# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  High Quality Short Scale Tenor Guitar?

## crisscross

I have two tenor guitars: a Blueridge BR 40-T and a Kala tenor guitar.
As much as I like the Blueridge for playing chords in our little acoustic trio, it doesn't inspire me much to play melodies on it. But recently, I dug out my little Kala tenor guitar and played_ The unclouded Day_ on it:


That was quite some fun, especially since the frets are closer and I could partly use mandolin fingering. But the sound is a little thin especially on the A-string.
So my question: are there any tenor guitars with 21,5 inch scale length of better sound quality then the Kala? Any builders?
By the way, I use CGDA tuning.

----------

derbex, 

fox, 

Jim Roberts

----------


## Seonachan

Fletchers are 21" and very high quality. Some of the old small Regals are very good (i.e. the ones with spruce top and mahogany or rosewood back & sides), but theyre often pretty bent out of shape and need a lot of work.

----------


## Cornfield

Have you considered a small Martin? They recently reissued the 5-15T. There also used vintage 1927-1933 small Martin tenor guitars that are blessed with big sound and small bodies.

----------


## Jill McAuley

Max Girouard has made a few short scale tenors - I'd give me eye teeth for one!

----------

Charles E.

----------


## artguy

I have the Kala too, and as you mentioned its a little thin sometimes. I was looking for a small tenor with a bit of a warmer sound and ended up buying a PONO steel string baritone uke. They make an amazing line of big bodied ukes, and the acacia model I bought sounds absolutely stunning! The model is the UL4-1 and I cant recommend it highly enough. Beautiful hard shell case included. Not a ridiculous amount of $$$ for what you get!

----------

Verne Andru

----------


## fox

You could take your Kala to a luthier and he may be able to improve the guitars sound.
Like most mass produced guitars, they are slightly over built.
The bracing could be reshaped and the soundboard finish can be looked at, you may find it a much nicer guitar after that.
Going a bit further, you could ask that same luthier to look at your Blueridge and even consider a new or modified shorter neck!

----------


## crisscross

Thanks for the answers folks!
I had a look at Fletchers tenor guitars and they are a little outside my price range, I was thinking 1000-1500.
I googled Martin 5-15 T and found only models from the fifties and sixties.
I guess a Girouard is also a bit outside my price range.
A Pono steel-string bariton uke seems like a good idea, but they are not available at the moment in UK.
As to fox's proposition, I have no experience with luthier finetuning guitars.
I'll probably ask some German luthiers whether they can build me a good sounding short scale tenor guitar.

----------


## fox

I think you deserve one....

----------


## Bunnyf

I have a Pono steel string short scale (21.5") tenor guitar that I'm happy with. solid wood- spruce top and solid rosewood s&b. I think they are about 1k new. Got mine right here on MC used for $600 I think.

----------


## Jill McAuley

> Thanks for the answers folks!
> I had a look at Fletchers tenor guitars and they are a little outside my price range, I was thinking 1000-1500.
> I googled Martin 5-15 T and found only models from the fifties and sixties.
> I guess a Girouard is also a bit outside my price range.
> A Pono steel-string bariton uke seems like a good idea, but they are not available at the moment in UK.
> As to fox's proposition, I have no experience with luthier finetuning guitars.
> I'll probably ask some German luthiers whether they can build me a good sounding short scale tenor guitar.


You might put a "wanted" ad up on some of the guitar sites such as the Acoustic Guitar Forum or the Unofficial Martin Guitar forum, and here of course as well - the reissued Martin 5-15T sells used in the $1200-1500 and it wouldn't surprise me if there are folks around who are sitting on one they purchased but don't put a lot of playing time on.

----------


## Bunnyf

> You might put a "wanted" ad up on some of the guitar sites such as the Acoustic Guitar Forum or the Unofficial Martin Guitar forum, and here of course as well - the reissued Martin 5-15T sells used in the $1200-1500 and it wouldn't surprise me if there are folks around who are sitting on one they purchased but don't put a lot of playing time on.


I'd also put a wtb ad on ukulele underground forum. There are a fair amount of ukers who get interested in short scale tenor guitars. In fact, it was a UU poster who tipped me off to the ad here on MC for my tg. (thank you DownUpDave). Many ukers are from Uk or elsewhere in EU

----------


## Seonachan

Vintage - or modern re-issue - Martin tenors are great, but I've never seen one that was in the 21" scale range. Did they ever make a short scale?

----------


## Huck

What style do they consider Terz?

----------


## pheffernan

> What style do they consider Terz?


I think they’re small size 5 bodied but still with a 23” scale.

