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Thread: small guitar to tenor conversion

  1. #1
    Registered User craig.collas's Avatar
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    Default small guitar to tenor conversion

    Hi
    Has anyone converted a small guitar to a tenor and what sort of process did you go through?
    ? thinning the neck
    ? redoing headstock
    ? anything else???
    TIA
    Have a great day
    Craig
    Craig

  2. #2

    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    I have had success plugging tuner holes and veneering both sides of the peg head for tuner changes. I have had guitar necks break off at the peg head after slimming down. A first step would be to remove the adjusting nut cover and or the existing veneer to observe the truss rod and adjusting nut pocket. A slim neck requires a slim truss rod and tidy install.

    An old thread regarding the potential problem of removing too much wood from a neck,
    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...92#post1809592

    8 to 4 conversion showing veneer on the back. I also make changes to the braces, as well as the top and back.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    You can end up with an instrument that is built heavier than necessary and may not be as lively as it was with 6 strings.
    Last edited by MrMoe; Jun-06-2021 at 7:39am. Reason: link + image

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  4. #3
    Registered User fox's Avatar
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    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    It has been done hundreds of time and can be quite satisfying but as to how far you go, will depend on your DIY ability's and your expectations?
    The main issues to contend with are the neck re profiling and the actual soundboard bracing.
    You can just remove two string and re tune it or build a new neck and adjust the bracing to match the much lower string tension.
    Just bare in mind low end tenor guitars are cheap and baritone ukuleles are almost disposable and both will probably give better results.

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  6. #4

    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by craig.collas View Post
    Hi
    Has anyone converted a small guitar to a tenor and what sort of process did you go through?
    ? thinning the neck
    ? redoing headstock
    ? anything else???
    TIA
    Have a great day
    Craig
    Mr fox has had good results with old Harmony guitars. These usualy have a non adjustable truss rods so the neck has plenty of wood left. He may have started from scratch on the neck in this video.

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  8. #5
    Registered User Frolicks's Avatar
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    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    First of all, I'm not much of a craftsman, so I needed something really easy. And I found it by sheer luck: I converted my Germany-built 1972 Framus Studio archtop to a four-string a few months back. It felt really appropriate as the the fretboard is quite slim, anyway, just about 1.57inch at the nut. It has a truss rod and a bolt-on neck, so any issues here would have been possible to fix easily (in my case, rather: get it fixed easily).

    I just changed the original floating bridge for a wooden mandolin bridge from eBay. The original nut was made of brass(!) and bolt-on, so no problem to remove it, either. The biggest issue for me was to sand the grooves into the new nut, as I don’t have the proper tools here. Anyway, this one was just a test, and it's done quite primitively, and at some point in the not so distant future, I’ll ask a luthier to make me a proper nut. Oh, and I changed the original tuners for some vintage-style Grovers. But that was only because two or three buttons on the original ones were loose, and one had already broken. Anyway, it looks much cooler now with the Grovers, plus two additional ventilation holes. I might ask the luthier to fill those, too, but I‘m not sure about that, for I might want to reconvert it to the original six-string condition (although I highly doubt I really will, but never say never...).
    Oh, a picture, of course (just the link, as I seem to be too stupid to actually add it here; everything I tried didn't work out):

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/io0qckmqfr...3035.jpeg?dl=0

    I just restrung it in Irish tuning, but didn't make any recording of it so far.

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  10. #6

    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by Frolicks View Post
    I just restrung it in Irish tuning, but didn't make any recording of it so far.
    I have not been to the Emerald Isle. I think Irish tuning means GDAE?

  11. #7
    Registered User Frolicks's Avatar
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    Default Re: small guitar to tenor conversion

    Oh, yes, indeed, sorry, Irish Tuning means GDAE. I‘m not completely satisfied with the strings, or rather: with the a-string. I strung it with the a, d, b, and e-string of a LaBella 700M Silver plated set, with the the a no b-strings one full step down. Works good for a/g-string but not so good (though still quite o.k.) on the b/a-string. Still figuring out which wound g-string would work soundwise one full step up to a.

    Anyway, I’m curious to read of other peoples‘ experiences here!

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