# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Fender Tele Tenor at NAMM

## Lord of the Badgers

Oh boy....

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2019-f...es-the-series/



NFI... But having ordered an eastwood classic this would be a good companion!!

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Larry S Sherman

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## mrmando

Ooh. 

But I already have a Schwab Tele tenor. I was dumb enough to sell it once, and I eventually bought it back.

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## Lord of the Badgers

Nice that the likes of fender have caught on now though!

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## jefflester

A situation of Fender copying Eastwood copying Fender?

String spacing looks tighter than the Eastwood.

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## Lord of the Badgers

My thoughts too. Narrower. Good! I hate the wide neck eastwood put on too many of their tenors

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## Verne Andru

Now that's a surprise!

A short-scale (21") Jaguar Tenor would be killer.

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Lord of the Badgers

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## fox

> My thoughts too. Narrower. Good! I hate the wide neck eastwood put on too many of their tenors


I saw this on Facebook...

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## Lord of the Badgers

> I saw this on Facebook...


They have made some tenor  guitars with proper width. The SG LP and Classic. The delta and the airline. But majority are wide and oddly wider still at the neck join

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## murdoch623

And I JUST bought a Classic this week. My wife is gonna kill me.

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## Lord of the Badgers

> And I JUST bought a Classic this week. My wife is gonna kill me.


Mine's cool if I make way for it and trim down unused stuff

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## Verne Andru

What I think Eastwood is doing with the wider necks is sticking to the old-school banjo spacing. My Harmony tenor has wide spacing more like a banjo which is closer to the wide Eastwoods.

A point of note to collectors - I believe this is the absolute first production tenor Fender has ever made.

I asked Fender custom shop a few years back to make me a short-scale Jag tenor and they came back that the custom shop only does variations of products Fender has already made and since they've never made a tenor they couldn't do my Jag. With luck that may be changing.

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## Ted Eschliman

MAP $499. Release in June 2019. In a glass case so I didn’t get to try it.

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Lord of the Badgers, 

Mike Black, 

StuartE, 

Verne Andru

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## bbcee

There's a home run right there!!

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## Verne Andru

Not quite a home run. I'd say a 9 out of 10.

They put the dot at the 9th, not the 10th. It was created by guitar players who don't understand 5th tuning.

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fox

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## Martin Ohrt

Hm, apparently I badly need a tenor guitar!  :Whistling: 
Very cool thing!

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## AndyV

Oh dear, the acronym. Fender Alternate Reality Tele Tenor.

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Verne Andru

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## AndyV

Good catch Verne, but the in the youtube post from namm "to make this super easy, it's just tuned like the top part of a guitar, so you've got D,G,B and E."

That would cancel out my '57 Ibanez 6 string acoustic with the dot on the 10th, not the 9th restoring balance. I guess I need one

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## AndyV

A typo on the Fender site has it as 27.5" scale. That would be something!

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## Verne Andru

> Good catch Verne, but the in the youtube post from namm "to make this super easy, it's just tuned like the top part of a guitar, so you've got D,G,B and E."
> 
> That would cancel out my '57 Ibanez 6 string acoustic with the dot on the 10th, not the 9th restoring balance. I guess I need one


Well if that's their strategy it's doomed to failure. Why would someone buy a 6-string missing 2 of its strings when they can get all 6 for the same price?

They've effectively eliminated, or at least dramatically reduced, what could have been their main market - tenor guitar players! That leaves the field clear for Eastwood - it's theirs to muck up or not.

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## fox

Going by the Facebook groups DGBE is by far the most popular tuning for tenor guitars!
On the three groups I frequent, the majority are ukulele players buying tenors to play in 4ths.
I used to try and explain the merits of 5ths but I don’t bother anymore.

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## Verne Andru

> Going by the Facebook groups DGBE is by far the most popular tuning for tenor guitars!
> On the three groups I frequent, the majority are ukulele players buying tenors to play in 4ths.
> I used to try and explain the merits of 5ths but I don’t bother anymore.


That's depressing. What's the point?

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## Lord of the Badgers

Got the dot moved on my mcilroy. Dee should probably have known better since his previous client for one is a tenor banjo player.

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## Verne Andru

I just took a look at Eastwoods and most of theirs are at the 9th as well. Seems only the Classic Tenor has it at the 10th.







And to further muddy the waters, their prototype Teleolian has it at the 10th while their production drawing shows it at the 9th!

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## Seonachan

Astrojet and LP have them on the 10th, but both are discontinued models now I guess.

