Tenor Guitar

[mandolooter]

2 Bacon Banjo Co. "Senorita" tenors 32 & 34, and a 33 Gibson TG-1
The 1932 (bottom one) is near mint. They both sound strikingly similar, no big surprise I guess.

[mandolooter]

1950 L-50 sized tenor

[mandolooter]

ooops...didn't mean to hijack the thread so here's a tip to help get ya started.
This movable chord shape is easy to make and move around and by lifting your pinky and planting your middle finger the 7th is made. (RE next post) By moving the whole thing up & down a string like a chop chord and ya have quite a few of the basic 3 chord songs covered with ease. From there it starts to require a lot more thought but experimenting with different shapes and the sounds they produce is fun and rewarding. Im gonna get the book Peter Mix mentioned. he's the 2nd person to recommend it to me. They are big fun whatever ya do!

[mandolooter]

hard to photo your own hand...

[delsbrother]

As far as I'm concerned, TAKE ME TO CUBA BABY! Great photos! I love those Vita instruments, but every one I've seen on the 'bay lately has been a basketcase. Oh well.

That Gibson all mahogany plectrum is pretty neat too. What gauge strings are you using for that one?

Also, what are the body dimensions? I like the pickguard too.. Do you mostly play Celtic stuff on it? Swing?

[Peter Mix]

I love this thread! Thanks for all the photos, Mandolooter. I'm very fortunate to spend my workdays here at Rigel because I know if I run into a basketcase, we can fix it. I recently acquired a plectrum version of the Vita tenor and it needs some serious work, but will be dandy when it's done. I'll need to stretch my fingers out like Chris Thile for this one though as it has a 27" scale....yikes!
# #I have a matching Vita uke that is way cool, but a wreck. Did you know that these lovely ukes are being replicated now? They are wonderful reproductions, too. I saw them at the last NAMM show and had to sit down in a dark, quiet room until my pulse slowed.
# cheers, Peter

[tiltman]

Wow Mandolooter,
Or perhaps we should call you Tenorlooter.

Thanks for showing me how to play a 7th chord. I'll play around with that tonight.
Kirk

[delsbrother]

ML, is your Gibson plectrum a long-lost sibling to this one at Elderly? Yours has the real Plectrum scale, however..

Peter, who's making the vita repros? I was familiar with the Frisco Uke made by Marc Silber, are there others? Anything other than ukes?

[mandolooter]

Wow...and i was afraid I'd overdone it last night wit da pic's. Thanks to all for the compliments! I'll try and answer all the Q's...

delsbro 32 22 14 10 if i remember right. the body is 14 3/4 wide lower bout and 19 3/8 tall, 4 inches deep. the pick guard was on it when i got it but it looks like another i've seen. the one at Elderly's...hummm, how would I raise the cash...LOL #I play mostly fiddle tunes, along with CD's and stuff i write on it. Its WAY easier to pick out a melody on it vs a mandolin by ear so I use it for that a lot to learn mando songs by. #The GDAE tuning rules, as Peter said "way less thinkin"

Peter, your an inspiration to me and a ton of others i suspect. i had no idea you shared the tenor bug. How about a pic of the big vita plec.! Mine is starting to get a LOT of playin time cuz it sounds so sweet and has a fast feeling neck + it's gotta be one of the coolest things going in the tenor world. What started as a gift for my daughter now has me giving her mando's and fiddles so the Vita stays with me. If only i could play like Roy!!!!!!!!!!!!

tiltman- glad to be of any help I can. You'd think by the stable I was a pro but im just a vintage instrument nut with too much money invested in these. I started out buying instruments to repair and then sell and have done a lot of that but i keep finding "keepers" that i can't let go. #Im sure Im not the only one with this problem am I?

Jeff
PS Im opening a online store dealing in vintage stuff, mostly tenors of the guitar and banjo kind and mandolins, plus the assorted other stuff i buy and repair before offering to the public. I've mentioned it to Scott and he's graciously agreed to let me announce it here at the Cafe when I have my "Grand Opening". It will be mid June or around then if I can get it all together by then. I'll keep everyone informed. I have 6 or 7 other tenors that will be available after the repairs are done, most at or around the $300-$400 price range and set up for easy play, correct intonation etc.

[mandolooter]

The repo Vita ukes are by Ukiyo and they have a pic at Gyrphon under Roy Smeck model. A mere $650...

[Peter Mix]

Here's my Vita plectrum tenor. She needs some attention, particularly with the twisted neck, but what a fine-sounding instrument! I do admit that the scale length can be a bit daunting.
# # # I'm working on my Le Domino today. What a great guitar! I don't think it had been played in years when I found it and once I strung it with my favorite string gauges .014 .024 .034 .049 it came to life. I have to re-cut the nut slightly to address some minor buzzing issues.

