affordable tenor for a birthday gift- suggestions?

[FloridaCracker]

My girlfriend has played guitar for a couple years. Shes not too great at it, but shes been borrowing my Loar F-style mando for a while now. Shes already way better with a mandolin than a guitar. She mentioned the other day maybe getting a new guitar as hers is aweful and needs a ton of work. So being that she likes mandolin and all, I thought I'd surprise her in a week or so with a decent tenor guitar. If she hates it, I'll just trade her the Loar.
So what do you guys and gals reccomend for an affordable tenor?

<corrected spelling in header.>

[Ed Goist]

Blueridge BR-40T.
One of these well set-up is a great tenor at any price, and an incredible value.

[journeybear]

I believe you still have a few minutes in which you can correct the typo in the title. Use "Go Advanced."

[FloridaCracker]

Lol thanks for the edit. My fingers always spell poorly with my android.

[FloridaCracker]

My lacal guitar shop has BlueRidge's. The owner says great things about them. I guess I'll drive over sometime and try one out.

[Ed Goist]

It should also be noted that there are always several old (30s thru 70s) tenor guitars listed on ebay at any given time.

I tend to avoid swimming in those waters, so I always forget to mention that option.

[FloridaCracker]

Yeah I had a terrible experience buying a mandolin on Ebay. I'm only buying in person or from someone really reputable. I don't care how great the Ebay sellers feedback is. I always end up disappointed with purchases on there.
But it was a good suggestion and I'll end up perusing Ebay even after all the smack I talk...

[rico mando]

I have a goldtone gt-18 tenor guitar and it is well worth the money in my opinion .

[Jayyj]

I really like the little 21" scale Ozark - sounds great for the price and very easy to play.

[FloridaCracker]

Well I just went to the local mom n pop music store. They didn't have any tonors in stock unfortunately. So I played a few tunes on a 1920 Gibson A and tried out a cheapo Morgan Monroe F. Oh... And had a good time with a baritone uke. So I'm thinking of ordering a Blueridge BR-40T. I've got some price shopping to do, and may as well check Ebay. Do you have any specific online vendors who do a set-up?

[Ed Goist]

Jamie at Hot Strings Guitar Shop does a good job with his set-ups.
(See his guitar set-up video at the link above.)
NFI

[omando]

Amen to the Blueridge BR-40T. Bought it from Elderly and it still blows my mind from what I could get for less than $500.

[Payit Forward]

Maury's Music seems to have the best prices and selection on Blueridge guitars.

[FloridaCracker]

Musicians Friend always is worth a look. I got the BR-40T and a set of new D'Addario's for it. And some more J74's... They had the fastest shipping and my total came to $385 or so. I paid $5 to have the three day shipping. Should be here tuesday-ish. Her bday is Sun, yeah I'm always a late shopper.
I know MF aren't known to do any setup at least as far as mandos go, but out of the 15 or so online vendors they were one of the few that made any mention to being "shop adjusted" whatever that means. I'm pretty confident though, a guy at a very reputable vendor told me they were out and it would be more than a month. He was very forthright and told me that the Blueridges he gets come more or less ready to play. He said anything that would need setting up could be done easily by any local guitar store or savvy owner.
So I'm very pleased. I get a new instrument to play around with, she will probably really love the tenor (sorry for spelling errors- fat fingers on an android again) as shes been playing six string for a while but really prefers the scale of the mandolin more. Shes always borrowing my Loar 520, so hopefully she loves the Br and I get my Loar back. Either way we're both happy. Thanks for the suggestions.

btw- a lot of vendors seem to have these listed as out of stock, so anyone wanting one soon may want to track down a good deal. I got the last one available at MF.
I was going to get her a Kentucky A-style oval hole but everyones sold out who does good setups. And the only ones I saw were black ones at mandolin hut. I'll wait till Folkmusician gets some 174's. I love the bugundy.

[Eddie Sheehy]

There's a nice Jumbo Tenor in the Classifieds... MFI...

[FloridaCracker]

Just got a few Emails from online vendors... Seems they're all out of the BR's. Hopefully MF's website had the ifo correct when it said they have one in stock. I wonder if everyone whos out of them will raise the prices a bit when they re-up. Chinese mandolims seem to be developing that trend.
Yeah I saw that in the classifieds. If the BR doesnt happen I may consider it. I've also got a few mandos and tg's I'm watching on Ebay.

[omando]

NFI but I think Elderly might have one in stock:
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BR40T.htm

[FloridaCracker]

I did see that they had one listed but they were $16 more so I got extra strings. MF has always been real good to me and they have helpful folks to answer questions about an order all the time. Elderly does have a nice selection. Side note- ever read their ads for used gear? Seems a bit pricey.

[Taylor and Tenor]

Another option is a used Aria AF tenor guitar if you can find one. I had a BR40T, returned it to the on-line supplier and bought an Aria locally which I found of better quality and tone but that's MHO. I also own a Harmony from the mid 1960's and a vintage Gibson TL1 from the 1920's

[FloridaCracker]

Will keep an eye on Ebay for some used ones if she and I end up really liking the tenor guitar.
Tone-wise, I'll let yall know how it sounds tomorrow or thurs. Whenever it gets here. Either way it should sound and compliment her style a lot better than her beat up Ibanez six string. And I'll hopefully get my Loar back!

[FloridaCracker]

It just arrived here to my job. I love seeing the UPS truck pull in!
Box came in with no damage, can't wait to get home with it and play with it a bit. Shes gonna be so glad to see me after work today!

[Ed Goist]

Good on you FloridaCracker!
Be sure to provide us with an update.
I absolutely love my BR-40T...A great instrument at any price, and just incredible for the price!