New Tom Kimber video - Session King tenor

[nkforster]

Tom Kimber went around to see Ian Stephenson today to record a video on the new SK tenor which will be on its way to the US in a day or two.



nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst.../tenor-guitar/

[fox]

Nigel, what scale length is that guitar?
Interesting that Tom only uses four fingers!

[nkforster]

Nigel, what scale length is that guitar?
Interesting that Tom only uses four fingers!

24.75" I think...GDAE

[crisscross]

Nice guitar, nice sound!
I like the banjo-headstock.
Could it be the tuning is GDAD, like the upper four strings of a 5-string banjo?

[Jess L.]

... GDAE

... Could it be the tuning is GDAD ...

Pretty sure it's GDGD. I played the video at half-speed and tried to duplicate some of the notes he's playing, using one of my instruments and a digital tuner to (try to) double-check the note names.

Look especially close at 0:55-1:03 in the video, good clear shot of him playing the 1st and 2nd strings on lower frets so it's easier to figure out what he's doing:

• At 1:01-1:02, he plays the 2nd fret of the 2nd string, the resulting note is an "A" according to my tuner, so his open 2nd string has to be a "G".
  
  
• At 0:59-1:00, he plays the 2nd fret of the 1st string, the resulting note is an "E", so his open 1st string must be "D".

The two bass strings we're all in agreement on, G & D, this can be seen here:

• At 0:11-0:13, good clear view of him playing the 2nd fret of the 3rd string which produces an "E", so the open 3rd must be "D".
  
  
• At 0:32, he plays the 4th fret of the 4th string, which produces a "B", so the open 4th string must be "G".

Whew... hope I got all that typed correctly...

In any case, a very nice tune and a wonderful sounding tenor!

[nkforster]

Thanks, shows you how much I know....glad you enjoyed it.

n

[Shelagh Moore]

Excellent-sounding instrument... added to my wish-list!

[Jill McAuley]

On my wish list as well - just lovely sounding! I'm also really hankering after a tenor guitar again - only dire financial straits caused me to sell my Fletcher Tenor Tone and I've bitterly regretted it ever since, but needs must. Definitely think a Session King will be on the list to eventually fill that gap sometime in the future!

[Tim N]

16 clear frets. Is that unusual?

[nkforster]

16 clear frets. Is that unusual?

For a 24.75' scale, that's normal for a SK tenor. A 22" scale is 14 frets clear. Bridge position stays the same, just the neck gets longer/shorter.



Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst.../tenor-guitar/