9 months ago I made an enquiry to Emerald guitars for a Custom build Carbon Tenor & the time has come to place my order. Essentially when l'm playing tune melodies on the Tenor Guitar at noisy pub trad sessions in Ireland if I can't be heard I would at least like to be able to hear myself.
What I'm thinking: Carbon fibre is going to give it more volume, a large body should increase volume & fatten out the sound since it'll be tuned GDAE, Longer scale length equals more volume , the placement of the sound hole to the top of the guitar helps the player hear better.
The first thing I've been agonising over is the body, whether I should get the lighter nylon braced body or order the jumbo body. I've played around putting 4 steel strings on cheap nylon guitars & the sound improvement is impressive! The guitar I currently play the most is a Harley Benton jumbo that I've altered (some say butchered) to work with 4 strings, it sounds gorgeous but lacks volume.
The other decision is the choice of scale length 23" or 24" or both or maybe something in between? I like the idea of a Webster nut that could be adjusted up or down. Up & you hear that bigger 24" sound. Down to 23" & the fingers are more dexterous for complicated tunes. I keep coming across this idea of Fan Fretts which I know nothing about, maybe that could be a solution? Maybe a 23" or a 23"plus to 24" fan frett could be the ticket
The two things I want to avoid is very heavy gauge strings & a capo. I have tried all the thickest strings the guitar can take, still can't hear it & don't like the sound. I'd rather get 12 guitars than 1 capo :-) This guitar is going to cost quite a few thousand €€€ so I'm keen to hear anybody & everybody's tips & opinions
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