My New tenor under construction.

[John Kelly]

Have taken on a new project to build a tenor guitar after hearing Jill McAuley playing hers over on the SAW group. It will be tuned GDAE as is my octave and bouzouki, so no new fingerings to learn. Engelmann Spruce top and Spanish Cypress back and sides.

Here is a link to my Picasaweb page and some pix I have there of the instrument under construction. Dying to hear what it sounds like when it is completed.

Link: https://picasaweb.google.com/luthier.john/TenorGuitar

[Tim Lee]

That's cool John.

[Jill McAuley]

Nice one John! Really looking forward to both seeing the finished product and hearing some clips of it as well!

Cheers,
Jill

[Ed Goist]

Really nice John!
I particularly like the rosette and binding scheme...Very classy!
Can't wait to see (and hear) this one when she's done.

[icuker]

John, That looks like some really nice work, good luck on the project and I second the request for sound clips or youtube vids...

Rus

[Greg Stec]

Cool beans! I like the snake-head look of the head.

[John Kelly]

Thanks, all. Never thought of the headstock as being snake-like before, Greg. Will that give it more bite? Got it finished and strung up today and hope to post some sounds in the next few days. Finished pix added to the Picasweb folder: https://picasaweb.google.com/luthier.john/TenorGuitar

[Jill McAuley]

Well done John - that looks the business!!

Cheers,
Jill

[GKWilson]

Can't wait to hear it John. I'm sure it'll be as nice as your others.
Gary

[John Kelly]

Quick recording done this morning. Straight using condenser mic with no effects or enhancements:
http://snd.sc/oJCJeW

[Jill McAuley]

Sounds as great as it looks! Lovely indeed!

Cheers,
Jill

[icuker]

I love the sound. It's got that Irish thing down for sure! You play well!

[Jill McAuley]

Except he's actually playing a few Scottish tunes on it....

Cheers,
Jill

[GKWilson]

John. You've given me a full blown case of G.A.S.
Gary

[John Kelly]

Attaching a link to latest effort with the tenor, this time along with my bouzouki and acoustic guitar. Many thanks again for all the positive feedback, folks.
http://snd.sc/oK0zUA

[Elwood Garrett]

Nice photo history and it is a real beauty!

[Charles E.]

John what a lovely tenor guitar. I really like the sound hole rosette, fantastic. That is just the range that dovetails between the guitar and the fiddles.

[John Kelly]

Thanks for continuing interest in the tenor, folks. Here is a link to a YouTube posting I have put up recently of Scott Skinner's "The Laird of Drumblair". The tenor features on more of my recent postings to and is settling in well. Strung at present with D'Addario Octave Mandolin strings - 2 sets out of 1 package!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH60LwgtYoU

[gortnamona]

your a talented man John, lovely instrument and sounds great, that Jill one has a lot to answer for... she's put me on the tenor guitar trail as well

[Jill McAuley]

It's a slippery slope lads! I often look round and wonder just how I accumulated all these instruments!

Cheers,
Jill

[John Kelly]

Ah but you have a lot to answer for, Young McAuley Good New Year to all and lets hope more tenors appear soon.

[AZmando]

What are the dimensions? Body width at lower and upper bout, body length and scale length? I'm curious to discover the size and how it compares to my old Regal. Thanks in advance!

[John Kelly]

Dimensions as follows: Lower bout 280mm; upper bout 200mm; body depth at tailpiece 80mm; body depth at neck join 70mm;
body length 385; scale length 540mm. I'll let you convert those to inches yourself as I work in metric (find tenths easier to work with ). I used those dimensions because I had built a travel guitar for someone and those were the sizes we decided on for the travel guitar and since I had made a mould for this I thought I'd just use it; the scale length is the same as I use on octave mandolins and since i was using octave strings and octave tuning for the tenor I kept to that scale length.
Hope this is of help to you.