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Do those of you who play Jakes songs use a classical or acoustic guitar … or other … or even other instruments. I recall seeing Jake play classical guitar, it seemed to be very small.
So there’s the debate; pluck steel, or pump nylon! (don’t agonise)
Fondest regards,
Alistair
Jake definitely played a nylon-strung guitar. For what it’s worth, I’ve tried both steel and nylon and have settled on nylon because (for me, at any rate) it’s softer on the fingers, makes the chords easier and the softer sound suits the songs (IMHO). Other performers, however, beg to differ and go for steel strings every time, with some very effective results. At Knutsford three of us played nylon and four played steel. You pays your money and you takes your choice…
For me the choice has been pragmatic – I have never owned a ‘classical’/nylon string guitar and find it difficult to adjust to the broader finger board. I do have several steel string guitars kicking around the house though and have been playing steel strings for somewhere over thirty years. Also I make no attempt to be a simulacrum of Jake, I just sing and play the songs the way that I feel them and hear them.
If I may don my anorak for a moment, there is one single surviving clip from That’s Life of Jake playing a steel string dreadnought guitar – one of Ike Isaacs’s guitars I believe, which makes me think it was a last minute change due to some technical problem.
Ian
So for anyone starting out trying to play Jake, or at least strumming some of the simpler tabs, would nylon be the obvious choice? It would seem to be, since Jake almost always used nylon, and they are easier on the fingers of a beginner.
However, nylon strings are thicker and I guess need a higher nut, therefore would be more difficult to bar?
David
Personally I find it easier to play barre chords with nylon strings. The wider fretboard makes life harder, but I find that the strings are easier to depress than steel.
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