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## AndyV

The FB group I'm a member of has it at about a tie between tenor and 'chicago' tuning and a good number of GDAE. I think the Tenor Guitar Foundation (or is it Registry) has CGDA in the majority.

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## AndyV

> Well if that's their strategy it's doomed to failure. Why would someone buy a 6-string missing 2 of its strings when they can get all 6 for the same price?
> 
> They've effectively eliminated, or at least dramatically reduced, what could have been their main market - tenor guitar players! That leaves the field clear for Eastwood - it's theirs to muck up or not.


Yeah, I really don't get the popularity of that tuning. 
I think the majority of players who have five string tenors made for a fuller sound/range tend to tune in in 4ths. Go figure...

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## Lord of the Badgers

Five strings in fourths?!? Surely the elephant in the room is to just get a normal guitar...

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Verne Andru

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## Ted Eschliman

I selfishly pre-ordered one of these (Fiesta Red) through my store's Fender dealership, and seeing the 9th fret dot might make me cancel before their June release. The showcase at NAMM called it a "Tenorcaster" but the spec list says more appropriately "Tenor Tele." (Stratocaster vs. Telecaster body). Eastwood pictured there instruments online with a 9th fret dot, but my Classic came in with a 10th fret dot. This was not so on the one they showed at NAMM. Note the scale is 22.75 (578mm) on the spec list which was also wrong at the Show. At $499 I'm expecting something of similar quality to my Eastwood, but we'll see.

From our Dealer Pricelists: _"A modern take on the 4-string tenor guitar, the Fender Tenor Tele has a huge sound that belies its small size. Tuned to the same pitches as the top 4 strings of a 6-string or any of a number of popular alternate tunings, guitar players will feel right at home on this fun-to-play tiny Telecaster. Custom-designed 4-string alnico pickups give this Tele variation its soundtwangy and powerful, it has the authentic sound thats made the Tele popular since its inception. The usual 3-way pickup switch is there, along with master volume and tone controls to further shape your sound. Comfortable for any playing style, the 22.75-scale maple neck has a U-shaped profile and hosts a modern 9.5-radius fingerboard with 21 vintage-tall frets. Other features include bonenut, 4-bolt neck plate and vintage-style strapbuttons. Designed to inspire new sounds and fuel creativity, the Tenor Tele is sure to become a permanent addition to your stage and studio arsenal. Includes deluxe gig bag."_

Series: Alternate Reality SeriesBody 
Material: AlderBody 
Finish: Gloss Polyester
Neck: Maple, U Shape
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane Finish on Back, Gloss Urethane Finish on Front
Fingerboard: Maple, 9.5 (241 mm)Frets:21, Vintage Tall
Position Inlays: Black Dots
Nut (Material/Width): Synthetic Bone, 1.25 (31.75mm)
Tuning Machines: Standard Cast/Sealed
Scale Length: 22.75 (578 mm)
Bridge: 4-Saddle Strings-Thru-Body with Individually Adjustable Saddles
Pickguard: 3-Ply Black (350), 3-Ply Mint Green (302, 340)
Pickups: Tenor Tele Alnico V Bridge Pickup (Bridge), Tenor Tele Alnico VNeck Pickup (Neck)
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge andNeck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
Control Knobs:Knurled Flat-Top
Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome
Strings: NPS, .009, .011, .016, .024
Case/Gig Bag: Deluxe Gig Bag

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Mike Black

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## Lord of the Badgers

Hi Ted
As I said, on my McIlroy acoustic I got the dot moved. Yeah you can see it in the light, but could an experienced luthier do a good job if it was really that big a deal?
That said, Soarse'y make some pretty similar looking teles in tenor config?

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## AndyV

> Five strings in fourths?!? Surely the elephant in the room is to just get a normal guitar...


But then you'd be normal!

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## Lord of the Badgers

> But then you'd be normal!


EXACTLY... Who wants THAT?!  :Laughing:

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## AndyV

> EXACTLY... Who wants THAT?!


"The trouble with normal is it always gets worse."

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Lord of the Badgers

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## Grommet

Dots aside, I'd like to kick the tires and light the fires on that thang.

Scott

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## fox

Does it have side dots?

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## Michael H Geimer

Dot position aside, is there anything about the fret spacing that would hinder tuning in fifths? 

Always figured the popularity of using guitar tuning on a tenor came from The Kingston Trio. If I were to use fourths, likely would go ahead and move the D-string up to a re-entrant octave and see how it sounds finger picking rolls.

