I first heard about these wee tenor guitars back home in Ireland when my banjo teacher, Angelina Carberry, was raving about the amazing little tenor she'd gotten a chance to play when she'd been in the States teaching/playing one summer - she said the next time she was over she was definitely getting one. Fast forward a few years and I'd moved to the States and while perusing the Elderly website saw a Fletcher Tenor Tone for sale - I posted here at the cafe asking if anyone had any feedback on them, and not surprisingly it was all glowing. So began a mini obsession - Jody from Fletcher Instruments happened to be in the Bay Area visiting friends and it ended up that they lived a scant few blocks from my house! She very kindly invited me to stop by to try out both her own personal all mahogany one, and also a spruce top one that she had with her - needless to say I loved them, and was most drawn to the sound of the mahogany one. It seems like I've had one on my wish list for ever, though in actual fact it's only been two years! But today I am finally able to scratch one more thing off my wish list because I collected my 2007 Fletcher Tenor Tone this afternoon - a photo of it is already posted here as it's previous owner was cafe member David H. The scale length on it is perfect, and I can't get over the volume either - I'm over the moon! I'm going to try to record a few tunes with it on Monday, which is my next day off. I was nearly going to pull the trigger on a 1950 Martin O18-T last week, and boy am I glad I didn't! Don't get me wrong, it was a lovely guitar and all, but the Tenor Tone is just the perfect fit for me. Ok, I now intend to spend the next few hours getting to know it!
Its definitely on my wish list. I like the tone of the mahogany one the best. Congratulations. Keep us posted on how much you love it.
One thing I like is how easily they tune. I can get into an alternate tuning for an OT jam on the fly, and go back to standard tuning next tune.
Aye, the tuners are lovely and smooth and the workmanship overall is just the business - a beautiful instrument altogether, I'm proud to own one!
