# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Rough and ready ... quick and dirty, electric conversion.

## fox

]I have a friend who has been pestering me to convert a cheap six string electric  into a short scale tenon electric.
I have not worked on any instruments for a year or so, as I gave up renting a workshop and I am now sort of retired.
However I still have a shed and a few hand tools. so I finally told him to bring it around .

Yesterday I cut off the head just above the truss rod end and cut down the neck.
I left the 12th fret markers so the neck is a little wide but ended up with a 21.5” scale and a 34mm nut.
The truss rod is still in there and accessible from the very end of the headstock.

After glueing on a pair of ears we left it until this morning and I veneered over the joints and sanded it all down .
In all it took me 8 hours ... certainly not a work of art but it does work!

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Chip Stewart, 

Daniel Nestlerode, 

derbex, 

Harley Marty, 

Simon DS, 

Verne Andru, 

zedmando

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## Chip Stewart

Nice job!  A 21 inch scale electric tenor is impossible to find, so you might be flooded with requests.  Watch out!   :Mandosmiley:

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## fox

Well my friend is very pleased with his new toy but.... he would really like a 20” scale!!
The only sensible way to do that is to make a new neck..... so watch this space...
Personally I feel it will look out of proportion and he really needs a completely new guitar.

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## Verne Andru

I think this is a brilliant way to get a tenor scale on the quick. Well done!

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## fox

Hey Verne, I have had very little to do with solid body electric guitars and I really did not know much about them however.... I have spent the last week or so studying them. So now, I know a dangerously small amount ha ha ....

On Friday I found a similar one in a charity shop for £20 . I have striped it down, cut around 25mm off all around and made a new neck.
I have re styled the body and made it far more flowing and rounded.

I made it a fixed neck with carbon fibre reinforcement, I have coated the whole thing with an epoxy seal coat so basically I am left with painting it and fitting the electrics.
I will post some pictures but to be honest it happened so quickly I did not take many!

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Daniel Nestlerode, 

Harley Marty, 

Verne Andru

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## Daniel Nestlerode

Sounds like a cool project.   :Smile: 


Daniel

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## Gunnar

What Daniel said! Looking forward to pictures

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## thistle3585

> Nice job!  A 21 inch scale electric tenor is impossible to find, so you might be flooded with requests.  Watch out!


I have two hanging in my shop right now and three more in process.  Must not be looking hard enough.  :Smile:

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John Van Zandt

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## fox

The new one alongside the modified neck one, exactly the same guitar body just reshaped and with a new neck.
I will have a look for some new pickups over the next few days....

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Harley Marty, 

Verne Andru

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## fox

I did not want a tremolo so I filled the space, I also managed to get a reasonable finish  using spray cans but it took a few goes, I hope to fix the fretboard on tomorrow...

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Chip Stewart, 

oinkstrings, 

Verne Andru

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## Verne Andru

I'm liking the way you've modded the body.

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fox

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## fox

A little more progress (life keeps getting in the way) roughed out a pick plate, not sure what colour I will paint it?
Waiting for a couple of pickups to arrive from China and I need to make a back plate for the strings.....

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Verne Andru

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## neilca

> A little more progress (life keeps getting in the way) roughed out a pick plate, not sure what colour I will paint it?
> Waiting for a couple of pickups to arrive from China and I need to make a back plate for the strings.....


Looking really good!

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fox

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## oinkstrings

These Fender minis are very easy to find, cheap, (under $40.)  here in the US. ( 9 of them on shopgoodwill.com right now.)
 I've just finished two 5 string mando/mandolas.

The black one started life as a Fender Squire mini. This being my first experience with and solid body instrument I cant say how they compare to any other Emandos. I can say my son and I have been having fun with them. I've found the "neck splice" method to be my most successful  way to shorten the scale length.

This one involved cutting and re welding the truss rod but that was in order to get a 15.5" scale. You could probable avoid that if you were going for a 20" scale length.
It also involved removing the fretboard which, I must admit, is nearly impossible on these Fenders.....which explains the cheap, replacement flat fretboard ....