Am currently playing mandolin in a semi-electrified ukulele-centric band, so this might just fit right in.

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## Verne Andru

Tenor guitar evolved from tenor banjo that evolved from mandolin, so they are tuned in 5ths by design. That is the reason for the short scale - there's no need for short scale when tuning in 4ths.

Chicago tuning (DGBE) largely came about as a consequence of there being more musicians than instruments. A few hundred dollars for a guitar in the 50s and 60s was a lot of money so people had to make do with what was around, and there were tenors kicking about that guitar players retuned as they didn't know 5ths. I remember being handed a tenor as a kid being told it was easier to learn than a guitar because there were fewer strings.

With Fender I think there are a few things going on. 1) the neck is the same scale length as their mini strat so they probably used that as the basis for the tenor as they didn't have to deal with moving the frets and fret markers, 2) Choosing to sell it as an impaired/lobotomized guitar works for Fender as there are very few who work for them or demo their products that understand 5th tuning, 3) it'll be easier to get stocked as a "guitar" than a tenor.

Since I don't like telecasters and Fender's stock single-coil pickups tend to be somewhat anemic, I don't have a problem taking a pass, but I'm sure there are others that it suits just fine.

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## Ted Eschliman

Another current trend is for ukulele marketers to expand their lines into guitar. Someone who has just embraced the uke but wants to move into the guitar can take the Chicago tuning and move seamlessly into tenor. A decade ago, this would have seemed counter-intuitive, but the overwhelming industry wide popularity of the uke (which has inarguably eclipsed that of the mandolin) has become a new tipping point for the appeal of the tenor guitar.

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Michael H Geimer

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## fox

You are right there Ted, one of the more popular Facebook threads is Called “Tenor guitar and baritone ukulele players”
There are few members I recognise from here and quite a few old members who don’t post here anymore.
But that Facebook page is very Chicago friendly!

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## Verne Andru

IIRC ukes were the largest selling stringed instrument on the planet a few years ago, so that figures.

When I went to grade school music class consisted of the age old recorder. Still have mine. When my son went to grade school the principal had changed to uke, which I thought was a more appropriate choice.

It's a shame if Chicago becomes the tuning of choice for tenors, but that's just me.

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Ted Eschliman

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## fox

Well I am afraid it does look that way Verne.
I notice that Soares tenor guitars are now all tuned DGBE as standard.....
Note the last sentence in the attachment

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## Verne Andru

Fox - go where the market is - I get it. And I get ukes but that doesn't mean I take them seriously. Depresses the heck out of me.

While Soares has been a staple in the tenor world he's not a particularly reliable source. Especially his ad copy. He often states things that are patently wrong - like a laminate top is best for acoustic - but he has his place and the tenor world would be poorer without him.

After bouncing around I've settled on a 19" 6-string as my electric "tenor" of choice. After getting my head around it, Eb Bb F C G D tuning is extremely versatile. It's lower than a standard guitar and higher than my electric mandolin. I call it double extended range tenor.

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fox

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## Michael H Geimer

> ...but that doesn't mean I take them seriously.


Ha! I do enjoy the ukulele very much, and also completely understand your point. Am currently playing in a band called The Ukulele Brothers (mando/b-vox). These guys can square off any noble groove into a mush of flailing chords.  :Crying:  I solidly refuse to play uke in that band, but they sure are great fun, with good songs and happy fans.

OTOH Darling Wife made the switch from guitar to baritone uke and respectfully treats it as its own instrument, not just a chopped-off guitar. I'll accompany her on a tenor Kanile'a using re-entrant tuning and finger-style fills and rolls. Very different!

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Verne Andru

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## fox

Virtually everything I learn to play is done on my 1960s baritone ukulele but it is tuned GDAE.
I use it mainly because I can quietly practice sitting of the sofa without the wife complaining to much!

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## Chip Stewart

At $100 less than the Eastwood Tenorcaster ($499.99 vs. $599.00) it should definitely give Eastwood some competition.  I realize the standard guitar string spacing on the Fender is different than the wide string spacing on the Eastwood, but that might actually be a plus.  Hopefully it sells well so Fender stays in and grows their tenor offerings.  That might push Eastwood to tighten up their quality control and lower their prices.  Competition is always good for the consumer.

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## Lord of the Badgers

for me, i dislike Eastwood's wide spacing. so this seems virtually perfect. i bought a classic tenor on the basis of it having a narrow neck

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## Verne Andru

I would like to see Fender, Gibson, Gretsch and Epiphone all get serious about tenors. A reissue of the Epiphone Zenith tenor would be awesome as well as some from Gibson's vault.

