Barbara Shultz
May-08-2008, 10:36am
I am obviously stricken with MAS, and all it's related afflictions! I bought a 1950's Harmony Tenor Guitar off ebay. It was advertised as 'freshly set-up by a professional luthier'. It was strung CGDA. I have no experience with Tenor Guitars, and bought it to be a travel instrument. I travel a LOT, mainly by car, and like to have something to play to keep my fingers and brain nimble. I play the mandolin, OM, cittern & tenor banjo, and the tenor guitar seemed like it would be perfect.
Last night, we restrung it GDAE. Oh yes, it IS fun to play! The bridge looks like it's either been replaced or repositioned, as you can see where a bridge was before, and it is lifted up on the treble side. I can't tell whether it's about to pop off (time will tell on that one), or if it's just a ###### glue job.
I believe that at some point, some more 'professional luthier-ing' will be in order. The intonation is off... it get sharp as you go up the strings, more so on the G and D strings. I know how to adjust that on banjos and mandolin instruments with floating bridges... but assume it's a more serious fix with a guitar. But, since the reason I got this, was to take on my car trips (leaving my higher dollar instruments safe at home), perfect intonation isn't crucial at this point.
So, my main question has to do with set up work on the bridge of a tenor guitar. The bridge is what I assume to be a 'standard' tenor guitar bridge, with a drop in short saddle, slightly angled in a slot in the wooden bridge.
Since I paid less than $200 for the guitar, I'm not looking to spend a bunch of bucks on repair, so I thought I'd pick some of your brains, as to what my options are!
Barb
Last night, we restrung it GDAE. Oh yes, it IS fun to play! The bridge looks like it's either been replaced or repositioned, as you can see where a bridge was before, and it is lifted up on the treble side. I can't tell whether it's about to pop off (time will tell on that one), or if it's just a ###### glue job.
I believe that at some point, some more 'professional luthier-ing' will be in order. The intonation is off... it get sharp as you go up the strings, more so on the G and D strings. I know how to adjust that on banjos and mandolin instruments with floating bridges... but assume it's a more serious fix with a guitar. But, since the reason I got this, was to take on my car trips (leaving my higher dollar instruments safe at home), perfect intonation isn't crucial at this point.
So, my main question has to do with set up work on the bridge of a tenor guitar. The bridge is what I assume to be a 'standard' tenor guitar bridge, with a drop in short saddle, slightly angled in a slot in the wooden bridge.
Since I paid less than $200 for the guitar, I'm not looking to spend a bunch of bucks on repair, so I thought I'd pick some of your brains, as to what my options are!
Barb