# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Transform a guitar into tenor guitar by changing the neck

## D0miuke

All is in the title.
I precise, I am new to the tenor guitar world.
Has anyone tried to make a such transforming.

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## Freddyfingers

I think some of the early Harmony tenors started out as guitars, and they replaced the neck.  Same large hollow body , smaller thinner neck.  But that was done at the factory.  I have seen a few conversions on eBay , sanded down the neck, changed the nut kind of thing.    I would think on an electric model it would be easier.   Just find a neck that fits in the pocket.  This, however, is beyond me.  I don't have the skills or patience to do it.

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## fox

I have converted around 10 or so acoustic guitars , some into 8 strings and some four string.
There are lots of methods but it will never be easy if you don't want cosmetic flaws.
The obvious issues are scale length & bracing, it is sometimes possible to shave down the bracing by getting your hand inside the sound hole but it can also be difficult & frustrating!
If you are prepared for the work then a classical guitar is perhaps a more suitable candidate for conversion as they will already be braced for around the same tension as a steel strung four string. However you will need to either remove the fret board & insert a truss rod (or reinforcing rod) as well as narrow down the neck or... make a new neck.
For a novice like myself with limited tools and space to work, converting a six string is a fun project but I would not say a particularly easy one.
However the results can be great, a big body can produce lots of volume, sustain & bass.

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MdJ

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## D0miuke

Yes of course there's no way for me to make it as I am not luthier at all.
But the idea would be to have it changed by a luthier, Maybe It would cost cheaper ? I don't know.
There are a lot of good old jaz guitar for good price (not gibson or so on...) in the market.
I have read somewhere that you can buy tenor guitar neck separatly, is that correct ?
That could be an exciting project.
To follow...

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## fox

Yes maybe, although if you would still want a short scale it might not be so easy as the bridge location will be to far back but, in some cases that might be easy to resolve?
Most archtops are designed to have a 25.5" scale & quite big bodies so a 20 0r 21" scale might look a bit strange.
Its all about money at the end of the day!
I own a 20" scale archtop & a 23" scale archtop but I don't play them much!

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MdJ

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## Seonachan

I used to own this crazy, great-sounding thing - a hollow electric body merged with a tenor banjo neck (with lots of extra inlays and rhinestones). It was done up by someone in the 70s.


Sounds like for your project, something with a floating bridge would be the easiest to work with.

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fox, 

Mandocarver, 

MdJ, 

Verne Andru

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## Lord of the Badgers

> I own a 20" scale archtop & a 23" scale archtop but I don't play them much!


How come mate? Don't I recall you getting one of those built ?

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## fox

Rob, the last one I built (with the fiberglass body) just works for me so much better than any other I own, I cant get enough of it!
I like my Blueridge but my new one has a 21" scale and sustains for much longer & that suits me.

The little 20" scale custom build, is lovely but, I don't find it sits on my knee very well & I like to play sitting down quite a lot.

The big archtop works well with a amp but it is not the best sounding with that flat sawn top.

I also love my 23" scale nylon stung tenor (arch back, flat top).

So basically - I own around 14, 4 string instrument but I only really play the fiberglass one and the nylon one.

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## Lord of the Badgers

The 20 is such a pretty thing though. Shame!
I do stand up playing. And sit. Lately I had been sitting.

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## D0miuke

> Yes maybe, although if you would still want a short scale it might not be so easy as the bridge location will be to far back but, in some cases that might be easy to resolve?
> Most archtops are designed to have a 25.5" scale & quite big bodies so a 20 0r 21" scale might look a bit strange.
> Its all about money at the end of the day!
> I own a 20" scale archtop & a 23" scale archtop but I don't play them much!


So nice, Would like to hear them.

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## fox

Yes sure, I will send you a link via private message later on today....

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## Lord of the Badgers

Make it less private? Me wanna hear too.

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## fox

Nothing new Rob only stuff I have posted before.

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## Granger

I have used a 3/4 sized or student guitar for such a project. 23" scale so it is comfortable at a Tenor guitar scale length. I also did a 3/4 or student classical guitar. It was an Antonio Aparicio, so it was a pretty nice guitar. I play it DGBE like an over sized baritone uke. Man that thing sings, I just love its tone. 23" scale on that too.

