Classical or acoustic?

What is the differnce between the two guitars, and which one would you recommend. Thanks
life and love

 

A classical guitar is a type of acoustic, specifically one which has nylon strings. I prefer playing steel string acoustics, but nylon strings have a really nice sound. I think Joan Baez used nylon strung guitars.

 

Thanks! that was a quick reply. Can you play pretty much the same on both?

 

the classical guitar also has a wider neck and set up more for finger picking, i think willie nelson plays one alot, it has a great tone. i myself have a steel string, if you want to play everydaytype tunes and folk music, get the steel string acoustic. if you want to be different, get the classical. fingerpicking is more challanging than just strumming away on your steelstring.so be prepared to practice hard if you go that route.

 

it's likely that most of the music you listen to is played with a steel string, that would probally be your best bet for your first guitar. you can't play the same on both and get an optimal effect. it's like if a played the song wish you were here by pink floyde on a classical guitar, it would sound ok, but something would definatly be missing. but thats just my humble opinion.

 

Plus the fact that one of the guitar parts in Wish You Were Here is specifically for a 12-string.

 

yea your right about the 12 string, but if you only have 6, it still sounds cool, rock on bro!

 

classical guitars need re-tuned much more often too

 

thanks! all of you. I ended up getting a steelstring "tele-acoustic" guitar. an Esteban.
life and love

 

i always just thought it was a style difference, like acoustics were made for jazz and rock sounds and classicals were used in older songs... i guess i was out of the loop...

 

Classical guitars ALWAYS use nylon or guy strings. The necks are much wider and have much flatter fingerboards for picking only with your fingers, never a pick. The woods used on classical guitars are usually different, as is the bracing to sound better for finger picking. Listen to something played by Andres Segovia to see the pinnacle of what they sound/play like. Classical guitars are not any more difficult to keep in tune than are steel string acoustics.

Steel string acoustics come in a variety of different body styles. Typically seen is the dreadnaught, however there are many others such as (J, OM, O, OO, OOO) I believe Willie Nelson (mentioned earlier) uses an O style which has a similar shape to many classical guitars.