# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Zither Tenor?

## bjshear

Anyone ever play a Zither Tenor guitar? Wondered what your experience is with them.

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## delsbrother

Well, that's an unfortunate name sure to cause confusion.

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## Seonachan

OK, I've decided to be the guinea pig on this one. I put in an order today for the standard tenor and should get it in the next few weeks.

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## bruce.b

Excellent. I'm looking forward to your impressions.
bruce b.

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## bjshear

nice! I am going to get one as well, just wondered if anyone else had tried or heard of it. Seems like a nice instrument for a good price.

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## Seonachan

So did you go for the standard, or one of the fancier models? I stuck to the cheap and basic.

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## bjshear

> So did you go for the standard, or one of the fancier models? I stuck to the cheap and basic.


same. I am cheap, what can I say?

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## Seonachan

I'm not saying I'm cheap, but I originally requested chrome tuners, was told they would be $10 extra, then said black would be fine.

It will be interesting to compare notes when we get them. I'm new to tenor guitars and don't have much experience with either electrics or instruments tuned in fifths, so my impressions may not be very insightful, but I'll be happy to post pics, audio and/or video for those who are curious.

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## bjshear

Seon, did you get yours yet?

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## Mandolin Mick

You guys remember Mr. Bevis on the Twilight Zone?  :Wink:

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## Seonachan

> Seon, did you get yours yet?


Not yet. I was told three weeks, and it's a couple days short of that now.

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## Seonachan

> You guys remember Mr. Bevis on the Twilight Zone?


I wonder what tuning his jacket is in?

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## Mandolin Mick

Uh ... F# Demented?  :Wink:

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## bjshear

> You guys remember Mr. Bevis on the Twilight Zone?


err....off topic?  :Chicken:

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## Mandolin Mick

Mr. Bevis was into zither music. Just adding some levity to the situation ...  :Smile:

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## bjshear

> Mr. Bevis was into zither music. Just adding some levity to the situation ...


ah, i was just ignorant. no worries, levity is good.  :Wink:

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## Mandolin Mick

My non-musical wife just told me that she got a zither for Christmas when she was about 10 years old!!!  :Disbelief:

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## Seonachan

> Uh ... F# Demented?


There's nothing sharp about that jacket.

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## bjshear

i talked to the shop to day, looks like mine will be done by this weekend, that's what the man said. So, hopefully this will be in my hands early next week. He did mention a few were ahead of mine, so maybe Seonachan you'll get your this week?

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## Seonachan

> i talked to the shop to day, looks like mine will be done by this weekend, that's what the man said. So, hopefully this will be in my hands early next week. He did mention a few were ahead of mine, so maybe Seonachan you'll get your this week?


I'm not sure, I may have placed my order after you did. I haven't gotten an update in any case.

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## bjshear

i should have been more clear, i called them. I placed my order three weeks ago this past Monday. And they said three weeks, so, me, being impatient, called to see what's up. They were cool about it, and I was happy to get the info.

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## Seonachan

Aha - I placed my order the Friday before then. I bet if they're making them in batches then ours will be done more or less simultaneously.

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## bjshear

yup, he said there were a few 'in front of mine'. But seemed to indicate that they were all going to be completed by this weekend or on this weekend. We can be anxious together now as we wait...  :Smile:

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## bjshear

got a text this morning say 'Out of Finish' and had a pic attached to it.

I hate waiting!

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## Seonachan

If mine doesn't look this nice I'm sneaking into your house and pulling a switcheroo.

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## bjshear

Was shipped yesterday, not sure when I'll get it, hopefully by Tuesday.

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## Seonachan

Mine is "in finish" according to a text photo I just got (which I can't share due to my primitive phone), so it looks like I'm a week or so behind you. Looking forward to your impressions.

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## Seonachan

Ok figured out the phone (the only thing that was primitive is my knowledge of cell phones):

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## bjshear

I'll definitely post some pics and probably a video. one thing is for sure just seeing those pics, it's nice looking wood, very pretty grain.

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## Elwood Garrett

Those are some sweet looking little tenors! I was wanting a Jupiter Creek tenor http://www.jupitercreekmusic.com/ but Rob has cut back on production......So the Zither is a viable option.

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## Seonachan

Elwood, keep your eye out for Rob's tenors on eBay, there have been a few over the last few months of different scale lengths, sometimes advertised only as baritone ukuleles.

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## Elwood Garrett

> Elwood, keep your eye out for Rob's tenors on eBay, there have been a few over the last few months of different scale lengths, sometimes advertised only as baritone ukuleles.


Thanks, I have the Tenor Guitar section saved my bookmarks and check it daily!  :Smile:

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## bjshear

Got mine on Wednesday! I haven't had a chance to play it hardly at all cause I have had family staying at my house, and I also need to put some heavier gauge strings on it (I intent to tune it GDAE). 

I will post a video once I get the heavier strings on it. But the fit and finish seems pretty nice. Very nice piece of wood and it seems to have the bigger banjo frets on it. I'll post more once I get more time with it, video and pics....