[Peter Mix]

Here's the '32 Epiphone Masterbilt Hollywood Tenor with black walnut back and sides. It was completely dried out with every seam separating when I found it in an auction in northern Vermont a few years ago....a fabulous guitar

[Peter Mix]

Here's the '38 Gibson L7T that was stripped of finish when I found it. We finished it in blue to match our entire line at NAMM one year, then stripped it and finished it in a '20's cherryburst...ooh lala

[Peter Mix]

Here's the Regal Le Domino next to the SS Stewart Snow Queen mandolin...

[Peter Mix]

and last, but not least, the Vita plectrum tenor next to the Earnest Tenorcaster. Side by each (as they say just north of the border), you can see how long the 27 1/4" plectrum scale is compared to standard 22 1/2" tenor scale.

[delsbrother]

Here's the '32 Epiphone Masterbilt Hollywood Tenor with black walnut back and sides. It was completely dried out with every seam separating when I found it in an auction in northern Vermont a few years ago....a fabulous guitar

Wow, that guitar is amazing! I've been searching for one of those on the Internet for years - ever since I saw pictures of Eddie Condon playing a similar one (though I think his was a plectrum? ). Love those pre-Gibson Epi curves!

Peter, is Rigel a good place to send a basketcase tenor I might find for renovation? Or do you just work on your own stuff?

Darrell

[Peter Mix]

We'd be pleased to take on any project that you might like to send our way. We specialize in restoration and refinishing. Feel free to call me 800-476-1009 anytime during the workday.
Yes, the Epiphone is wonderful and I was very lucky to find it. I've seen only one other. There's something about black walnut that produces a brilliant voice.
cheers, Peter

[mandolooter]

Wow, Peter those are way, way cool!! That Vita is beast sized for sure. I love the Le Domino! Wouldn't it be cool to have the whole set! The Epi,drool, drool, drooooool! Im glad to hear your comments on the black walnut cuz Im building a tenor out of it. Here's the before shot...give me a few months for the after.

[mandolooter]

ooops forgot the pic! My body shape is still in the workings but the dread chaulked on is interesting...with a GDAE tuning...hummmm?

[Michael Wolf]

Hello,

this is a beautifull collection of rare tenors.
I saw one of these Epiphone Hollywood models with walnut body here in Germany, about one year ago. I presume that not many of them have crossed the ocean. It was offered to me. Maybe I should have bought it, but the price was a bit to high for me at this time.

Now I put in a little tin in this thread.

Cheers
Michael

[delsbrother]

Yes, the Epiphone is wonderful and I was very lucky to find it. I've seen only one other.

As if this thread can stand any more hijacking..

A great source of images of archtop tenors and plectrums can be found in Swing Era New York, a collection of photographs by Charles Peterson. They're mostly played by Eddie Condon (he goes through many styles of Epis and Gibsons).

There couldn't have been many Epi four stringers made.. Wouldn't it be something if Peter's was once Eddie's? Probably spent some time in a dance band's R section, in any case..

[mandolooter]

Im gonna check my local libary for the book, or splurg and just buy it. Thanks for the tip db! I love jazz. As a sidenote the Gibson archtop in my photo I sold. It's now playing Dixieland jazz in across the pond in England!
Jeff

[Dolamon]

Dels Bro, Pete's (of all persusions) - One of the really interesting ideas for Jazz Chords / general futzing around on Tenors of a lot of persuasions is to utilize the chord progression studies which Ted Eschliman created for Jazz Mando ... Since he rehashed his site, my URL listings are no longer current - Go to Jazz Mando and then send Ted a letter that he needs to isolate the root notes on his chord forms ... I do this regularly to annoy him.

These forms work for any fifths tuning and are spectacular on Tenor Guitar or O/M - but as a few of the Peter's above mentioned ... getting laPompe to work on a richly resonating instrument can be an interesting exercise.

[scgc.om]

My tenor is a 1927 Martin 5-17T (although the "T" is not marked on the neck block). 1st year of production! Martin's smallest body size ("5"), all mahogany ("17"), bar frets (pre-'27), and . . . Banjo tuners! Very high "cool factor".

Just got this guitar at Christmas time. Love playing solo fiddle tunes - can't really play with others, as I'd be a 5th lower in pitch.

Enjoy your tenor!

[lucho]

besides the tenor viola from Brazil that some of you may know .... there are other tenor guitars in South america such as this 1941 Breyer TG.
http://www.guitarrasweb.com/guitarr....nte.jpg