I don't mind the wider spacing and like the fact that there are some wide and some narrow. Narrow is better for chording while wider makes finger-style and soloing easier for me. If I have a choice, I'll go wider but can adapt to the instrument, generally speaking.

Fender has never really taken their mandolin/tenor offerings seriously from what I see. They come close with some but never really follow through, which is a real shame. I'd like to see that change but history isn't on my side.

Anyone know what's going on with Eastwood? Didn't see any NAMM announcements or pictures from their booth, if they had one. They sold off most of their custom shop tenors before the end of the year and don't have anything in the works that I can see.

Eastwood's Teleolion has promise, but the site says shipping moved from November to January and we're now 1/2 way through February and they're still not showing it as a shipping product.

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Martin Ohrt

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## Lord of the Badgers

Hi Verne, well comms with Eastwood tell me my Classic is well on track for imminent delivery. I see they've an Airline tenor due to drop too? 
I don't know, but they have been lovely and answered every question promptly in a friendly manner. 
they aren't the sort of firm that makes big announcements much though? preferring to crowd fund each new model?

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## Verne Andru

Hey Lord - of all the current tenor offerings the Eastwood Classic is top of my list. I prefer a short-scale but may be dead before anybody starts making affordable 21-inchers.

When you get your Classic could you confirm if it's a full hollow body or semi-hollow as they advertise? Semi-hollow will have a center block running inside from the neck to the tail piece.

I've tried a few Eastwoods in stores and they are as well made as any Epiphone or Squier, which are well built in their own right. Epiphone has really picked up their game as far as factory setup is concerned but the others require help. I expect pac-rim instruments will need some amount of user-setup so perfection out of the box isn't expected, but I await your report once you've received yours.

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## Ted Eschliman

I just looked at my Eastwood Custom. It does have the center block to under the bridge, so I'm not sure which it qualifies as, full or semi. 

Eastwood stop exhibiting at NAMM 3-4 years ago. They told me wasn't cost-effective since most of their sales are direct to consumer. I was trying to talk them into a 5-string hollowbody emando, but gave up after about a year of diagrams and dialogue. Pity, I think they could have made something cool.

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## Verne Andru

> I just looked at my Eastwood Custom. It does have the center block to under the bridge, so I'm not sure which it qualifies as, full or semi. 
> 
> Eastwood stop exhibiting at NAMM 3-4 years ago. They told me wasn't cost-effective since most of their sales are direct to consumer. I was trying to talk them into a 5-string hollowbody emando, but gave up after about a year of diagrams and dialogue. Pity, I think they could have made something cool.


Here's a 335 blueprint which is the definition of a semi-hollow.



Does the center block on the Eastwood look like this?

Key features are having the pickups and bridge mounted or sitting on something solid. That reduces vibration which reduces feedback. A full-hollow has the pickups mounted to the top which is free floating, like an Epiphone Casino, and can be uncontrollable at gig volumes. A good semi-hollow allows you to control the feedback with your arm, almost like a bellows, adding a sonic texture that can really cut through.

NAMM is expensive especially with costs of shipping. I respect Eastwood's business model and am glad they've been able to create their own niche in an otherwise crowded field.

After giving Fender's offering a ponder with what's been said above, it may be more appropriate to call it "Plectrum Baritone Ukulele Tele" as that is what the tuning implies and appears to be Fender's market. "Tenor Tele" seems to me to be a misnomer.

Since "tenor" originated as a 5th tuned instrument I'll be darned if I'm going to let the Ukulele crowd usurp it!

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## Seter

> Since "tenor" originated as a 5th tuned instrument I'll be darned if I'm going to let the Ukulele crowd usurp it!


If it makes you feel any better, both of my baritone ukuleles are tuned in 5ths (one in octave mandolin tuning, the other in mandocello tuning).

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## Verne Andru

> If it makes you feel any better, both of my baritone ukuleles are tuned in 5ths (one in octave mandolin tuning, the other in mandocello tuning).


That's a relief!  :Laughing:

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## vwfye

My Eastwood's both are outstanding in QC

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Lord of the Badgers

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## Lord of the Badgers

> Hey Lord - of all the current tenor offerings the Eastwood Classic is top of my list. I prefer a short-scale but may be dead before anybody starts making affordable 21-inchers.
> 
> When you get your Classic could you confirm if it's a full hollow body or semi-hollow as they advertise? Semi-hollow will have a center block running inside from the neck to the tail piece.
> 
> I've tried a few Eastwoods in stores and they are as well made as any Epiphone or Squier, which are well built in their own right. Epiphone has really picked up their game as far as factory setup is concerned but the others require help. I expect pac-rim instruments will need some amount of user-setup so perfection out of the box isn't expected, but I await your report once you've received yours.