----------


## crisscross

Thanks again for the recommandations! I posted a want ad for a Pono steelstring baritone in a German ukulele forum, but there were no answers. I also asked a German dealer, but he told me, that he could only try to import such a baritone uke, and that could become quite expensive.
Greg Boyd has announced, that they will be carrying a Pono baritone Uke/Tenor guitar in a few days. But shipping an instrument of that price range across the Atlantic doesn't seem too reasonable to me. https://gregboyd.com/product/new-pon...ne-uke-ul4-10/
I also discovered, that Aquila offers a set of Nylgut strings to turn a Concert ukulele into a CGDA-tenor guitar. I ordered them, put them on my tenor uke and it kind of worked. But as much as I like the sound of a fingerpicked classical guitar, on my mahogany tenor uke, the Aquila strings sounded kind of dull.
To try them out, I had prepared a little playback with the chord changes of _The Green Leaves Of Summer._ With the average sound of my tenor uke/tenor guitar, I didn't want to continue in that direction, so to use the playback at least a little bit, I played the melody on my Eastman Astrojet. That was real fun. The Astrojet has a little longer scale than I prefer, but with the thinner electric strings, the playability is quite OK. So maybe I'll get one of those tenor Teles. I always had preferred Fender guitars when I still played electric and playing electric, I wouldn't bother anyone with inadequate tenor tones.
Thomann announced, that they will get tenor Teles in 6-7 weeks...

----------


## fox

I might have something for you, I have a unusual, deep body 21” scale four string that  has a beautiful cypress top and arch back.
I will send you more info....

----------


## crisscross

I tried to work a bit on my end of the tone production. I bought a very thick pick made of casein and played with the rounded edge _sul tasto_ in order to get a more mellow tone. Maybe I'll get some flatwound strings. The sound is still a bit on the cheap side, but it's getting better...

----------


## Cornfield

You know you could get a tenor with 23” scale and then buy a capo?

----------


## BigMuddyRI

> Max Girouard has made a few short scale tenors - I'd give me eye teeth for one!


Indeed. 21.5 scale. I posted about mine here: 

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...girouard+tenor

----------

Jill McAuley

----------


## crisscross

As decent as my Kala sounds played with a thick pick on the lower three strings, I'm simply not able to coax such a kind of tone from the high A-string.
That's why I think of an upgrade sometime in the future. But in all videos  I've seen of Girouards, Fosters and Fletchers, they are tuned GDAE.
I could surely change the tuning to my preferred CGDA, but would the A-string in this case sound fatter than the one of my Kala? Or is a thin-sounding A-string simply a drawback of CGDA tuning?

----------


## fox

I think you would notice more clarity from a custom made guitar, all the mass produced tenor guitars will be overbuilt for durability and strength in preference to clarity of sound.
Personally I prefer CGDA on the shorter 21 scale.
String choice can make quite a difference but the A (CGDA) string on a 23 scale is close to breaking point and always seems to tight for my liking .

----------


## crisscross

> I think you would notice more clarity from a custom made guitar, all the mass produced tenor guitars will be overbuilt for durability and strength in preference to clarity of sound.


That goes without a question, but I have some doubts whether the above mentioned tenors are built to handle CGDA tuning or whether they unfold their full potential only tuned GDAE.

----------


## fox

I don’t know that answer, it could be something to do with frequency or some other fact I have no understanding of?
However both tunings should use the same tension strings so should power the guitar in exactly the same way.
As a very general rule, the bigger the body and the longer the scale the better the sound.

----------


## Harley Marty

> That goes without a question, but I have some doubts whether the above mentioned tenors are built to handle CGDA tuning or whether they unfold their full potential only tuned GDAE.


I dend to think the opposite. Most of the mass produced tenors are built around the traditional CGDA in my opinion body size wise at least. My first Tenor the Harley Benton is great in CGDA & terrible in GDAE.

----------


## crisscross

> I dend to think the opposite. Most of the mass produced tenors are built around the traditional CGDA in my opinion body size wise at least. My first Tenor the Harley Benton is great in CGDA & terrible in GDAE.


I was thinking about having a tenor guitar built by Fletcher, Foster or Girouard. All their videos show tenor guitars tuned in GDAE.

----------


## Mandobar

I have a Girouard tenor, which is tuned GDAE. Sounds great in that tuning.  I also have a Collings tenor tuned CGDA.  The Collings is a longer scale, but I have found that you need to play around with the string gauges on these instruments in order to dial in the sound you are looking for.  There are no hard and fast rules.  There are also some great vintage tenor guitars out there: old Martins, Gibsons, even some really nice old Regals (I have one with a carved mahogany top).

----------

Jill McAuley

----------


## Lord of the Badgers

Oh I dunno. For me my 23" mcilroy is always GDAE. If I want CGDA I capo. Hey presto... Short scale CGDA tenor  :Smile:  
That's why I like being in GDAE apart from finding I can use alt tunings without 'too soon' string breakages!