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fox

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## fox

I was having problems with the infill piece of wood showing through the paint, even though I sealed it with epoxy!
I felt reluctant to sand it back and re paint the thing again as the paint finish is by far the most difficult part for me. 
So I routed out a 2mm deep 150mm circle and filled it with epoxy and then had a bit of fun with a few pigments, it is perfectly level with the top at the moment but we will see what happens overnight.

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## fox

Well it came out pretty clean, just one tiny overspill that I should be able to patch up.

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Denman John, 

WaxwellHaus

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## derbex

That's pretty cool, shame it's on the back a matching pick guard would be great.

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## fox

Yeah I thought the same, you can only really get the 3d effect when the epoxy is at lease 3-4 mm deep so I would have to do a fair bit of sanding to reduce the thickness but maybe .....

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## fox

Well the green one sold straight away (£200) so as I am having fun (so much easier than acoustics) I thought let’s do another cheap and cheerful one.....

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Gunnar, 

Jess L., 

Verne Andru

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## Huck

Way to go fox. Looking forward to the finished guitar.  It sure looks great.

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fox

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## Simon DS

500mm, 19.7 inch scale length (about a fret shorter than my octave mandolin, and MUCH lower string tension)
At the moment I just drop the 2nd string from B to A, and the third from G to D (floppy).
That’s three strings in fifths.

In future I may remove the 4th D string and put it in third string position and the 5th A string to forth position, tuned down one step to G. Then tune the fifth and sixth to probably G or D, just for resonance -I don’t need them.

They are really cheap (at the moment), 15 euros, about 18 dollars? This one is supposedly for kids, the intonation is fine, and the action is low, though the pickup is like a piezo... It was sold with a mini amp that didn’t work too well. I guess their logic was that it must all be bad.

I love it because I can practice with it late into the night, and even play it as a heavy metal mandolin..

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fox, 

Verne Andru

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## fox

I made this one a 20” scale, waiting for gold fret wire, gold knobs and I may change the pickup for a gold lipstick....

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Gunnar, 

Verne Andru

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## Huck

Hello fox - I hope the project is coming along gingerly. 

Did you receive the gold hardware you were awaiting? 

More pictures please.

Cheers,
Huck

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## fox

Ahh yes I am afraid that one is sold also, I have started a new one though!
I consider the first couple as prototypes but I think I am getting the hang of it now, I have altered the shape a little and used steel in the neck for the latest one.
I have made some templates as well but I will get this one finished and ask you what you think before I sell it.

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## Huck

> I will get this one finished and ask you what you think before I sell it.


There's no need for that fox. I was just curious how it ended up with the gold Hardware.

Best of luck,
Huck

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## fox

I used to post detailed threads about my builds but I never seemed to get much interest or comments (before you were around) 
I think my designs are often to far from the conventional to appeal to many folk who visit this forum but I am just having fun and I know some folk like to see what I build.
However I have a waiting list of people who will buy anything decent I turn out ( and even the crap if its cheap enough) but it is just fun for me and more often than not I dont make a penny from any sales!

I was lucky to get a priceless commission a few years back with a free hand to build Birdy (some of her videos have received over 150 million views)  a new tenor guitar as she had seen my work on face book.
To be honest I found that a little stressful rather than enjoyable and I am meant  to be retired anyway! 
So now, I am just making the odd guitar in my garden shed in between other hobbies.
I will post a few more pictures when I get back on it....

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## Huck

Well, I for one have certainly benefited from your contributions to this forum!

I am quite impressed that you took a hand grinder with a cut-off wheel to the neck of your friend's 6 string Falcon to convert it to a 21.5" scale tenor guitar. The result speaks for itself.

I'm neither conventional nor a traditionalist, so perhaps I enjoy your builds with no pre-judgement. So please keep up the impressive work and continue to share it with the rest of this tenor guitar community. I am appreciative and hope you continue having fun with your builds. "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win."