Badgers to you Verne ;-) 
I've just had the shipping notice... so we'll see how good TNT are... I'll post a dedicated thread in time  :Smile:

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fox, 

Verne Andru

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## kmmando

Any more news on the Fender tele tenor yet? Doesn't seem to be for sale yet ….

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## Ted Eschliman

June 2019 release.

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Baron Collins-Hill, 

Chip Stewart

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## kmmando

Thanks Ted!

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## Lord of the Badgers

Spotted a shop here saying September now  :Frown:

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## trodgers

Just noticed Sweetwater is picturing all 3 colors and taking pre-orders for delivery in "just a few weeks."  
I'm kinda excited!  

No financial interest.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...rscotch-blonde

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## Lord of the Badgers

The red one is gawjus  :Smile:  


I do prefer a rosewood fingerboard, but you cant have everything!

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## mandolinstew

> The red one is gawjus  
> 
> 
> I do prefer a rosewood fingerboard, but you can’t have everything!


I like the blue for surf music with a Marshall stack and a wah wah.

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## Chip Stewart

> I like the blue for surf music with a Marshall stack and a wah wah.


Expected shipping date is now being listed as September 18.  The blue is sold out everywhere I looked.  I didn't know you could sell out during the pre-order phase.  Sweetwater is indicating the blonde and red are also sold out, but those are available from other sellers.  Looks like Fender has a winner on their hands.  Hopefully this will encourage Fender to pay more attention to the tenor market.

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## Verne Andru

> Looks like Fender has a winner on their hands.  Hopefully this will encourage Fender to pay more attention to the tenor market.


We can hope. A few years back I put in a request to Fender Custom Shop for a 21" scale Jaguar tenor. The response came back that all the custom shop does is move around existing bits and since they've never made a tenor there were no existing bits to satisfy my request. With this they now have a tenor in their catalog so the existing bits argument may become moot.

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## Lord of the Badgers

Andertons in the UK predict October... That's for the blue and red. The butterscotch in December - the red and butterscotch were actually checked with fender. UK stock.

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## EJMUSIC

yah im noticing the dates are gettin pushed back. it looks like November now for the red and blue. Guitar center is saying the butterscotch can be expected in October, but their dates have been all over the place. Really looking forward to this one, but I think I want to wait to place a pre order until a certain date can be given.

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## Lord of the Badgers

As you know I opted for a warren ellis 2p which I'm happily very surprised at loving rather. 
I hope to try a tele tenor when they come out to compare with

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## Seonachan

Seems to have disappeared completely from the major sites (GC, MF, etc.). Wonder what's going on?

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## Verne Andru

> Seems to have disappeared completely from the major sites (GC, MF, etc.). Wonder what's going on?


Yeah, I was in the big Fender dealer in Canada and they have nothing in their system about it. Which is most odd.

This is completely unsubstantiated postulation but with all the litigation going on with Gibson and Fender beating on the little-guys it's not out of the realm of possibility Eastwood served them with a cease and desist.

As we know Eastwood released their Tenorcaster using a Telecaster body shape a number of years ago. Since Fender has never produced a tenor of any type Eastwood were in their rights to use that body shape as well as the Mustang used on the Warren Ellis. Fender coming along now with a Telecaster type tenor would leave Eastwood within their rights to ask them to stop.

Fender can still make a tenor-style guitar but will have legal difficulties with either a Telecaster or Mustang body shape if Eastwood presses their priority claims to those models.

Or it could be something as simple as Fender getting caught in the trade-spat and scrambling for a new supplier, or even just bad management. Time will tell.

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## Shaqattack

I called Fender last night after not being able to find anymore on any sites (Reverb, Sweetwater, etc.) From what the specialist said, Fender discontinued the production of the Tenor Tele line this past July (which is nuts since they haven't even been released yet). As a result, they're only going to fulfill the orders that have already been committed to shops from the pre-sale. As a result, he couldn't even sell me one directly (which they normally can do). He said my best bet was to call around to a couple shops and see if they have any uncommitted orders open from that initial batch. I called the Chicago Music Exchange  and they had 2 'butterscotch' left that weren't listed on their site (they were sold out of 10 blue, 10 red, and 13 of 15 butterscotch they'd had ordered initially). I snagged one. The Fender rep didn't know why it has been discontinued, but my guess is this was more of a PR play than an actual release (I mean, we were all kind of shocked that they were doing this, right?).