----------


## Huck

> I was thinking about having a tenor guitar built by Fletcher, Foster or Girouard...


First, may I say that I applaud your methology trying different strings and picks, etc.

fox builds guitars, so I tend to listen to his advice often. That being said, why not send an email to these three builders expressing exactly what you want and need? I'd imagine their responses will be more reassuring than ours.

Nigel Forester contributes to the tenor guitar forum as well. You might try messaging him.

I think most would agree that off the shelf - mass production guitars can be hit-or-miss as far as tonal qualities. Tinkering with the setup, such as you have, will get most guitars to where we are satisfied. In your case it seems to be the instrument not the player.

I wish you luck in your search.

----------


## crisscross

Thanks again for your thoughts. Well, first of all, I've got to decide whether a tenor guitar is so important to me, that I will spend the money for a handbuilt tenor guitar. Until now, tenor guitar was just an instrument for a little diversification, that I used once in a while, for me...

----------


## subby13

Sorry to necro but were you able to find anything?

----------


## bruce.b

I have two Herb Taylor archtop tenors, #174 and #205. 21.5” scale, tuned GDAE. I love them, they are powerful, and cut through other instruments quite well. Great sound, wonderful necks, and you can reset the neck yourself in maybe thirty minutes. I took my neck off just to see, but didn’t need to reset it. I have never played his flattops so I can’t  comment on them. He does all sorts of experimental builds too, so you can get almost anything you want. Check out his site..... http://www.herbtaylor.com/instruments/tenorguitar/

NK Forster makes gorgeous guitars that tempt me. I haven’t played one, but they look and sound fantastic in the videos on his site.

Both of these builders make lots of tenor guitars, something you might want to take into consideration if you go custom. My Herb Taylor tenors blew away the two other small shop luthier built tenors I’ve played, in both sound, volume and playability.

----------

pheffernan

----------


## nkforster

21.5" or thereabouts is great for CGDA, and yes, I do make a lot of tenors these days. If you've not sat through them all, here is a playlist of my tenor and plectrum guitars on YouTube:





I have to say, the basic Session King and Parlour King are great guitars. And they're the most affordable instruments I make.

Nigel
https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/ins.../tenor-guitar/

----------

bruce.b, 

Christian DP, 

Jim Roberts

----------


## Jim Roberts

I have small scale Fletcher tenor guitar tuned GDAE and I am really enjoying it.  It is a joy to play and has sustain that is incredible and volume to spare including the G string. I also like the fact that there is no plastic on the instrument except for the tuner buttons.  It has maple binding.  I am new to tenors and wondering what capo folks suggest for the tenor?  I’ve not played an instrument that requires a capo.

----------


## Cary Fagan

Hey Jim, nice Fletcher!  I've just used a banjo capo on every tenor.  My question to you: how do the chords sound?

The reason that Fletchers and Regal short scale tenors work is that they use a tailpiece and floating bridge rather than a guitar-style bridge.  This allows the strings to stretch farther and have more tension.  I wish one of the manufacturers would build a less expensive version of this kind of tenor.  Regals seem to be about $1,000 these days (O for the three I had and sold a few years ago!).

----------


## Jim Roberts

Cary, the two and three finger chords sound lovely.

----------


## pheffernan

> I have small scale Fletcher tenor guitar tuned GDAE and I am really enjoying it.  It is a joy to play and has sustain that is incredible and volume to spare including the G string. I also like the fact that there is no plastic on the instrument except for the tuner buttons.  It has maple binding.  I am new to tenors and wondering what capo folks suggest for the tenor?  I’ve not played an instrument that requires a capo.


That’s a beauty, Jim. Where did you score it? I don’t remember seeing a Fletcher used in three or four years of looking.

----------


## Jim Roberts

Pheffernan, I got on Jamie's list a few years ago and he built this one in his latest batch last fall.  Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a used Fletcher for sale.  I am currently dealing with some wicked nerve entrapment issues in my right forearm and the lighter string tension of a tenor over a mandolin is keeping me playing these days.

----------


## pheffernan

> I got on Jamie's list a few years ago and he built this one in his latest batch last fall.  Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a used Fletcher for sale.


There are a couple of expired ads from Elderly and listings from Reverb (at attractive prices), but I don’t think that I’ve seen a live offer either. I ended up buying a used tenor built by David Newton in the hopes of fusing some of my acquired mandolin knowledge with my original guitar background, and it’s everything that I could want in a secondary or tertiary instrument, but I remain curious about a Fletcher with its 21” scale. Enjoy it in good health!

----------


## Cary Fagan

Thanks for letting me know!

----------