Best wishes in your retirement and for continued success,
Huck

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fox, 

Harley Marty

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## fox

Another one made to order, 20” scale, basic single pickup.
I am happy with the shape now, each one is getting neater and easier to build but this is the last one for a while as I have other things on the go.....

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Denman John, 

Gunnar, 

Harley Marty, 

Jess L., 

Verne Andru

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## Huck

Nice job fox!

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fox

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## fox

Thanks Huck, I enjoyed building this last one as it is a bit different due to my customers request.
She wanted a 32mm nut but a wider taper because she likes to bend stings and found the strings were slipping off the fretboard on her present instrument.
It will be shipped with a lipstick pickup fitted.
But the bit I liked ... was a basic finish and a slightly worn look!
I could not bring myself to put any dings or other stress marks but I sanded down the melamine to give a worn look and used a matt wax.... so much easier than a gloss finish.
It has a steel rod in the neck.

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## Grommet

Very Shapely Fox. Love the layered look as well. I seldom pass up a build thread, especially when there are new approaches to be seen.

Scott

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fox

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## Huck

fox,

What tension are you using on the electric strings? I was figuring on 15 pounds each versus 20 pounds on an acoustic. What tuning have you been setting them up for?

Cheers, 
Huck

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## fox

That one is CGDA low tension 9 14 20 30 . So in fact the same set I would use on a 23” acoustic.

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## Huck

Great, thank you fox.

I was planning on a 15lb balanced set for my new electric: (22.75") 8-12-18p-30.

I really like that you use a zero fret, and the  wood grain on the back of that neck is gorgeous.

Have a great holiday season - hopefully we'll see something new from you in the new year.

Huck

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## fox

Thanks Huck same to you...
I think you might need to try out a few strings... electric guitars do tend to work better for most folk with quite light strings but acoustic tenor guitars tend to use quite light strings to start. So you may find upping your suggested string diameter a bit, might just work for you.
With the little tenor I just  built, the strings seem a little too loose for my liking but the new owner likes them like that.

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## fox

Happy Christmas guys.....

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Chip Stewart, 

Gunnar, 

Harley Marty, 

Verne Andru

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## fox

I thought I was moving on from making guitars but I just cant help myself!

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Chip Stewart, 

Gunnar, 

Verne Andru

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## Gunnar

They look good! Just curious are you turning any profit selling these, or breaking even or losing money? 
Do you have any video of one of them?

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## fox

Hi Gunnar, I could never rely on making much money but I don’t actual loose out as I love building them just for the fun of it.
If you want a perspective I could point out that a qualified self employed carpenter working on a building site will get around £200 a day, it takes me around four days to build one of those little electrics and maybe £75 in materials but I would be lucky to get £300 on eBay.
I have sold a few acoustics that were commissions but I found that far to stressful to take on anymore so I just build them for fun and sell them for whatever I can get.

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Gunnar, 

Verne Andru

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## Verne Andru

Looking good Fox!

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fox

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## Huck

> I thought I was moving on from making guitars but I just cant help myself!


Happy New Year fox!

Another gorgeous build.

Would you mind telling me what the scale length is?

Cheers,
Huck

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## fox

Thanks Huck, I used my 60s harmony baritone ukulele as a pattern for the fretboard so 19.5” I think and a 34mm nut.

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## AndyV

Nice work Fox. Reminds me of the Tombo Ukulete, kinda.

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fox

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## fox

Yes that one is more electric ukulele   than tenor guitar although the body is still the same size and quite heavy.
I am thinking about a 23” scale with a floating bridge for the next one.... maybe a fan fret version.

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## tymbrewolf

I have made 3 22.75 to 23 inch scale bass guitars out of squier minis and a headless out of a rogue rr50. Eastwood  warren ellis tenors use bass bridges. I recently put new strings on one of the minis. I like it and it was not hard to lock the strings even though on  small bass tuners.

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## fox

Sounds great, any pictures?

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## zedmando

Cool work
At first I thought it looked like a Samick Malibu Mini

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## tymbrewolf



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## tymbrewolf



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fox, 

Verne Andru

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