I also vote with Spaw.

Before you give up the classic, follow the advice given above and spend a lot of time playing different steel-string guitars. Being used to the feel of nylon strings, two things you probably won't like about steel are: 1) it takes 2 to 2 1/2 times the pressure to press the strings down on the frets; and 2) the naked trebles have a sort of cheese-cutter effect on your fingertips. But calluses develop and you'll soon get used to it.

I would say that a major factor in your decision should be the type of music you play. I started out in the early 1950s and played steel-string for about two years because that's what everybody else was playing. I was what some used to call a "Greensleeveser" -- I sang (and still sing) a lot of British Isles and Anglo-American songs and ballads (I currently steal outrageously from Gordon Bok's records). Listening to recordings of Richard Dyer-Bennet and Ed McCurdy, I decided I liked the sound of a classic guitar, so I switched to a classic, and even took some lessons from a local classic guitar teacher (he taught me to keep my thumb behind the neck and use bar chords for the 5th and 6th strings in chords like F and Bb in first position and elsewhere -- classical technique is very efficient, whether you play classical or not). I was delighted at how much friendlier it was to my fingertips, and I found it easier to play accompaniments that range from very simple to fairly elaborate (lute-style). I've used classics in concerts, in fairly large concert halls without mikes or other amplification, and they project very well -- better than unamplified steel, actually. The classic guitar suits me nicely. I don't sing blues (I'm no good at it), I don't do bottleneck, I rarely use special tunings, and I don't do bluegrass, not because I don't like it, but it just isn't my thing. Yet I can jam along with anybody on almost anything with my classic and nobody seems to object.

But -- there's a fellow who comes to most of the local songfests who is a world-class fingerpicker. It isn't exactly Travis-picking, nor is it Chet Atkins style, it's an alternating bass style all his own. His technique is almost classical. He does use special tunings, and he plays blues quite a bit. He plays a steel-string -- a Taylor. And, Lord, he sounds good! I can fingerpick pretty well, but not like that. Every time I hear him, I'm tempted to get a steel-string guitar. But no. I know my strengths and I know my limitations.

In 1954, I was the only one in my particular circle in Seattle who used a classic. By 1958, about half the folksingers in town did. So don' t sweat what other people do and give in to peer pressure. If you can afford it, get a steel-string guitar, but KEEP the classic (Caution: don't EVER put steel strings on a classic guitar!). You'll probably find after a while that you play one a lot more than the other. But there's no law that says you can't do both.

Good luck, and have fun,

Don Firth