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## Verne Andru

> The Fender rep didn't know why it has been discontinued, but my guess is this was more of a PR play than an actual release (I mean, we were all kind of shocked that they were doing this, right?).


Good on you for snagging one.

It costs quite a bit to tool up for a new product - almost everything had to be custom tooled including body and pickups - and the list price was pretty aggressive so that would be a pretty expensive PR stunt IMO.

Sounds like something is going on behind the scenes to me.

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## Chip Stewart

:Confused:  This doesn't make any sense from a business standpoint.  Fender was literally selling these tenor guitars faster than they could make them.  My best guess is there was a management change and the new management decided that Fender would only make "real" aka 6 string guitars.  The decision to stop making the tenor guitar had to be an emotional one by someone in Fender's management.  Logically it doesn't make any sense.

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## fox

That is strange but it would make the few available very desirable!

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## Mandoloon

I'd been on the fence about pre-ordering. But after watching them dry up on several websites, I called Elderly last month and ended up ordering one in Lake Placid Blue -- because when I called, I was told they had only three left in that color from the initial order, and they wouldn't be making another order (they didn't say why). I've been wondering what the deal was since it looked like there was definitely money to be made; whew, sounds like the ol' FOMO may have actually worked in my favor this time.

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## Huck

Emailed Chicago Music Exchange today. Tomorrow was the scheduled ship date. They have yet to receive them from Fender.

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## EJMUSIC

> Emailed Chicago Music Exchange today. Tomorrow was the scheduled ship date. They have yet to receive them from Fender.


Fender tenor telecasters aren't shipping out till atleast october 15th. CHicago music exchange never updated their info in regards to this, or at the very least were unaware of it.

I have it on good authority, and confirmed by two different reps/sources.

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## EJMUSIC

I'll admit i've been a little frustrated with fender on this. First anticipating it sometime in July / August, then the dates getting pushed back. But more importantly, the communication has been a consistent issue. I don't think Fender has been communicating well with their distributors on the specifics of when this model will be in, how many there are available, the fact that there was a decision to discontinue the tenor model. I know this because i've spoken to several reps at places like Guitar Center, Chicago Music Exchange, Elderly, Sweetwater, even some obscure shop I cant remember the name of. They all kind of have different answers. How many they have available, when they'll have it, if it's been discontinued or not, etc... It's hard to get a straight answer because they've all been inconsistent. and now unfortunately it looks like the tenors that have been allocated to most of the aforementioned distributors are for the most part accounted for, but im crossing my fingers that my recent pre-order will come through. 

Either way, I suppose its understandable (maybe?) because the tenor market is a niche market, and when it comes down to it Fender knows that it's not a cash grab. You know theres probably a small percentage of folks buying them who want it for the "collector's Appeal", some who think it some sort of neat toy, some who'll use it as a secondary instrument, some who will play it in their bedroom and then some who will play it as their main squeeze/gigging instrument. That being said, i'm going to assume that some used models will be available in the future.

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## Baron Collins-Hill

Just had my pre-order canceled because they ended up not getting as many as they thought. Cream City Music. Super bummed!

Thanks
Baron

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## Baron Collins-Hill

I will say that it's not Cream City's fault, and I was promptly refunded and offered a complimentary set of strings for the inconvenience. Seems like fender didn't produce enough of these things. Hopefully there will be another run in the future. 

Thanks
Baron

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Gunnar

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## Jeff Hildreth

Marketing ploy.

Likely will be re-released with an increased price.

Just my suspicious nature.

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## Chip Stewart

> Marketing ploy.
> 
> Likely will be re-released with an increased price.
> 
> Just my suspicious nature.


That would make sense from a business perspective, but it would certainly create a lot of ill will towards Fender in the tenor guitar community.

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## EJMUSIC

> I will say that it's not Cream City's fault, and I was promptly refunded and offered a complimentary set of strings for the inconvenience. Seems like fender didn't produce enough of these things. Hopefully there will be another run in the future. 
> 
> Thanks
> Baron


I received an email from guitar center that they would in face be receiving more in November.

As to the truth behind this i cant be 100% positive because its been kind of volatile

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## Shaqattack

It looks like some shops online must have some inventory on tenor teles coming in for the November batch. I checked them this morning and you can add them to carts now at guitar center, Russo, cream city and a few others..still showing sold out at some other shops like Chicago music exchange and elderly. .

