2 1920s Gibson Tenors

[Pete Martin]

From a jam at Weiser

[Charles E.]

Sweet!

[Greg Stec]

From a jam at Weiser

They hadn't seen each other since the factory.

[FL Dawg]

Looking pretty good! A lovely pair.

[Charles E.]

Too bad no one had a string cutter to unclutter the headstocks.

[BlowingRockNC]

I sort of have a 1920 Gibson TG-O tenor, but it's for sale at Capos Music. I need to sell it to help off-set the cost of the National resonator tenor I just got. I also had to sell one of my banjos, a 1923 Vega.

[BlowingRockNC]

Make that a 1929 Gibson TG-O. My finger must have slipped. I don't know if they even made them in 1920, but I guess they might have.

[mrmando]

Nope, no tenor guitars in 1920. The Loar-period tenor lute is really the beginning of the tenor guitar. A couple of years later someone got the bright idea of building them on guitar bodies.

[Spruce]

From a jam at Weiser

Take a wild guess which one Brad owns?? (where's the "rolls eyes" emoticon??)

[Pete Martin]

And why he won't be playing mine any time soon?

[Spruce]

You don't even want to see the Duff K5 mandocello these days...

[Pete Martin]

Had 4 20's Gibson tenors at Wintergrass in a jam this past weekend. These two pictured, a 29 Nick Lucas styled body and the oddest one, a regular guitar sized body on an archtop oval hole. It was very similar to a Gibson L0 arch top oval hole from the mid 20s, huge and deep body, but tenor neck just kind of attached in a rough way. I shoulda snapped some pics of it, but like a lunkhead, didn't.

It sounded fabulous though. The neck attachment work left me wondering if, at the factory, they found an extra guitar body, an extra tenor neck and said "lets put this on that!!". Never seen one before, even in a pic. I doubt it was a custom order as the workmanship was poor on the neck attachment, but it didn't look like the work was recent. Everything "looked" original if you get what I mean. Too bad you weren't there Bruce!!

[mrmando]

the oddest one, a regular guitar sized body on an archtop oval hole. It was very similar to a Gibson L0 arch top oval hole from the mid 20s, huge and deep body, but tenor neck just kind of attached in a rough way. I shoulda snapped some pics of it, but like a lunkhead, didn't.

TG-L4? I recognized a chap walking around whose name I don't know, but I know he has a TG-L4 and I saw at one point on the weekend that he had it with him. I owned one myself until recently, but sold it to a guy in Australia.

[mrmando]

Here are some photos of my old TG-L4:
http://s568.photobucket.com/user/ema...?sort=3&page=1

[BlowingRockNC]

Pete, I'm not really questioning this, but I thought Gibsons made in the 20s all had "The Gibson" written in slanted lettering on the headstock. I could be wrong. Bill.

[Pete Martin]

And I am not enough of a historian to know accurate dates. I can't recall the headstock inlay either.

Martin, the tenor I'm describing was way bigger in the body than your TGL4 pictures.

[Jayyj]

The flat top L-1 never had a pearl inlay of any kind, but stayed with the old style 'The Gibson' in a silver silk screen until around 1932 when it changed to a white silk screen with only 'Gibson'. I can't remember ever seeing a TG-1 with 'The Gibson' - the earliest ones (with the layered bridge and odd extra bridge pin) have an extra triangular inlay above the logo inlay but no 'The'. I'd assume it's a banjo evolution thing rather than a guitar thing but i don't really know my banjos verywell... Mine is more or less the same as the two in the OP, with a 1929 FON. Here it is with its big sister, a 1926 L-1.

[Pete Martin]

I am no Gibson expert. I was told both Brads and my tenors were 1928. Maybe they are early 30s. You guys would know more about that than me!

[goaty76]

Here is my 20's L-4 tenor guitar. A pretty rare model. Was the one you saw like this one?

Phil

[Jayyj]

The quickest way to date them if the FON isn't listed in Joe Spann's book is the bridge: the earliest have a fifth pin sitting behind the row of four. This was replaced with the very small bridge that you can see in the better condition of the two guitars in the OP's photo. Finally it switched to the longer bridge seen in the more worn off the two, and in the picture of my own TG. Broadly speaking, weird bridge 1928, short bridge 1929, long bridge end of 1929 through 1930. Earliest large body tenor I've seen is 1932 but whether there are earlier big ones or small ones as late as 1931/2 I don't know.

I've also never seen the '28 models close enough to check the bracing: in the six strings the'28s usually have H bracing, going to an A brace then an X in 1929. It would be interesting to see if the tenors follow the same evolution.

Goaty, that L4 tenor is amazing, great looking guitar!

[Spruce]

Too bad you weren't there Bruce!!

I was just thinking the same thing...
Love those guitars, and want one bad. Been looking.

[BlowingRockNC]

The flat top is a 1928 or 1929 TG-O. The arch top is a 1936 Cromwell, made by Gibson. It actually has a Gibson neck, with the headstock cut. Gibson only made Cromwell for 3 years, and only 68 of the arch tops were ever made. This one doesn't have the customary white stripe down the center of the neck, probably because they just grabbed an available neck at the time of manufacture.

[Pete Martin]

Here is my 20's L-4 tenor guitar. A pretty rare model. Was the one you saw like this one?

Phil

Similar but the one I saw had a much bigger body. Scale everything up except the neck and you have it.

I have seen a few L4s. It wasn't one of those to my knowledge.

[Jayyj]

L-4s have always had the outline and 16" lower bout of Goaty's pair as far as I know with only the soundhole arrangement changing - oval hole up to the end of the 20s, then a round hole, then F holes by the mid 30s. Always wanted an early black top one to match my F-2... I'd never seen a tenor version until this thread though!