Cheap conversion

[Cary Fagan]

Hi all, a neighbour was throwing out this cheap, small 1960s (I think) guitar labelled "Winston" and made in Japan. It had a 21 1/2 scale length, which I realized was about perfect for a short-scale tenor. So I took off the fretboard, reinforced the neck, carved it down, carved the headstock. There were lots of dings and it seemed to damage easily so I touched it up and gave it some coats of tru-oil on the back and sides. fixed a loose brace and some cracks under the pickguard, which I replaced. It's all plywood--and cheap plywood at that, and why it sounds so good, and fairly loud, I don't know. But I really like it, better I think than the 3 20s regals I've owned, fixed, and sold. My only cost was the $50 banjo tuners. It was a lot of fun to do. 136177136178136179136180

[MdJ]

Hey Cary,

Great project! If the sound compares well with a spruce topped Regal it must sound really great indeed...

I did a similar thing with a '60s nippon made 'Lindell' guitar.... Tho i ihad the top rebraced and a pin bridge fitted as an upgrade to the tailpiece/floating bridge ....

Luthier/arctop builder, Jim Ellsberry did all the conversion work.

i went for a low 'F' string too. The originsl instrument was all plywood with a non adjustable truss rod.

Like yours, it has surprisingly decent tone despite the dreaded laminate....

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I own several collectable vintage tenors, all of which i love, but i really llike having a nice instrument that i can take places without the burden of caring for a 'a piece of history' out there in the big bad world.

Keep it moist,

MdJ

[fox]

Looks great Gary, what is the nut & 12th fret width?

[Cary Fagan]

Hey MDJ, I think for these short scale tenors a floating bridge allows for a longer string length overall and makes it easier to tune in gdae.

fox, I used the same width as the Fletcher tenor guitars from the website for the nut, 1 1/4, and 1 1/2 at the 12th fret.

[DavidKOS]

Nice work, the peghead looks great!