NTGD: Warren Ellis

[thx712517]

Hello all,

I stumbled on tenor guitars a while back and took to them pretty well. I've been playing an Ibanez AVT1NT acoustic for a while, and saved up for an Eastwood Warren Ellis signature tenor guitar so I could go electric. There's not many options out there for an electric tenor unless you go vintage or spend a lot of money. This guitar lists at $529, but I was able to get a 20% off promo code. I was also thinking of buying one of the new 24" scale Duo-Sonics and just ditching two strings, but tenor scale length is 23" or less and when tuned in fifths like I play, 24" can be a real stretch.

Construction is alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Single pickup, volume, and tone control with a top-mounted jack. Guitar weighs 6.8 lbs, width at the nut is 34mm, width at the 12th fret is 46mm. I'm using DR pure nickel strings, 11, 18, 28, and 50 from the pack.



It's advertised as a cherry red, and stock photos on the website make it look like a dark cherry. The reality is a brighter red. Call it maraschino cherry red. Not a bad red to be sure, but definitely not a dark cherry/wine red you might imagine from the website photos. The body is a Mustang outline for the most part, although it features a rib carve and a forearm carve similar to a Strat to make it more comfortable to hold.



The guitar has a single coil blade pickup. The hole is the same size as a Strat pickup so you could swap if you wanted. The tape around the coil wasn't done very well and sticks out a little. Top-loaded bridge with height and intonation adjustable saddles.

The pickguard cuts are rough, with some flashing left over and wobbles in the cutting line. It's most evident with the truss rod cover, which looks more like it was knapped from flint.



The nut was cut well and strings don't seem to bind. The fretboard has little gouges at each fret by the sides of the neck. Hard to see in some photos. Not sure if this was an installation issue or not. The ends of the frets have been smoothed out and the fretboard ends are rolled slightly. It's a comfortable neck for a tenor guitar.



The guitar is a bolt-neck. On this particular example there's a divot in the wood by one of the bolts. Doesn't seem to be any stability issues. If there was a plate I would never have noticed.





Taking off the pickguard, you can see the body has been routed out quite a bit. Makes sense, since they offer this as a two pickup model and also offer humbuckers. Whoever was drilling the holes for the guard seems to have been drunk, since some of the drill holes actually break through the wood.





The guard is a thin, three layer piece of plastic. The pickup mounts with screws/springs for height adjustment.





Whoever cut the guard by the neck wasn't paying attention. It's not a clean cut, and one of the three layers of plastic is flapping around. I've trimmed it away a little. The cut of the guard down by the chrome control plate is off quite a bit as well, so you can fit a penny or two between the black plastic and the chrome down into the wiring channel.



Truss rod access is up at the headstock. I was worried, since a previous version of this was rumored to adjust at the heel.

When it comes to playability, this is a great little guitar. The neck feels good in my hand against all expectations given its construction quality. Body feels light and sturdy, comfortable to play sitting down and balanced very well on the strap. Pickup is hot but clean running into my Vox AC4C1-12 if I keep the volume on the guitar down. Cranking it up (and bumping the gain on the amp) can put it into overdrive easily. The tone knob seems to function more like a switch. You've got "Blanket on the amp" from 1 to 2, and then "Bright!" from 3 to 10.

While the guitar came tuned to the traditional tenor CGDA, I play tuned down to GDAE (from heaviest string to lightest) and needed to bump up to the heavier gauge strings in order to keep it from rattling on the frets. I think the thicker gauge also thickens up the tone from the pickup, but I didn't play for very long on the stock strings. Only an hour or so. Guitar sounds good in GDAE (like a violin an octave down) and all of my fiddle muscle memory translated over with a slight adjustment for the larger scale. Not that 23" sounds like a large scale when compared to a six string guitar!

To sum it up, the wood is there. The plastics could be so much better. The tone pot at least needs to be swapped for one with a better audio taper. I did that mod to a Jaguar I used to have and it made an immense difference in usability. Construction should be done with more care so screws don't punch through the wood.

I don't want to go through the hassle of returning it and, frankly, most of the issues aren't visible when you're playing the guitar. It feels good in my hands, it's comfortable to hold, and it sounds good. My PRS SE singlecut mops the floor with it when it comes to attention to construction detail.

Still might get that Duo-Sonic in the future though.

[Verne Andru]

Thanks so much for this. These have been around for a while, but there is no reliable info on them so it's great to get such a thorough review from someone who knows what to look for.

