The Guitar

Are nylon strings the only type of strings that will fit on my classical guitar?

My friend just gave me a free classical guitar, it’s a Yamaha G-55. Now I don’t listen or play spanish/classical music but I like to play power chords and just regular chords. I’m a drummer but I like to play guitar occasionally. I’m guessing the only type of strings I can put on this guitar are nylon strings, but is there a downside to playing chords on this guitar?

Hi,
You are correct, you must only put nylon strings on a classical guitar. Steel strings have a much higher tension for the same pitch (tuning) and would either warp the neck or even pull the bridge and warp the top of the guitar. Classical guitars are much lighter built than steel strung with thinner tops and lighter bracing inside.

Nylon strung guitars sound different but there is actually no reason to stick to one style, you might even carve out your own sound using a classical for your own type of music.

A classical cannot be amplified using an electric guitar type pickup but you could either just use a microphone or use a piezo type pickup. The only other main difference is that when you bend the strings of a nylon strung guitar the pitch of the note doesn’t go up much so it doesn’t sound anywhere near as dramatic as on a steel strung guitar.

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