Bought my first tenor guitar

[thx712517]

I went ahead and bought my first tenor guitar and got it a week ago. I went with the Ibanez AVT1, which is a parlor body style.



The guitar came from Sweetwater with D'Addario J66 strings. I tuned it to GDAE. There is a bit of stretching involved with the fretboard but so far my violin muscle memory has helped me pick up quite a few songs in short order.

I have noticed volume can be a little different at times. Sometimes, like when I try recording with my phone, you can barely pick it up. Other times it seems to boom with sound, like when I strum it as it hangs from the stand. Deciding to experiment a little, I changed strings.

Previously the gauges were E 0.010, A 0.014, D 0.022, and G 0.032. Consulting the table on rycooder.nl I picked up a pack of Elixir Medium strings. So 0.013/0.017/0.026/0.045 instead. More tension of course, which I'm not sure I like or not. As far as volume goes, hard to tell if there's been a difference. I need to play it more. I did adjust the neck relief slightly to counteract the heavier gauge strings. I did keep the old strings (took them off very carefully) so I may go back to them, or I may try a light set instead of medium.

So far I've been enjoying the guitar. My wife loves it. I will admit to tenor guitar lust now, especially an archtop acoustic with a slightly shorter scale length. Not sure why the archtop design appeals to me, it just seems different. As if a tenor guitar isn't different enough.

[fox]

There are lots of post on here regarding string sets to match scale lenths, your guitar has a 23" scale so the first set you had were designed for CGDA.
For GDAE you could try buying singles 12p 18w 30w 45w.
I really like your guitar body shape, but I have never tried playing a AVTI.

[40bpm]

Those Ibanez tenor guitars look really nice and I've been tempted more than once. I hope you will post more of your impressions as time goes by. Enjoy!

[Verne Andru]

Micing a guitar can be tricky and lead to results as you describe. I find an SM57 pointed at the 12th fret and something to pick up the room sound a ways back around the lower rear gives a nice balance. Google is your friend.

[whatitis]

Welcome. Just a friendly warning...tenor guitars have a way of multiplying.

[thx712517]

It does seem that way. I've found myself hunting for either an acoustic archtop or an archtop with a floating neck pickup. I've found Herb Taylor so far, and the Earnest Instruments Veronica. Hard to justify those prices though! I'm a sucker for the Jimmy D'Aquisto Solo, Centura... Just need to get a better job and make more money and win the lotto and...

[thx712517]

Update after a few days. I'm getting used to the heavier strings, although I may ultimately step down a gauge to pick up some more speed. I've played a good bit and the guitar seems to be opening up a little, getting a little louder, a little more resonant, than it was initially. I've been playing all of my violin tunes (Suzuki, book 2) and the Irish Washerwoman jig quite a bit. Need to find some more music to play.

I am finding a bit of difficulty in just where to rest my right hand while playing. Right now it tends to rest on the top of the guitar which I'm sure diminishes vibration. Resting on the bridge takes a little work to not palm mute the strings. All in all it is a good guitar, nicely made, and it does the job.