I agree that's pretty sloppy for an almost $600 instrument but seems on par with what I've seen from other Eastwoods in stores and at tradeshows.

I've been tempted numerous times by the 2 pickup trem version of this, but at retail with shipping and currency conversion it would end up costing close to $1,000 delivered to my door.

In contrast my Epiphone Wildkat was $299 off the dealers wall and aside from one pickup screw hole that broke through the body wood - not dissimilar to what is going on with yours - it's an immaculate build. And unlike your Eastwood where nobody seemed to care about these little details, they fixed it by reinforcing the screw hole by gluing a substantial piece of wood where the break was [can't see it unless the pickup is removed] to ensure it would never give out.

I keep trying to like Eastwood but they keep doing things 1/2-ashed and expecting a premium price for it.

[thx712517]

I keep going back and forth in returning it. In the end I'll most likely keep it, as the availability of electric tenor guitars is low and prices can be high. I wish they would have at least cleaned the sawdust out of the guitar cavities.

[thx712517]

Spoke with Eastwood and they've agreed to a small refund (10% of list price) and I'm going to keep the guitar.

If anyone has further questions about the WE tenor in general, let me know. I have a caliper, tape measure, and scale.

[redmancb]

I've been debating buying the Classic Tenor but with no way to play it before buying I'm very afraid I would be disappointed. I have seen several Eastwood reviews like this one, bad quality control.

[thx712517]

I'm not sure how I would feel about the Classic Tenor. My understanding is that they take their six-string guitar and put a different neck on it? If so, maybe the economy of scale afforded by a higher volume production would mean better quality control? On the other hand, there's less to go wrong with a solid plank of alder, whereas a hollow body guitar takes more craftsmanship and makes rewiring a difficult proposition.

I will say, they've been very pleasant and easy to deal with, as well as very timely.

[Verne Andru]

Back in the day, many tenors were standard 6-string bodies with tenor necks, so nothing untoward there.

I too like the idea of the Classic but have passed because it is a hollow body, not semi-hollow as claimed. The difference is huge when it comes to playing loud [whole point of doing an electric], as a hollow-body will feedback like a stuck pig.

I like that they've gone with 6-string pickups as that makes after-market upgrades much easier, but using a 6-string tail-piece is just cheap. I also don't like the 2 color choices available.

[redmancb]

I thought I read in a recent post here that the Classic Tenor had blocks in the body? Do they only serve to mount the pickups?

Also, does anyone even make a 4 string electric style tail piece? I assume they were trying to cut cost on machining their own by reusing a 6 string version.

[Verne Andru]

I thought I read in a recent post here that the Classic Tenor had blocks in the body? Do they only serve to mount the pickups?

Here's the quote from the recent post:

There's a block under the bridge and the blocks at the neck and the tailpiece. Pickups are mounted to the top. Other than that, it's all hollow. Though Eastwood calls it semi-hollowbody on the website.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...stwood-Classic

Also, does anyone even make a 4 string electric style tail piece? I assume they were trying to cut cost on machining their own by reusing a 6 string version.

Here is what Harmony did for their tenors back in the day:



The design and manufacture of a tailpiece similar to that isn't rocket-science or expensive. Yes, it may have added a few pennies to the cost, but we're talking about an almost $600 instrument that they sell off their website so they don't have to provide distributor and/or dealer discounts. As I said, using a 6-string tailpiece just shouts "cheap" - especially on a custom instrument!

[thx712517]

Adding to this thread for future searchers. Per Eastwood, the pickup measures 7.38k resistance. Magnet might be Alnico, they're still checking. Apparently it's made by a third party.

[Verne Andru]

Pups are prolly made by Artec.

[WillFly]

Exxcellent and useful review - demonstrates what you might expect from a Korean/Chinese made instrument.

[Freddyfingers]

Thanks for the review. I would like a electric tenor, and as stated originally, there are few that are affordable. I currently own a mandocaster that's a blast to play. Mine came set up well and pretty clean. I looked it over and found no serious flaws in the finish or body. I also had a Eastwood bass VI. That also arrived in great condition. Neither felt like the price they were sold at, they felt and played better. So I have faith in them, and their customer service is excellent. I hesitated on this tenor due to the nut width. It just looked wide. The strings seemed spaced apart. Might be my eyes, but no stores have them, so I never played one. Had my eye on the one shaped like a SG. If believe the nut is slimmer.

How is the string width on this one compared to your ibanez?

[thx712517]

Magnet in the pickup is ferrite. Other forums have discussed the use of "ferrite" as a magnet name and have come to the conclusion that ferrite is just another way of saying it's ceramic.