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## Seonachan

I got mine yesterday. It looks quite nice, but I asked for it to be set up for Octave Mandolin tuning, and instead I got this weird re-entrant tuning where the GDA is in regular mando tuning and the E is octave. It sounds interesting when strummed - like an autoharp - but lousy for picking tunes that use the A and E strings. And more to the point, not what I wanted or requested. I'm putting appropriate strings on it tomorrow but if I then need to pay to have the action/intonation adjusted I will not be happy. Also, when I tried it briefly through an amp, the E string was _much_ louder than the others - I'm hoping that's an artifact of the strange tuning and tensions (GDA are tense, E is loose, A and E are same gauge), but we'll see.

I've only had a few moments so far to try it out, but I can tell once these issues are resolved it will be a very nice guitar; just playing on the E string, it sounded great. I'm just hoping I don't have to drop a lot of money on a new setup and/or pickup.

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## bjshear

i finally put some octave strings on it (got them from emando, just ordered the mediums, basically I get two sets for the price of one! NFI). 

The heavier strings make ALL the difference. the sounds is amazing. It has great bass, but I can go up and the highs ring out clear. I wasted a few hours yesterday just jamming to it. Once I get the feel better I will post some pics of it but for now I am VERY happy. It is also going to take me a bit of time to figure out the scale length, I'm used to playing mandolin and a 20" octave mandolin. 

It also seemed to me that the D strings was a bit weak in the pickup, but I think that's fixed now, and/or it might be simply tweaking the action. For now I don't notice it enough to make a difference, it was slight before I changed strings, now it's not really noticeable. 

For $400 I'm not sure how you can go wrong with this is an electric octave mandolin. For me, I wanted something more guitar like. This fits the bill perfectly. I didn't want a mandolin sounds and that's why 4 strings is perfect for me and my uses.

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## 5thBeliever

What's the scale length on these? It'd be great to see/hear some videos.

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## Seonachan

Well I switched the strings today and as I suspected it threw the intonation painfully off. I'm taking it to the tech tomorrow and having him look at the pickup while he's at it.

BJ, are you getting a smoky/petroleum smell from the fretboard? It's lingering on my fingers after I play.

5th, the scale length is listed on their website at 22.75". I haven't measured it but that feels about right. I'll put up a video once this thing is playable.

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## bjshear

> Well I switched the strings today and as I suspected it threw the intonation painfully off. I'm taking it to the tech tomorrow and having him look at the pickup while he's at it.
> 
> BJ, are you getting a smoky/petroleum smell from the fretboard? It's lingering on my fingers after I play.
> 
> 5th, the scale length is listed on their website at 22.75". I haven't measured it but that feels about right. I'll put up a video once this thing is playable.


agree about the scale length, its basically 23". After switching strings I dont' have any intonation problems, and mine came as a tenor. I did file the G string on the nut a big to make room for the bigger gauge. There is no odor that I notice. I am actually impressed with the finish and fit. Again, video coming soon when I can find some spare time to do it, probably Sunday.

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## Seonachan

Guitar tech called and said fixing the setup revealed some high frets. Going to cost over $100 when all is said and done. I know tweaking costs are expected with inexpensive instruments but this is getting frustrating, especially given that half the cost is due to them not knowing what octave mando tuning is.

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## Seonachan

. . . And as soon as I emailed them detailing the issues, Tony immediately responded with an offer to reimburse the costs. He has been great to work with all along, and given that bjshear's experience was so positive, I'd say I was just a bit unlucky (and the tuning misunderstanding won't likely happen again!). I'm really looking forward to getting the guitar back in my hands.

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## Seonachan

I got it back today and I'm very happy with it. Nut & frets all fixed up, nice action and spot-on intonation (great job by the Guitar Mechanic in New London, CT). Now I just need to learn how to play the durn thing. But here's a clip of some noodling around just to give a sample of how it sounds - played through a Roland MicroCube on the JC Clean setting with no other effects.

Zither Tenor sample

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## Seonachan

For the benefit of anyone still following this thread, here's a video. Instead of processing the audio and whatnot I just stuck the little amp in front of the computer camera. It was late so I didn't have it turned up, thus you can hear the unamplified sound mixing in a bit. So the audio isn't great but it gives a sense of playing it that a "clean" recording wouldn't.

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## Malcolm G.

Good stuff! Good playing!! Pretty little thing isn't she?

(Love the little Roland - use mine on mandolins and ukes all the time - even in small club settings).

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## bjshear

very nice playing seonchan, I enjoyed it. Ok, ok, I will put up a video as well showing more of the 'heavy' side of playing the instrument. I'll knock it out this afternoon...

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## bjshear

/edit

ok my isight is not working atm with imovie, i have to download some new software, so....i have to wait a bit, going out of town tomorow, sorry, i'll make a video next week.

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## Mathew

I am going to get one as well, just wondered if anyone else had tried or heard of it. Seems like a nice instrument for a good price.

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