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fox

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## MdJ

5 string snack tray resonator - '70's crucianelli body, mini strat neck (carved  down to 1-7/16" @ the nut)  piezo in body/ lace alumitone humbucker in the neck position - tuned FCGDA

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## Jess L.

> 5 string snack tray resonator - '70's crucianelli body, mini strat neck (carved  down to 1-7/16" @ the nut)  piezo in body/ lace alumitone humbucker in the neck position - tuned FCGDA


Maybe I'm confused (again or still),  :Wink:  but isn't the *bridge* in the wrong place? Is the intonation (fretted notes) ok? Scale length looks to be a lot more than twice the distance from nut to 12th fret, maybe I counted/measured wrong when looking at the picture...  :Confused:  

Other than that, looks cool, I'd like to try something like that someday.  :Mandosmiley:  

The closest I've got to anything like that so far, is the little "half-size" classical guitar that's shown in my avatar... except that I haven't modified the neck aside from putting on a goofy little one-string-only capo (translation: think banjo 5th-string railroad-spike type of capo except in this case I used the ballpoint-pen-cap trick)...  :Whistling:  that brings the 1st string up to a high "B" note, so that the 5th through 1st strings are GDAEB. I'm ignoring the 6th string right now, I don't need it at the moment, although if I were to tune it to a C for full fifths (CGDAEB) I'd have to find a heavier string somewhere. 

Then of course there's also my normal-size electric guitar (also shown in avatar), no neck mods on that though... would *like* to shorten up the neck someday but meanwhile I just capo it at 5th fret and tune to xGDAEB (again I ignore the 6th string for now), haven't broke a 1st string yet (knock on wood) although it's probably really close to that... the whole string set is extra light with the 1st string either .008" or .009" (can't remember which, would have to find package the strings came in to refresh my memory) so there's a little leeway there to crank up the tension more before stuff starts breaking. The high "B" on the 1st string is not used very much anyway, it basically exists as an alternative to hitting the 7th fret of the "E" string  :Chicken:  on fiddle tunes, or occasionally for octave-higher variations on certain tunes. The 2nd string (E) is at normal guitar pitch (after figuring in the capo), all the other strings are at lower-than-normal pitch which makes them a little slack but I like the effect, also when they're more slack it's more fun/easier to get bent-notes.  :Grin:  

The only mods the electric required were intonation adjustments which of course is super easy on Strat-style electrics,  :Grin:  and pickup-height adjustments. This particular cheap guitar's pickups don't have individually adjustable pole pieces so it's a compromise (2nd string is weak sounding, has lower volume because the stock pickups have that pole piece sitting down lower for some reason), eventually I will either (a) try to modify the existing pickups, or (b) replace them with different pickups... being a cheapskate, I will likely try option "a" first.  :Laughing:  Meanwhile, I've tried to train myself to just pick the "E" string (which on this xGDAEB instrument is the 2nd string) a little bit harder to increase its volume.  :Whistling:

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MdJ

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## MdJ

The photo may be distorted - it does intonate there i assure you. This instrument is getting fretted and set up right now- hope to have it back next week - touch wood... My first flawed attempt at lutherie ....

Best

MdJ

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Jess L.

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## Jess L.

> The photo may be distorted - it does intonate there i assure you. ...


Cool!  :Mandosmiley:  Looks like a fun instrument.  :Mandosmiley:   :Smile:

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MdJ

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## Verne Andru

The "quick and dirty" way to get a tenor happening is:

- start with regular guitar - Les Paul scale works well
- remove outside E strings
- capo at the second fret and play with string gauges until you get the tuning you want

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## MdJ

> 5 string snack tray resonator - '70's crucianelli body, mini strat neck (carved  down to 1-7/16" @ the nut)  piezo in body/ lace alumitone humbucker in the neck position - tuned FCGDA


Here it is - not pretty... but I am quite pleased with the  tonal quality - especially plugged in - (i obviously had some beginners luck) very percussive attack from the piezo under the tray - wonderful hmbkr sauce from the lace Alumitone - very bell like tone with beaucoup sustain (cast aluminum bridge topper w stewmac metal archtop bridge)

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fox, 

Verne Andru

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## bbcee

I've been looking at these - unbolt the neck, slim it down, and away you go:

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00UHCEUEI/...I2IV718G7GGAGD

I like the shorter scale length (21.5", I think) - I find on my 23" tenor, I often capo at the 2nd fret & tune it GDAE. Problem is, I'm not really in electric mode at the moment. Future project.