The string spacing is much wider than on a six-string guitar. I'm away from my guitar and calipers at the moment so I'll get you the exact measurements later, but the spacing at the nut feels a little wider than my Ibanez, and the spacing down where I pick is significantly wider since this guitar uses, no joke, a bass guitar bridge. If I've been playing on my Eastwood and then switch to the Ibanez, for the first song or two I will overshoot and skip a string or two. So if I'm playing on G (GDAE tuning) and I go for D, I end up hitting E instead or even just pick air.

I've thought about a bridge with narrower spacing, but at this point I don't want to spend any more money for a while so I've just been getting used to it.

[thx712517]

String spacing on the Eastwood. Measured by caliper. Distance is between inside faces of the strings.
GDAE tuning.

At nut
G-D: 8mm
D-A: 8mm
A-E: 8mm

At bridge
G-D: 15mm
D-A: 16mm
A-E: 16mm

To compare to the Ibanez AVT1NT,
At nut
G-D: 7.5mm
D-A: 8mm
A-E: 8mm

At bridge
G-D: 10mm
D-A: 10mm
A-E: 10mm

[Freddyfingers]

Thanks for taking the time to do that.

[Chip Stewart]

If you want to replace the bridge to have 10 mm string spacing, you can replace it with a Fender Duo Sonic bridge (https://www.allparts.com/SB-5813-010...ge_p_3344.html ) and use the inner four saddles. I originally planned on replacing mine, but I actually like the 15 mm string spacing for lead guitar work. With 10 mm string spacing I some times hit the wrong string. With the 15 mm string spacing I don't have that problem.

[thx712517]

Thank you for the bridge recommendation. I'm not sure if I want to spend more money on this guitar right now, but I've got it bookmarked in case I change my mind. Any other measurements requested?

[John Dough]

I just picked up this one;

http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/warre...tone-2p-black/

I like it, it plays nice.
Similar issues though, you'd think they'd blow out all the chips with compressed air before assembly. Noticed the same thing on my Fender mandostrat reissues.

Had to do a setup as expected, the truss rod was at the lightest setting and the action was high. Once I flattened out the neck, just leaving slight relief it was good.

Truss rod cover screws are very long, and tight to remove, had to be careful not to strip when removing.

Pickguard was definitely cut rough in some spots, if you look very closely.
Electronics sound good, no hum even with high distortion.

Overall I'm happy, basically wanted an electric 4 string mandocello, not too many makers, so I accept the very minor flaws.

[Chip Stewart]

Just out of curiosity, where was it made? My Warren Ellis tenor guitar was made in Korea and was put together much better than this. I'd like to know if this is day to day variability or country of origin variability.

[Verne Andru]

Just out of curiosity, where was it made? My Warren Ellis tenor guitar was made in Korea and was put together much better than this. I'd like to know if this is day to day variability or country of origin variability.

Country of origin shouldn't matter. It's the responsibility of the selling company to do quality control between builder and customer so these things don't cause them loss of potential consumer good-will.

Sure QC costs money, but as noted above Eastwood is selling directly to customers and taking full dollar for their instruments instead of having to provide industry standard 50% distributor/dealer discounts. Even giving some a 20% discount still leaves them with more money than selling through channels.

Eastwood is in a very good position to "own" the electric tenor market if they'd only take their heads out of whatever orifice they've stuffed them in and start treating their customers with respect by checking what they're selling before they ship.

There's absolutely no excuse for this.

[thx712517]

China according to the sticker on the headstock. My PRS SE was made in Korea and the build quality blows away most of the USA-made Fenders I've played in the store.

[Chip Stewart]

China according to the sticker on the headstock. My PRS SE was made in Korea and the build quality blows away most of the USA-made Fenders I've played in the store.

My Warren Ellis tenor guitar was made in Korea and has 3 up/1 down for headstock tuners. Your Warren Ellis tenor guitar was made in China and has 4 up headstock tuners. For all of the other Warren Ellis tenor guitar owners out there, does your guitar follow this pattern (3 up = Korea and 4 up = China)? I'm curious if the two changes happened concurrently.

[John Dough]

Just out of curiosity, where was it made? My Warren Ellis tenor guitar was made in Korea and was put together much better than this. I'd like to know if this is day to day variability or country of origin variability.

Made in China

[Chip Stewart]

Made in China

Does your Warren Ellis tenor guitar have 4 up tuners on the headstock or 3 up/1 down?