sa'mo sa'mo Bacon
sa'mo sa'mo Bacon
Look up (to see whats comin down)
My new one from Lark in the Morning. They say its a replica of a 1930s Lyons&Healey.
Not my tenor guitars, but maybe worth having a look at:
I threw a bid at this small-bodied Regal at Ebay UK. Didn't get it -- pity, would have been a fun player, I think.
Rather more exotic, here is a truly rare beast, a celebrity-endorsed signature tenor: a 1959 Framus Peter Kraus model, red sunburst, archtop, f-holes, looks to be in great condition. In 1959, Peter Kraus was a huge star in Germany, being groomed as the "German Elvis" (the "German Cliff Richard" would probably be the better description), complete with chart topping singles and a never-ending string of starring roles in forgettable movies. Only two problems: he couldn't sing and he couldn't play guitar -- just as with the real Elvis, his guitar was just a prop. One would think that makes him a strange choice for a signature model by Framus...
Remarkably enough, there is even a (very brief) 1950s clip of him playing (or miming) that exact model of tenor guitar on Youtube here, starting at 0:14. The rest of that clip is a 2006 TV appearance lip-synching to "Johnny B Goode" and demonstrating that he still can't sing and can't play guitar.
Martin
Oops, I forgot the link to the Framus signature model. Here it is:Originally Posted by (martinjonas @ June 05 2008, 10:33)
Link
Martin
Fellow Selmer-EFS fan Ted Gottsegen sent me this link to a site filled with great tenor guitar photos. Enjoy!
Thanks to delsbrother for pointing out the Framus Museum website over in the info on mandolins forum. This has an English page about Kraus and his signature tenor here. If there was a tutorial published to tie in with the Kraus tenor guitar, then this would suggest that a fairly substantial number of these instruments were sold. Kraus sold 12 million records in Germany, so his endorsement could well have shifted large quantities.
Martin
Such nice guitars! Here is a Mar-Tone from my fathers estate. Solid mahogany with painted binding and purfling. I've never played it as it needs a serious neck reset.
http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/pickin/ten2.JPG
http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/pickin/ten3.JPG
Jeff Meng
Here's my recently acquired Gibson TG-50. It's from somewhere between 1949-1955.
very nice larry! I used to have one of those a few years back but sold it to get a old Gibson A.
Look up (to see whats comin down)
Hmm, I searched to see if I'd posted this already but couldn't find it. Aologies if it's a repeat
2008 Chanticleer 5-string 21" scale (gdaea) reso-zook-tenor-whatever
The Back
Grille
Tailpiece
Menacing view
wow Dan, I love it...darn, not another TGAS flare up...
Look up (to see whats comin down)
Not mine, sadly, but I'm rather intrigued by the existence of Selmer tenors. There are some really nice pictures of a 1933 Eddie Freeman Special here. That's a dealer's web site, but the Selmer is already sold. I see that Joel Eckhaus builds copies of these Selmers -- they look good enough to eat (as they should, at nearly $3k).
Martin
I've posted about my new Ozark tenor here and I now have got around to taking some photos. I'm putting them here, to keep the picture thread going.
The flash may make it look lighter than it is, but this is a solid top (there's some confusion in the online specs whether it's cedar or spruce) with a matt antiqued finish and maple binding to the top, back and fretboard. Really quite dark. All-wooden bridge pins. The back and sides are veneered, not solid, but there's some nice rosewood figure in the veneer. Solid, close-fitting case included in the price.
It's a pretty small-bodied guitar, as one may see from the photo with my other two guitar-shaped thingies: that's a 19.5" baritone uke converted to nylon-strung tenor guitar and a 15" archtop mandola, made in Germany circa 1950. By a nice coincidence, the mandola and the Ozark have the same unusual headstock shape!
I've now settled on a set of strings for GDAE tuning, and I'm pretty happy. The Ozark has a strong tone with lots of character and does manage to convey a lot of vintage quirk for a brand-new instrument. Great buy at that price. Also a great contrast to the uke conversion. Same tuning but completely different feel and sound.
Martin
Here are my tenors.
From the left, the first instrument I built, 1931 National Triolian, Maccafarri tenor conversion, one of mine from1996, 1963 Gibson TGO ( just got it yesterday at a local guitar shop!)
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
Nick: I'm currently using 15-24-34-47, in phosphor bronze d'Addario singles ordered from highlystrung.com. The D and A are absolutely spot on. I'm thinking of dropping the E down to .013 -- the 15 seems a touch overstrung. The G I think is as good as it can be with the 47; it'll always be slightly weak given the small body. Overall, though, I think it works fine with GDAE. Very different character than in CGDA, but you get powerful chords when strummed and strong well-defined notes when playing melody, plus it's just short enough for me to use mandolin fingering and reach the 7th fret with my pinky (I have big hands).
Martin
Hi there, Muscians. I am looking for a short scale tenor guitar, say 19-20" scale length. Do you know of any out there or of a luthier who might create one? The reason I want the short scale is that my left index finger isshortened to just above the top joint, and it is difficult to stop both strings (same course) when playing chords on my octave mandolin. The shorter scale length also makes playing chords easier than tenors that have scale lengths 23+ inches.
Two ready choices, and I have tried both: the shortest-scale production model I'm aware of is the Ozark which you can see five posts above yours in this thread. It has a 21.25" scale and a small body. Ozark are the house brand of the major UK wholesaler Stentor Music, and the only sellers I'm aware of are in the UK. No idea if there's a US importer -- it's quite a different instrument from the Lark In The Morning tenors and any others I've seen on US web sites. It's very reasonably priced in the UK, but you'd have additional international shipping and possibly customs charges (on the other hand, the Pound has fallen against the dollar a lot lately).
If that's still too long for you, you can get a baritone ukulele and restring it for GDAE using classical guitar strings. Typical scale length for baritone ukes is 19.5". They are so cheap that it's fairly risk-free to try it.
Martin
jsmandolin: I'm currently having a 21" tenor guitar built for me by Fletcher Instruments of Ithaca New York. Web site: http://www.fletcherinstruments.com/
Should be here in a couple weeks I hope. Meant to be tuned GDAE. I saw and played one locally before I decided to go for it and put in the order. The fit and finish looked great. Note that there is also one for sale at Elderly.com with mahogany top and sides. The one I ordered is having a spruce top.
I'll post more after I get it in hand...
*-- Asha
Apologies, but I'd like to revive this thread.
Aria AF-10
Epiphone FT-28 Caballero
Fender Tenor Teles
Ibanez, Kala, Harmony Archtone, Kmise & Harmony Baritone Uke
The Epiphone Caballeros are my favorites (always looking for that 1968), followed by the Aria. I like the larger body sizes - 00 & 000 respectively.
Love the Martins (especially the LXM - so durable and I love the way mine sounds. It has a great low-end response); the 5-15T gets played the most of all my guitars - it's a really great size for playing in the house. Then, the Fender Teles get played second most.
The all solid wood birch and spruce/mahogany Harmonies also have a special place in my heart. I think it might be nostalgia - but, to me, they are fun & great guitars if set-up properly.
I could sell the laminates and not miss them tomorrow - but then I worry "will I miss them later." That's why I seem to have so many tenors. The only one I've ever sold (a Stella H929TG) - I regretted a few years later.
Best wishes to all,
Huck
Last edited by Huck; Dec-17-2020 at 9:33pm. Reason: Bored, snowed-in
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