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fox, 

MdJ

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## thecelloronin

> 


Where can I find out more about this instrument?

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## fox

http://www.jazzboxukes.com/ 
I have a video of mine too ...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwOZbBn2PU

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## s11141827

> Maybe I'm confused (again or still),  but isn't the *bridge* in the wrong place? Is the intonation (fretted notes) ok? Scale length looks to be a lot more than twice the distance from nut to 12th fret, maybe I counted/measured wrong when looking at the picture...  
> 
> Other than that, looks cool, I'd like to try something like that someday.  
> 
> The closest I've got to anything like that so far, is the little "half-size" classical guitar that's shown in my avatar... except that I haven't modified the neck aside from putting on a goofy little one-string-only capo (translation: think banjo 5th-string railroad-spike type of capo except in this case I used the ballpoint-pen-cap trick)...  that brings the 1st string up to a high "B" note, so that the 5th through 1st strings are GDAEB. I'm ignoring the 6th string right now, I don't need it at the moment, although if I were to tune it to a C for full fifths (CGDAEB) I'd have to find a heavier string somewhere. 
> 
> Then of course there's also my normal-size electric guitar (also shown in avatar), no neck mods on that though... would *like* to shorten up the neck someday but meanwhile I just capo it at 5th fret and tune to xGDAEB (again I ignore the 6th string for now), haven't broke a 1st string yet (knock on wood) although it's probably really close to that... the whole string set is extra light with the 1st string either .008" or .009" (can't remember which, would have to find package the strings came in to refresh my memory) so there's a little leeway there to crank up the tension more before stuff starts breaking. The high "B" on the 1st string is not used very much anyway, it basically exists as an alternative to hitting the 7th fret of the "E" string  on fiddle tunes, or occasionally for octave-higher variations on certain tunes. The 2nd string (E) is at normal guitar pitch (after figuring in the capo), all the other strings are at lower-than-normal pitch which makes them a little slack but I like the effect, also when they're more slack it's more fun/easier to get bent-notes.  
> 
> The only mods the electric required were intonation adjustments which of course is super easy on Strat-style electrics,  and pickup-height adjustments. This particular cheap guitar's pickups don't have individually adjustable pole pieces so it's a compromise (2nd string is weak sounding, has lower volume because the stock pickups have that pole piece sitting down lower for some reason), eventually I will either (a) try to modify the existing pickups, or (b) replace them with different pickups... being a cheapskate, I will likely try option "a" first.  Meanwhile, I've tried to train myself to just pick the "E" string (which on this xGDAEB instrument is the 2nd string) a little bit harder to increase its volume.


Good news Octave4Plus makes a special set of 5ths Tuned Strings which tune to C, G, D, A, E, B & you'll need the lightest gauges for ease of playability. Octave4Plus makes the GCT-Cello 5ths Tuned String set for Nylon string Acoustic Guitar.

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## maxr

If you're in EU or close (eg UK), at any rate anywhere east of the Pond, I think the cheapest workable way to get a tenor guitar is find a 2nd user Harley Benton tenor acoustic (thomann.de music store's own brand). IMO it's a perfectly playable little tenor, shaped like a tiny Dreadnought, for very little cash. If you can find a used one (they do turn up, from guitarists who don't get round to learning the tuning), they can sell for half new price - I just got a mint condition one for £80. Solid top, laminate sides and back. I'm sure there are better quality all solid wood tenors out there, but it's OK for a fraction of the price of those, and I think a good deal even at the full new price.

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