Electric tenor on the cheap

[Verne Andru]

NFI - anyone looking for a cheap path into electric tenor should check out these:



https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...lectric-guitar

It's 22.5 in scale so all you need do is string it with 4 instead of 6 strings. It's got a nice heal cut-away and as good as any Squier or Epiphone you'll find. Electronics and stuff are easily swappable with off-the-shelf components if you don't like the way it comes.

Mitchell is Guitar Center's (Musician's Friend, etc.) house brand. Made in China so prices will prolly go up in the new year when the sanctions start to hit.

Heck of a deal @ $69.99 with free shipping.

[fox]

In the U.K. too....

https://www.cashconverters.co.uk/sho...c-guitar/65039

[Cornfield]

Life is too short for day old sushi and cheap guitars

[Verne Andru]

I like cheap guitars.

Back in the day cheap guitars were poorly made and you got what you paid for. These days with modern CNC the same factories that are making the expensive guitars for the "brands" are using the same tech to make cheap guitars for no-names.

I've fondled one of these in a store and they are as good as any you'll find by the big boys.

It's cheap because they are selling it as a kids instrument and that market is very price sensitive, not because it is poorly made.

[bbcee]

@cornfield, life's too short to NOT mod cheap guitars especially now when the build quality is so good.

I modded a Luna Aurora short-scale electric. A really fun project, and a really decent instrument in the end:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JqTzExcXlXdFZB

[Verne Andru]

@cornfield, life's too short to NOT mod cheap guitars especially now when the build quality is so good.

I modded a Luna Aurora short-scale electric. A really fun project, and a really decent instrument in the end:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JqTzExcXlXdFZB

Wow - great project. Came out really sweet.

Q - why did you cut away the neck at the heel?

I'm doing one and I'm going to try to leave the neck width where it fits in the body and sculpt if from there so I don't have to add "wings" to fill in the gaps.

6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other as both ways work - just curious.

[bbcee]

Thank you very much, Verne!

I also went back & forth about which way to do it. The few I'd seen with sculpted heels never looked right to me, and as I was having a reluctant carpenter bandsaw the neck anyway, I wanted to make it simple for him. So instead I added wings painted a horrible, nonmatching pink.

I'll be very interested to see your finished project, however you decide to do it!

[fox]

Great conversion, I think you did the right thing with the neck and the contrasting shade of pink works really well.
What are those tuning pegs from?

[Verne Andru]

I hear what you're saying about the inherent risks of a sculpted heel. It's all good.

Mine is in hibernation at the moment. When I got a Les Paul Pee Wee from a guy off Craigslist he tossed in a 19" scale Stratocaster knock-off for nothing. The person who made it was obviously a very skilled wood worker, but they don't seem to have had an understanding of the "instrument" they were making.

The lovely fretboard has more hills and valleys than the Cascade mountains and while they did taper the neck from heel to headstock, when the frets were cut the neck was trued to the tapered edge, not squared head to toe. As a consequence all the frets are slotted at an angle making it unplayable as an instrument, although very well made with top quality materials.

So I pulled the frets and had my luthier take his band-saw to it. I had him cut it out so I can sculpt the heel area with a spoke shave. Being victim to Vancouver's rennoviction mania, my current space just doesn't lend itself to making a lot of dust so it sits in a box waiting.

It's the one with the maple neck. I have a couple of really nice rail humbuckers set aside for it and will do a perloid pickguard like my strat beside it. I guess it's technically more mandola scale than tenor, but who cares! It's all fun.

[bbcee]

Thanks Fox, I like "contrasting" Those tuners are Klusons for Firebird guitars, and although heavy, they really do the job. I tried some econo "plantetaries" from Eagle, but they would hold tune - they acted more like friction tuners.

@Verne, I think that little Strat, tuned CGDA, will be a heck of a lot of fun. I've been using flatwounds on mine with good success, since it's plenty bright in that tuning anyway. Love your collection!

[Verne Andru]

Hah! I was looking through files for something else and came across this pics of the tenorcaster neck I'd forgotten I'd taken. This is where it sits pre and post band-saw: