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Thread: 8 string tenors - opinions?

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    Default 8 string tenors - opinions?

    I see some 8 string tenor guitars for sale (4 pairs). Are these strung with with all pairs in unison, or the lower pairs in octaves? What do you think of the sound and playability in general - is it comparable to what happens when you make a 12 string acoustic guitar rather than a 6 string ? Thanks, Max

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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    What’s the scale length? Are you sure they’re not octave mandolins?

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    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    I would go along with Ray in that they might well be guitar-bodied octave mandolins.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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    Registered User Ben Vierra's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    I have both a guitar-bodied octave mandolin and a tenor guitar in the house. I have passed along the octave mandolin to my oldest daughter and she now insists that I have to call it a "tenor manditar". (There are so many names out there for these instruments, so why not one more!)

    My limited experience is that, yes, the difference is a lot like the difference between a 6-string and a 12-string guitar. It's possible to use either octave courses or unison courses, although I have the impression most players go for unison courses. Sound and playability will depend heavily on the maker and construction style. This is a period of active innovation in the cittern/bouzouki/octave mandolin (CBOM) realm of instruments, and so there is no one "standard" way of making them.

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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    Who was it that strung their OM with octave pairs on the bottom to courses but with the higher string below rather than above?

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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    A tenor guitar has four strings. Anything else is a GBOB or mando cello.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    Where are thy for sale, Max?

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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    These particular 8 stringers appear on Reverb, Ebay, and Amazon, mostly a Vietnamese maker (or workshop?) called Bruce Wei, e.g.:

    https://reverb.com/uk/item/58113019-...-inlay-tg-2045

    Bruce doesn't give scale lengh on his Reverb ads so far as I can see.

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    Registered User urobouros's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    I found a US Reverb ad that lists a 23" scale for one of his tenors. I'd call the 8 string version is a GBOM but it's just vocabulary at that point
    2020 Northfield Big Mon
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    And a few electrics

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    Default Re: 8 string tenors - opinions?

    I suspect that they’re largely a vehicle for his inlay/ornamentation skills, Max. They often crop up on line but I’ve never handled one. I think someone recently commented that if he managed to make them playable and durable, they might be worthwhile looking at.

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