Latest tenor
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:42 am
Here is a tenor guitar I have just finished. Adi top, Myrtle back and sides, Honduras Mahogany neck (thanks Gillian), Black Heart Sassafras rosette, Indian Rosewood bindings, Blackwood bridge. 23" scale length, tuned like an octave mandolin. These tenor guitars are a bit of a black box, but are fun to make since it is treading on new territory. No idea what to aim for in terms of stiffness and tuning, so I just treat them like a big mandolin. So many things are different from a standard guitar that you virtually have to start from scratch. Not only that, but the players tune them all sorts of ways and use all sorts of different strings on them. I tried using added side mass, but the mass required to shift the main top mode down half a semitone was way less than the graph in Trevor's book. After adding the mass I couldn't hear any difference, so go figure. This one the top is a bit stiffer than the others and I think it definitely sounds better. The Myrtle is not flashy, but this tenor guitar has the most beautiful sweet warm tone and plenty of volume. The other half noticed without being prompted so must be real. Very pleasing.