Jazz has been played on many different types of guitars-from acoustic steel string (Eddie Lang, Django Reinhardt) to amplified steel string (Charlie Christian being one of the first) to solid body (John McLaughlin, for example). Charlie Byrd was an early proponent of using a classical nylon string guitar to play jazz, and McLaughlin, Earl Klugh and many others have since used that kind of guitar in at least some of their work. The influence of Brazilian players such as Luis Bonfa has probably helped make this type of sound more popular. Modern guitar makers have produced instruments with lower string action and cutaways to facilitate playing jazz.
When playing nylon string guitars with a pick, there is an adjustment to be made in right-hand technique as the pick tends to bounce off the strings a little more than with steel. The fretboard is also a little wider than a typical steel string instrument. And of course, the pickups are different-since these are acoustic instruments, an amplification setup that preserves as much as possible of the acoustic tone is the goal. Still, the beautiful sound of a good nylon string guitar makes solving these problems worthwhile.
Some players, including the author sometimes, use a hybrid right hand technique in which the pick is held as usual between thumb and forefinger, and used to sound bass notes, but the other three fingers are used to pluck chords. This is particularly effective on bossa-nova music, where the softer sound of plucking with fingers is helpful, but can be used for other styles also. The advantage of this technique for a pick-style player is that you can get a finger-style chord sound without putting down the pick (or putting it in your mouth as I have seen some players such as the late Emily Remler do).
Gear: The author uses a custom nylon string cutaway made by luthier John Mello in Kensington, CA, with Thomastik nylon over rope core trebles (sound a bit like steel but very much lower tension) and normal tension nylon bass strings. I use a very heavy pick - Dugain picks made of bone and animal horn. A Fishman matrix under-the-saddle piezo pickup goes through Monster cables to a Boss AD-5 Acoustic instrument processor, a Fishman Aura, a RNC compressor, and into a Roland Jazz Chorus amp. All to make it sound like an acoustic guitar! There is, of course still a limit to how loud you can be and still keep an acoustic tone-no pickup will give you an acoustic sound when the amp is cranked to 11.
David Widelock is a jazz guitarist who would love it if you visit his web site at
http://beegumrecords.com/
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