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Chip Stewart, 

Verne Andru

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## Huck

Telephoned Fender customer service was told October 15th ship date.

Curious, does anyone else have a preorder?

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## mandolinstew

My local music store is getting some.Will Check one out when it arrives.

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## kmmando

Anyone got hold of the tenor tele yet, or have any more news?

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## Huck

> Anyone got hold of the tenor tele yet, or have any more news?


Ryan from Sweetwater called me last week to say they are shipping now (told one customer who received their's loved it). I was told mine is expected to ship November 7th.

Tyler from Chicago Music Exchange emailed last week: "Just reaching out to let you know the expected eta is mid November." & "Just wanted to update you on this, looks like these will more than likely be in Mid November now."

zZsounds,  it appears, are taking pre-orders - December 10th estimate ship date. 

https://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN0141042


I'll report back with my thoughts and some pictures once I receive one.

Huck

 :Frown:  Just noticed your in Scotland.  I'm in North America so I hope this helps a little.

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## kmmando

Great post, thanks! I'm getting excited as they seem to be surfacing at last. Cheers Kevin Macleod






> Ryan from Sweetwater called me last week to say they are shipping now (told one customer who received their's loved it). I was told mine is expected to ship November 7th.
> 
> Tyler from Chicago Music Exchange emailed last week: "Just reaching out to let you know the expected eta is mid November." & "Just wanted to update you on this, looks like these will more than likely be in Mid November now."
> 
> zZsounds,  it appears, are taking pre-orders - December 10th estimate ship date. 
> 
> https://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN0141042
> 
> 
> ...

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## pim888

> Anyone got hold of the tenor tele yet, or have any more news?


Hi,

I'm really disappointed. I ordered one in mid july from a european store (I live in europe), Thomann. The delivery was expected to be the 30th July. They first announce (at the beginnin of august) that it will be delayed to the end of september. A the beginning of october they announced end of november, and yesterday to the 15th of February 2020...

They say the problem is due to Fender (they claim not to have received one guitar). I have a few question:
- has anyone see one of this tenor?
- could it be complete vaporware? will they exist in the end?
- do you think it would help to order on fender's website?

I think all of this is a really disrespectful for the customer, and a really awful way to conduct business...

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## Verne Andru

> Hi,
> 
> They say the problem is due to Fender (they claim not to have received one guitar). I have a few question:
> - could it be complete vaporware? will they exist in the end?


Production problems happen especially with something new. Fender has never done a tenor (not that it's rocket-science) so give them some time to work it out. I've not seen them fail to deliver on a product yet, so I'd wait if you're really wanting one.




> I'm really disappointed.
> 
> I think all of this is a really disrespectful for the customer, and a really awful way to conduct business...


This is Fender culture. It's usually on full display at a NAMM show - unless you're a really big name they treat you like crap. If you want a Fender product you have to take it warts and all.

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## Huck

> - has anyone see one of this tenor?
> - could it be complete vaporware? will they exist in the end?


I doubt there is such a conspiracy for Fender to spend on the R&D, NAMM show, advertising and such just for "vaporware". I also doubt that representatives of major guitar stores and Fender customer service would blatantly lie. To what end does this benefit Fender?




> - do you think it would help to order on fender's website?


In the USA ordering directly from Fender is not an option currently. Not sure if there is a shop Fender.com Europe




> I think all of this is a really disrespectful for the customer, and a really awful way to conduct business...


If you are that dissatisfied, just remember consumers can vote with their money.  

I'm with Verne Andru - it is a completely new product launch.  I'll wait six months if it means getting a good product versus Fender shipping garbage to satisfy a schedule. I don't care to purchase an Eastwood or a Soares'y at this time. Other options are very limited here in North America; so I'll wait patiently.

Just my thoughts.

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## pim888

Thanks to both of you for your answer, which I find reassuring. What I feel is damageable is the fact that they do not communicate. It is understandable to have production issues, but it is better to admit it than to leave the customer without any explanation... I think I will wait... but I hope they will not keep on postponing...

Kind regards.

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## Chip Stewart

Fender has the Tenor Tele listed on their website ( https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electr...141042302.html ), so maybe they had a change of heart and will be offering more than the initial production run.  The web page says "notify me when available" so their supply issues aren't resolved yet, but they haven't given up on it yet either.  I think if they stick with it they will sell a lot more than they expect.

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## Verne Andru

> What I feel is damageable is the fact that they do not communicate.


