New year, new instrument

[fool_in_fifths]

Hello everyone. I'm new here!

Apologies if this question has been asked before, but I'm looking to learn the tenor guitar and had a few things I wanted to clear up before I take the plunge.

A little background. I've been playing ukulele for a few years. I love it and have a great time playing along to records and at ukulele clubs, but the few times I've tried I've found hard to join in with other instruments. I need something with a bit more volume, and less of a toy guitar vibe.

I have dabbled with guitar, but it's not really my thing. I've been listening to a lot of tenor guitar recently, and love them. They can be great with other instruments in the mix. So I have a few questions to ask.

1. I am in Belper, in the UK on the edge of the Peak District. Are there any dealers near me that stock a reasonable selection? I could buy a new one unseen from a certain auction site, but they're a bit more of a financial event than a new ukulele and I'm not knowledgeable enough about them to buy secondhand. I'd rather buy from an actual shop than Amazon.
2. If not, are the inexpensive new ones any good? Specifically, I am interested in the Harley Benton. Are there any others for less? Or is £150 too cheap?
3. (long shot) does anyone do instruments to rent?

Thanks. Look forward to getting to know you all!

[ukrobbiej]

In terms of dealers you could try Eagle Music in Huddersfield. Not sure how far that is from you. My knowledge of Uk geography ends at the Watford Gap! And yes, the tenor guitar is a fantastic instrument. Ashbury makes some quite decent reasonably priced ones, which you might find in your nearest branch of Hobgoblin.

My only experience with Harley Benton instruments have been a couple of acoustic basses. I was less than impressed with the sound, but their tenors might be more usable.

Robbie

[fool_in_fifths]

Cheers, Robbie!

Huddersfield is not terrible. Southampton to about Basingstoke, or thereabouts. I will give them a visit.

Yeah, I suppose those Harley Bentons are too cheap! Half the price of the cheapest at the Eagle website!

Chris

[Harley Marty]

My first tenor is the harley benton. It is a nice quality instrument, I replaced the tuners with schaller banjo tuners & put a mandolin pickup. It sounds great in CGDA tuning but the body size doesn't suit GDAE tuning at all in my opinion. For GDAE I use a harley benton custom line clgs-10s travel with the same mandolin pickup which I think is called K&K. I love that guitar and everyone at the sessions loves the sound of it. There is a trick I use to put the strings on it. I'm thinking of putting a Webster brass adjustable nut on it in a couple of weeks. The cheapest guitar I bought was a child size nylon on adverts.ie within walking distance for €10 & put 4 light gauge steel stings on it.

[Tim N]

I bought my Osark tenor from Eagle Music by post (I live in Germany). That is a nicely made, wonderfully sweet sounding tenor, if you want a short scale. But you need to decide in what tuning you want to play. If you wanted to play in GDAE, don't let yourself be persuaded that the Osark is suitable, given the assigned Eagle strings for that tuning. You'll find that the bass string is horribly floppy, and possibly the intonation poor. (This is my only criticism of Eagle Music). However, with a CGDA tuning, the Osark is super. For GDAE, go for a longer scale tenor, and even then you might find you prefer heavier strings. You can't put anything too heavy on the Osark as it doesn't have a truss rod (well, mine doesn't), but it a fine instrument. People also speak well of the Kala here.
Before you go, you could do some research, preferably here, about the different tunings, scale length & string gagues - they are closely related (do a search for key words) Although its often a Q of opinion, there is plenty of good hard-won experience on the forum. Don't assume that what you read on the internet shopping pages is all true or helpful...
Have a good time choosing - don't rush. Try a mandolin as well!

[derbex]

I have an Ashbury AT-14 http://promenademusic.co.uk/ashbury-at14-tenor-guitar which seems pretty decent for the money, it works either CGDA or GDAE.