Buy two economically priced tenor guitars, one flattop and one archtop, and and convert the archtop to an OM.
Seriously.
The comment was made above that vintage Martin tenors can be had for <$1000, making them attractive compared to a full-on production or handmade OM. #But there are lots of vintage tenors out there you can get for just a couple hundred $$, for example Regals, Harmonies, etc. #Granted, most of these aren't in very good shape so you do have to shop a little. I have two Harmonies, one I kept a 4-string tenor strung CGDA and the other (an archtop) I converted to an 8-string OM, about a $300 total "investment". #I don't use them a lot, but I do play them and they're fun, decent, playable instruments. #Or you could experiment with whether you like a flattop vs. an archtop, or CGDA vs. octave tuning. #The great thing would be to come across the rarer examples like these that had spruce tops, compared to the majority of hardwood-topped versions.
Jeff Rohrbough
"Listen louder, play softer"
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