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Greetings, ForumsFolks.
On & off - for several decades, even - I've been tempted to pull the trigger on purchasing
one of those thin, solid-body, electric Chet Atkins-model Gibson nylon-string guitars.
Lee Ritenour was the guy whose playing one first grabbed my attention.

Those things are quite heavy... and last I checked, were still going for about $1500.
(I'll go check ebay to see what's available used... maybe they don't even manufacture those now?)

Any recommendations for something similar/comparable - or other in the nylon-string category?

Good ol' "guitar-gear talk", for fun. Paulie's been posting about his growing guitar wall...
maybe I've been provoked to do likewise.
I recently got a Kala Soprano ukulele (properly pronounced "oo-koo-lay-lee", for those into the details);
and a Rover RM-75 mandolin (taking Celtic Trad Seisiun lessons!).

Cheers, Amigos.

Peter,

with all due respect to Chet - that guitar is garbage.

Its great if you play big shows in big halls with monitoring screaming in your face and an amp 2 feet away from you - because the same thing that makes the guitar perform well in that situation (feedback resistance as its pretty much a brick) is the same thing that makes it totally unusable for recording (the body produces almost no sound acoustically) and for playing for pleasure.

Depends on what you want the guitar for.

If you wanted some kind of an all-around play, record the acoustic sound with a mc, and have the option to amplify for small gigs then there are a lot of guitars around that are better choices IMO (not in order of what I like best):

The Cordoba Gypsy model
Any of the Takamine models
several of the Yamahas (not the silent guitar though)
and there are many more

Any nylon string that you like with the LR Baggs Lyric Mic / pickup system installed (my personal choice).

my opinion naturally.

andygabrys wrote:Peter,
with all due respect to Chet - that guitar is garbage.
The Cordoba Gypsy model
Any of the Takamine models
several of the Yamahas (not the silent guitar though)
and there are many more
Any nylon string that you like with the LR Baggs Lyric Mic / pickup system installed (my personal choice).
my opinion naturally.

Thanks, Andy - that's precisely the kind of info I was looking for.
A "good condition" (piece of garbage, as you put it) is upwards of $1700, even on ebay.
I like the Takamine as an overall standout for recording purposes.
Cheers.

funsongs wrote: A "good condition" (piece of garbage, as you put it) is upwards of $1700, even on ebay.

you can be assured that most of the people spending $1700 on those bricks are doing it for one of two reasons

1) they actually play live a lot, and they are likely country artists, and want a brick that they can show up on stage with and everybody's cool with the Chet model, even though the sound leaves a lot to be desired
2) they are collectors buying up everything that has Chet Atkins name on it.

andygabrys wrote:

funsongs wrote: A "good condition" (piece of garbage, as you put it) is upwards of $1700, even on ebay.

you can be assured that most of the people spending $1700 on those bricks are doing it for one of two reasons

1) they actually play live a lot, and they are likely country artists, and want a brick that they can show up on stage with and everybody's cool with the Chet model, even though the sound leaves a lot to be desired
2) they are collectors buying up everything that has Chet Atkins name on it.

I'll steer clear of the rocks... or "bricks".

This right here: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EACT42S is functionally similar to the Chet, but it has a soundhole, trading off a little feedback resistance for some much-needed air, imo. The original Gibson versions were built in the US and well justified the higher prices; the Epiphone import version is an overpriced Indonesian abortion. (say that 3 times fast)

I have this model and the very basic pickup can sound pretty authentic when blended with a close mic; add a little body resonance from a convolution reverb or algorithmic close ambience and it'll fool most people. Great when you need a little latin flavor, but since it has the traditional flat fretboard, you can also use it to explore traditional classical and flamenco repertoire. Both Yamaha and Washburn offer some very inexpensive classical guitars, some with pickups and for even less buckage than my semi-solid, which is about the only way to get a nylon sound in a group that features drums.

Alhambra is a great brand if you can find it in the US. The Maestro 100 is the bang for the buck, with real woods and beautiful deep sounds. Try one if you can find it. It's not a thin body, though. Those things get their sound from the big body, so you'd have to compromize on sound if you get the thin bodies. May not matter much if you record direct or plug into a PA, but usually you'd want to record a nylon with a mic.

I had one of those Chet Atkins, bought it new, had to send it back to the factory 3 times before they got it right, and it still wasn't great. Then I got a Godin Multiac which is the same idea but done much better. You can find them on eBay for around $800 used, that's what I payed for mine. Here's a link.

http://www.godinguitars.com/godinmultia ... 39470.html

Cordoba has a fairly new model, the F7 Paco, that sounds quite good. Price around $500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVboxTmSHDs

I have a Takamine Jasmine (TC38C) cutaway that sounds very nice. It also has a pickup. I bought it used for around $400.

What type of music would you be playing on the nylon?

Richard

remmet wrote: What type of music would you be playing on the nylon?
Richard

Hopefully the fun kind.
I have some tunes that would work on a nylon-style guitar; would be nice to have one handy.
When I first noticed Zac Brown playing Country music on a nylon string Eb-tuned guitar, I guess I sorta appreciated his "out-of-the-norm" approach.