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Nylon stringed classical styled

Hi folks

Despite having built 7 guitars, I've never made one with nylon strings like a classical. So, this is exactly the guitar I'm starting to plan. But I'm wondering if there are any pit falls that I might be facing with a nylon stringed guitar?

As you can see from the photo, it's based on a large 3 bottle wine box, which I'm hoping might make a nice enough sound, and I'm intending to use a classical guitar bridge with a rod piezo. I'm a little bit worried that I might not get the bridge in the right place, so I'm thinking of slotting bolt holes in the lid to allow for adjustment. I was hoping not to use traditional classical tuners, as that would need a wider head to accommodate the two wide slots. Are there any single tuners like the run of the mill acoustic types that would work with nylon strings?

I'm not planning on bracing the lid, as the classical bridge will not be pushing down, and the nylon strings won't be as highly tensioned. Is this a mistake? Will it still lift the lid upwards?

Has anyone made anything similar? If so, what problems might I come across? Any advice would be gladly accepted, before I make a pig's ear of it.

Cheers folks

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 20, 2013 at 7:43am

It's not quite that big! It's only 13" x 13" x 3.5". I'm not sure I'd get my arms across an 18" x 18" box...I have remarkably short arms.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 20, 2013 at 8:34am

Ahh, good to know. You should get a nice, warm, deep tone out of it with nylon.

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Permalink Reply by David L. on June 20, 2013 at 12:06am

Hi Vinylhed,
I've just done a classical CBG - I wanted something quiet to play without bothering the rest of the family. Also I picked up a "silent guitar" amp (for headphones)/preamp that I wanted to try out.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Belcat-HS-1000F-Preamp-EQ-For-Aria-Silent...

For tuners I just went with a classical 3x3 set off ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370676067254?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...

You can get single classical tuners http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360624818530?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...

I used hinges top and bottom to help brace it - initially I was going to go with a similar bridge to you with a block under it to screw it down to (plus glue) but in the end opted for a floating bridge and used a cheap hardtail minus saddles as a tailpiece (wood would have looked nicer but I tried chopping down a classical bridge to just leave the tie bar plus long slides and it couldn't cope with the tension of 6 strings in it's hacked state).

I did also find some cheap string sets

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171013142730?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...

or ball ended

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171013129940?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 20, 2013 at 12:22am

David,

I love it: stepped down headstock, zero fret, string trees, hardtail, floating bridge. But with nylon strings. A Johann Sebastian Box!

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 20, 2013 at 9:36am

Thank for going to so much trouble with your reply, David. That's a cool looking guitar. I always fancied making one from a cutlery canteen

It's been very useful reading your post and looking at your photos. Good to see you using the tuners that way, I wasn't sure that was possible. I used a similar tailpiece solution on my first tin guitar, with the tailpiece screwed into the end of the through neck. Like this:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/marmite-biscuit-tin-guitar-3?co...

Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on June 20, 2013 at 10:33pm

This is a nylon strung four string with piezo disc, nice bright sound even unamplified

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 20, 2013 at 10:55pm

Yep, that's kinda what I was talking about: slotted headstock. and a combo of single tuners and 3-on-a-plate - nice! And not to be a PITA, but notice where his bridge is...>:-E

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 21, 2013 at 5:51am

Looks very smart, I love the headstock. I made a guitar out of one of those boxes, and it sounds ace.

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 21, 2013 at 7:05am

I have hade Uke's and they do work, I think top thickness is even more important with nygut strings. Using a long bridge is a good idea. Let the top ring. good luck