Eastman tenor in the future?

[whatitis]

I was talking to someone at Maple Leaf Music in Brattleboro, VT last weekend and he mentioned that he has suggested to his Eastman rep that they come out with a tenor. Something along the lines of their E10OOSS. I decided to email Eastman and add my $.02. Here is the response and my email.



Hello Scott,



We have definitely considered it. We have actually broken ground on our US custom shop where we can R&D this sort of thing. So hopefully in the near future we will have some sort of proto type. Thank you for reaching out.



Thanks

Dan Skatvold

Guitar Product Specialist

909-643-2337

Eastman Music Company

www.eastmanguitars.com



Join our "Eastman Guitars" group on Facebook-

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From: Squarespace [mailto:customercare@squarespace.info]
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2016 11:33 AM
To: Dan Skatvold
Subject: Form Submission - Contact - Tenor guitar



Name: Scott VanGiesen

Email : scottv_7@hotmail.com

Confirm Email: scottv_7@hotmail.com

Subject: Tenor guitar

Message: To whom it may concern,

I would just like to suggest that you develop a tenor guitar, possibly using the body of the E10OOSS or the E20OOSS. At the price point this guitar would likely sell at, you would have a unique niche in the marketplace and the instrument would be very popular. There seems to be a resurgence in popularity of the tenor guitar, and there isn't much available that has the quality you offer other than a Martin or a boutique or custom build. I was speaking to the owner of Maple Leaf Music in Brattleboro, VT yesterday and he told me that he has suggested this to his Eastman rep several times. I hope you will give this idea some consideration.

Thanks,

Scott VanGiesen

(Sent via Eastman Guitars)

[Chip Stewart]

The Eastman travel guitar (ACTG1) already has a scaled down body and 23.5" scale. It would be very simple for Eastman to put on a slightly shorter and thinner neck to get a 23" scale 4 string and modify the bridge. With a suggested retail price of $425 including a hardshell case it would compete very well with the Blueridge line of tenor guitars.

[Jim Garber]

I hope they can do a better job on that than their mandocellos. Those are notorious for odd string spacing. Maybe they can fix that problem in their US custom shop from now on. When I wrote their rep they didn't seem too interested in dealing with it.

[fox]

The Eastman travel guitar (ACTG1) already has a scaled down body and 23.5" scale. It would be very simple for Eastman to put on a slightly shorter and thinner neck to get a 23" scale 4 string and modify the bridge. With a suggested retail price of $425 including a hardshell case it would compete very well with the Blueridge line of tenor guitars.
Hmmm well maybe but also redesign the bracing and thin down the soundboard.

[Chip Stewart]

Hmmm well maybe but also redesign the bracing and thin down the soundboard.

Agreed. The bracing and soundboard would need to be lightened up to match the total tension of 4 strings which will be less than the tension put on the top by 6 strings.

[whatitis]

Personally I'd like to see something in the $700-$1000 street price range that has been well thought out and designed. That would give a nice "in between" level production tenor guitar to fill a gap between the Blueridges and Martins. I'd love to see an 00 sized sunburst tenor...

[Chip Stewart]

Personally I'd like to see something in the $700-$1000 street price range that has been well thought out and designed. That would give a nice "in between" level production tenor guitar to fill a gap between the Blueridges and Martins. I'd love to see an 00 sized sunburst tenor...

00 size is a little big for a tenor IMHO. With the Martin 0-18T being my personal ultimate tenor, for me an 0 size body would be better. YMMV

[whatitis]

143559 My 00 tenor.

I agree with you on the 0 body. Maybe even a parlor body.

[Charles E.]

+1 on the style O body. A style 1 or 2 would be sweet also, you need to shorten the upper bout to get a 14 fret neck joint and leave the lower bout alone.

[Verne Andru]

It would be nice to see more tenor offerings and a well-done Eastman would be welcome.

In the rumor mill, I head from a vendor Larrivee has toyed with the idea of a tenor. That would be very cool.

I sent an email to The Loar a while back asking about a tenor from them - they thanked me but said they had no plans.