Stella tenor H929TG guitar

[Levi]

I got this tenor about a month and a half ago, and I thought I'd share a little about it to kind of help keep a record of vintage instruments and their quality.

I got this off ebay for about $170 (perhaps a little more than it's commonly considered worth) and when I got it, I was pleasantly surprised by the tone. I'd never played a tenor before, so I have no comparison, but still, I loved it. A tuning peg broke on my classical guitar, so I moved all of the strings down one and added that guitar string as the 4th string, and tuned it down to FCGD, since I considered the body more than ample for a lower tuning. It still sounds great to me, and I really enjoy playing it. I've also found that it's a very easy transition from mandolin, as the neck isn't much thicker. I'd say my only real complaint is that the tuners are slow as molasses, but that's obviously a personal problem. What I'm saying is, if you want a cheap tenor, this is great, and if you find one in a flea market or whatever, get it.

I didn't mean to write a review, per se, but whatever.





If it's good enough for Elvis, it's good enough for me.

[MikeEdgerton]

I bought several new in the 60's just like it. Look inside for another number that is stamped. It may be in a circle. It will probably be something like S62 or F65. It may not be there. That will be the Harmony date code. The number you posted in the Harmony model number.

These were all solid wood by the way.

[Levi]

I bought several new in the 60's just like it. Look inside for another number that is stamped. It may be in a circle. It will probably be something like S62 or F65. It may not be there. That will be the Harmony date code. The number you posted in the Harmony model number.

These were all solid wood by the way.

All solid wood? Yippee! It's my lucky day

Thanks for the information.

[Capt. E]

Just got one that looks identical on Ebay for only $75 because of a broken bridge, then found a genuine new/old Harmony tenor bridge for $10. Hope to have it in playing shape soon. Seems to be an interesting addition to my mandolin world. Can't wait to bring it to the Old-time jam.

Question: what strings for GDAE on a Stella tenor? Different strings for CGDA?

[zoukboy]

You can figure string tension here: http://www.bangzero.org/stringtension/

You might need to change the string length but I used 22 3/4" just as a guess. Starting from the gauges in a D'Addario J66 set at CGDA tuning I got the following tensions:

len 22.75"

A4 .010" PL == 23.0#
D4 .014" PL == 20.08#
G3 .022" PB == 20.35#
C3 .032" PB == 19.29#
total == 82.71#

Then I changed the pitches and adjusted the gauges until it looked reasonable, close to the J66 set in CGDA:

E4 .013" PL == 21.82#
A3 .018" PL == 18.63#
D3 .030" PB == 21.57#
G2 .042" PB == 18.91#
total == 80.93#

That .018 PL on the A looks light so you may want to use a wound A of phosphor bronze or nickel:

A3 .020" PL == 23.0#
A3 .021" NW == 21.52#

With the nickel wound A the total looks like this:

E4 .013" PL == 21.82#
A3 .021" NW == 21.52#
D3 .030" PB == 21.57#
G2 .042" PB == 18.91#
total == 83.83#

Just about a pound higher than the standard set.

[Capt. E]

Thanks for the guidance. I found an interesting chart of Ry Cooder's site: http://rycooder.nl/pages/tenor_gauges.htm
He doesn't identify any ready made sets for tunings other than CGDA.