New tenors

[Martin Jonas]

It seems to me that there is a certain push towards tenor guitars based on "normal" flattop guitars. Presumably, the cost of modifying these high-volume production lines to include a tenor option is fairly low.

I've just noticed three of these available in the UK that I had never seen before:

- A new tenor guitar model by Martin, the LXM tenor.

- An Ozark-branded tenor (Ozark being the house brand of the major UK music wholesaler Stentor) here. I'm intrigued to see that this one is described as not recommended for GDAE tuning. I wonder why.

- An Ashbury-branded tenor sold by Hobgoblin (Ashbury being their house brand).

The Ashbury and Ozark have solid tops, unlike the similarly-priced Lark In The Morning tenor. They are about half the price of the Martin (as one would expect), which as far as I can see does NOT have a solid top (Elderly call it "Spruce Pattern HPL Textured Finish").

Does anybody here have experience with any of these (or similar new Asian tenors)? Is the Martin any good?

Martin

Edit: Sorry, I see the LXM has already been discussed, so please ignore that part.

[JeffD]

It seems to me that there is a certain push towards tenor guitars based on "normal" flattop guitars. #Presumably, the cost of modifying these high-volume production lines to include a tenor option is fairly low.

It makes sense what you are saying, and in a way is kind of sad. I much prefer the retro and unique tenors, that distinguish them from standard guitars.

I really like the Fletcher tenors have the oval hole floating bridge narrow waste look, with that uber cool banjo style peg head and tuners.

Saving for one even as we speak.

[mandelect]

I recently played both the Ozark, and the Ashbury, at Hobgoblin in Nottingham. Both are great budget instruments - my preference was for the Ozark, because it has a slightly shorter scale length, which suited me (540mm, I think, as opposed to the Ashbury's 580mm). This probably explains the Ozark's recommended CGDA tuning. It seemed to project nicely, and was surprisingly loud for it's size. I was very tempted by the Ozark, but I'm not too keen on the headstock aesthetics. Eaglemusic were recently offering the Ozark with a fishman pickup installed.

[kww]

That Ashbury looks a lot like the Gold Tone TG-10