- Steel string acoustic guitars are primarily manufactured with "X" bracing underneath the top surface to provide strength. Classical guitars use "fan" bracing, which is inherently weaker than "X" bracing, and the use of steel strings can cause the top surface bracing joints to weaken and fail.
- Steel string guitars are outfitted with steel-reinforced, adjustable necks. Classical guitars are not equipped with reinforced necks, and the use of steel strings will eventually cause the neck to bend out of shape.
- The nut slots on classical guitars are cut wider to accommodate wider nylon strings. Thinner steel strings will "flop" around in wider nut slots, causing tuning, tune and intonation problems.
- Classical guitars are designed with thinner top soundboards than steel string guitars to allow proper sound vibration and amplification for nylon strings. Steel strings will not provide proper tone when installed on a classical guitar.
- Classical guitar bridges are cut and mounted with nylon strings in mind. Aside from wider string spacing, the weaker underside bracing system will cause the bridge to eventually pull off under the strain of high-tension steel strings.
previous post
next post