Even thought we players are the end customers of Fender products, they don't sell to us. All the big companies sell through distributors to resellers - those are the people they communicate with and pander to. While it may appear counter-intuitive, many companies fall into this trap - they alienate the end-customer chasing the middle-men. Lesser companies usually fail because of this, but so far Fender has enough momentum that they don't have to take their blinders off - yet. We're just not far enough up the food chain to matter. Get used to it.

Another thing to note is the global disruption to the supply chains. A month or so ago an edict came down from on-high ordering all US companies to move their businesses out of certain nation-states leaving many scrambling to find alternate sources. While this is behind the scenes stuff it is causing a major shake-up of the industry.

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## Shaqattack

Hey everyone - I was in reverb and saw that a shop in Colorado called Spotlight Music has 2 for sale with pics that looked like they were from in their shop. I gave them a call and they said they arrived and are ready for anyone to take home - which means that they should be shipping soon for the rest of us. Cant wait!

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## Huck

> Just had my pre-order canceled because they ended up not getting as many as they thought. Cream City Music. Super bummed!
> 
> Thanks
> Baron





> I will say that it's not Cream City's fault, and I was promptly refunded and offered a complimentary set of strings for the inconvenience. Seems like fender didn't produce enough of these things. Hopefully there will be another run in the future. 
> 
> Thanks
> Baron


Cream City is selling a red one on Reverb.

https://reverb.com/item/26352256-fen...ple-fiesta-red

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## Shaqattack

Theres a review on that page and it says that the Tenor tele has the worst setup and fretwork Id ever seen on a Fender-brand instrument - sharp fret ends, poorly leveled frets, insanely high nuts slots - I dont know how quality control let this get out of the factory. Wow.

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kmmando

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## Verne Andru

> There’s a review on that page and it says that the Tenor tele has the ‘worst setup and fretwork I’d ever seen on a Fender-brand instrument - sharp fret ends, poorly leveled frets, insanely high nuts slots - I don’t know how quality control let this get out of the factory.’ Wow.


As per industry "norms" the factory assembles the bits and it's up to the reseller to do the setup. Epiphone has picked up their game and pleck many of their instruments at the factory but that's the exception.

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kmmando

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## Shaqattack

Yeah, I contacted Chicago music exchange and asked them to set it up for me with GDAE tuning and to lower the action, etc. and they put a note on my account. I dont mind paying the shop a bit extra to have it playable out of the shipment vs. having to take it to my luthier and waiting a few weeks.

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kmmando

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## kmmando

Do keep us posted as to how you get on with it. I'd be tuning it that way as well, so interested in the action/string gauges/types …. great!

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## Shaqattack

This is kind of shocking, but Fender released a video about the tenor tele yesterday. 26k views too! Absolutely worth watching. The sentiment is 4 stringed guitars are fun to play and are perfect for kids. The comments are hilarious too. 80% are incredulous that fender made a tenor tele and 20% love it.
https://youtu.be/TNgGS1bvOlc

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Daniel Nestlerode, 

kmmando, 

Verne Andru

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## Verne Andru

> https://youtu.be/TNgGS1bvOlc






It's worth watching. For what Fender is going after I think they pretty much nailed it. The pickups do sound great if you're into that whole tele-twang-thang and their demo guy - a seasoned guitar pro - does a great job talking to guitar players about something "new" while playing regular guitar stuff some may know and be able to relate to.

An old marketing adage goes - "it's easier to sell somebody something they want to buy than to convince someone to buy something they don't need" - so we'll see how successful they are in convincing guitar players to pony-up for 2 less strings. Especially for the cost of a real Telecastor.

Targeting uke players may make more sense since they wouldn't need much convincing and the fret-markers work for that tuning.

Targeting traditional tenor and mandola players would make even more sense since we've been waiting for years for affordable tenors and are an active buying market.

Time will tell if Fender's approach pans out.

I'd like to see them do a short-scale Jaguar with those pickups (done as humbuckers) under the Squier label.

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## Huck

> Does it have side dots?


Yes fox it has side dots.

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Chip Stewart, 

fox, 

kmmando

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## mstidham

> Going by the Facebook groups DGBE is by far the most popular tuning for tenor guitars!
> On the three groups I frequent, the majority are ukulele players buying tenors to play in 4ths.
> I used to try and explain the merits of 5ths but I dont bother anymore.


Heck, that's why I'm wanting a tenor guitar now.  Once I saw how intuitive 5ths tuning was, I don't want to go back to 4ths!

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fox, 

Verne Andru

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