Cort approx $450 cdn. Sound was a bit too soft and mellow but the guitar played well acoustically and electrically. I would look at it for non serious classical playing. What I did do with an inexpensive acoutic classic was shave the neck to 1 11/16" myself. It looks a little strange at the neck where the neck meets the body but only guitar players notice. I am looking for a inexpensive electric classic that has pretty good sound and I will shave the neck myself bearing in mind the mass change and refinish can effect the tone. I need something as a travel guitar for southern climes, I hope the nylon strings will hold up better than the bronze. i'll bet there are a lot of guitar players looking for a narrow neck classical guitar and there don't seem to be too many made. Good luck in your search I will be watching this post with interest.
DennisD
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Try Ortega guitars at ortegaguitars.com or Ibanez. They cover a pretty wide price range.
Chris
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Oren, good choice on the Goding Multiac. I played one, when I was working up in Edmonton three years ago, after hearing a fellow playing a jazz fusion style ala Charley Bird. This is a great guitar and the nut width of 1 11/16 is what influenced me to shave the neck on my cheapie classic. I own a Godin LGX-ST (synth, piezo, and humbucking) guitar and I can attest to the quality and versitility of the Godin line. If DannyC increases his wish list price to approximately $1000.00, this is one heck of an instrument. Also, I have communicated with Godin guitars on some issues and they are a very customer orientated company-no I do not work for them. DennisD
PS-I see you are from Victoria, I am currently in your fair city to attend grandchildrens' dance concert at UVic. Great weather today. Leaving early tomorrow.
There are only 3 kinds of musicians: those that can count, and those that can't!
PC AMD A4-5300 APU 3.4 GHz, 8gb RAM, 1T HDD, Windows 10,
Reaper 4.77, BIAB2018, PTPA12, RB2018, Roland VS-880 DAW
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Thanks for the feedback Gentlemen.
Oren if I could bust my budget your suggestion would be the way I go but that is a little too much of a stretch.
Sinbad I could not follow those links, but will try again later.
Dennis and all what I have been giving serious consideration to is an Alvarez student guitar the RC210C. It sells locally for 339.00 and is currently discountinued from the Alvarez line. Nice Rosewood sides and fretboard with a narrow neck. I am also looking at a Takamine (not sure I spelled it correctly) for around 400.00. I'll keep you posted as the quest continues.
Thanks again Gents for your help.
Later,
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You can put nylon strings on any guitar if you find one with the style of neck you are looking for.
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Quote:
You can put nylon strings on any guitar if you find one with the style of neck you are looking for.
Danny, Ed may be on to something here, especially if you have an acoustic-electric steel string at home now. If not some of the acoustic-electric steel strings are very inexpensive. All you have to do is rework the nut and bridge to accommodate the wider nylon strings and that’s not hard to do nor is it very expensive to have done.
Good luck
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Nylon strings won't drive a steel string top so well. I don't think the result will be satisfactory as most steel string necks are too narrow. Having said that, as it won't cost any more than a nut and a set of strings, try it.
Chris
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Quote:
Oren, good choice on the Goding Multiac. I played one, when I was working up in Edmonton three years ago, after hearing a fellow playing a jazz fusion style ala Charley Bird. This is a great guitar and the nut width of 1 11/16 is what influenced me to shave the neck on my cheapie classic. I own a Godin LGX-ST (synth, piezo, and humbucking) guitar and I can attest to the quality and versitility of the Godin line. If DannyC increases his wish list price to approximately $1000.00, this is one heck of an instrument. Also, I have communicated with Godin guitars on some issues and they are a very customer orientated company-no I do not work for them. DennisD
PS-I see you are from Victoria, I am currently in your fair city to attend grandchildrens' dance concert at UVic. Great weather today. Leaving early tomorrow.
Dennis,
Hope you had a mellow time in Victoria - there were massive boatloads of sailors(navy) from several countries in town. Things tend to get boisterous during these shindigs. I work nights at the international hostel down on the waterfront - this made for an interesting few shifts... 
I own a Godin electric bass, and an LG with Seymour Duncan P-90s.
The most relaxing part of shopping for a Godin is that, if you can find one used and in good condition, the price is usually very reasonable. Plus, if you can find one with an F stamped at the end of the serial number (on the back of the head), it means the item is cosmetically flawed, and will sell for even less.
Danny,
If you can find a used Godin, especially one with the "flawed" designation, it will likely sneak you under the 500 clam mark... 
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I have one of these: http://www.rondomusic.com/product1471.htmlAnd have been happy with it. Make sure to check out the price of the pickup and pre-amp elsewhere and you'll find that buying it in a guitar is pretty inexpensive! When I bought mine, they said the top was solid Cedar. It certainly looks that way in person. One thing that is curious about this guitar is that it has an adjustable truss rod. I didn't shop much, but didn't find many classicals with an adjustable truss rod.
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Ooh ooh ooh. I was getting ready to start a whole bunch of research into this myself, and here you guys have done a lot of it for me. Thanks!
Best, Tom SmithWin10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM BIAB 2026 • Reaper 7.57 • Izotope MPS AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro
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Thanks again guys for all the suggestions. I will be making a move within a week or so and I am sure I will be proud to show you all my new toy. Yo Tom . . . I just know already regardless of my choice that my new guitar will not be as funny as your new guitar.  Later,
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Hi Danny,
I have fancied the Takemine nylon acoustic I saw one afternoon at a local music store that fell below the $500 mark. it was a hybrid in that it contains an internal pickup. I was quite pleased with the playability and sound. As for neck width, I could not tell you the spec on it. My fingers are rather long so I was able to get around it without problem. I like the wide gap between strings in a nylon acoustic.
Just one more for ya! Let us know what you purchase!
Cheers,
RickeG
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I've an Alvarez RC120SC that was reasonably priced and otherwise meets the criteria here. It plays more than decently, has the not-quite-classical width neck, looks nice, sounds nice acoustically. The built in pickup is no more than so-so but then I've never heard an under-saddle piezo that sounded very good with nylon strings. It's become my go-to guitar for songwriting and intimate performing.
I think if I wanted a dedicated performance nylon-string I might look at Epiphone's semi-solid body offering. I think it's called an SST or something like that and it's a less expensive version of the Chet Atkins model that Gibson used to make.
Btw, putting nylon strings on a steel string guitar will give intonation problems due to the slanted saddle on most steel stringers. Classical guitars have a straight-across saddle due to the different intonation requirements of nylon strings. Not that it is a huge problem!
the Insolent LadEnough small empty boxes thrown into a big empty box fill it full. ~Carl Sandburg
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Rockstar_not & insolentladm
I will check out the Valencia as that one was not on my radar also, I will check out the Eppy as I did not even know they made a nylon string model. Good info from both of you.
Thanks,
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