20grit

I like the Gibson Style 2 headstock you have on the tenor David. Are you putting banjo style tuners on the guitar?

ColonelJLloyd 

I could stand to own a David Newton some day. Nice work, man!

David Newton

You boys seem to know your guitars, so I thank you muchly.

Yes, 5-star planet tuners on the tenor.

ColonelJLloyd 

Have you built any archtop six strings, David?

BigPolishJimmy

My first guitar, a Kiso-Suzuki accoustic... just a beautiful all around guitar, probably 70's vintage, but I'll need to check as I've forgotten.


photo 1988 babysitting on the night of my 21-st birthday. the couple I was babysitting for left me 1/2 a 40 in fridge so I could have my first 'legal' birthday drink.

my '83 Gibson exploer purchased by me back in 85-86-ish.. *edit* sorry Bill, not made in Kalamazoo, Nashville */edit*. this was my main guitar for many many years. I've got 2 other explorers, an effector in black that almost looked like a weird reverse mirror image on the double guitar stand and a red hammer slammer w/white pick guard. Bought the hammer back in the early '00s because I didn't want to take the gibson out any more.


photo circa 1990


photo circa 1993


These days I've switched over to a Korean Squire Telecaster, not sure of the date but it does have the 'Fender' decal on the headstock with 'Squire' in small font below. I made the switch a couple of years ago because I came into a band where the established guitarist was sporting the double-humbuckers and I wanted to be able to round out the sound without mushing everything together.



I'm still playing the tele in my current project and the sound is incredible, I love it and almost feel guilty that the explorer isn't in play.

auchencrow

Our own David Newton is one of the luthiers I referred to earlier building great new guitars in the old tradition.

-As much as I appreciate fine vintage guitars, I am unwilling to pay today's high market prices, especially when you can buy a NEW "old" instrument from an artisan like David, that is just as good as (and way more consistent than) the old mass-produced ones.

1 Lugnut

A Gibson ES-225 Plectrum that I recently restored for a friend. Apparently, it was custom made in '59. It took a lot a research nailing down exactly what model/year Gibson it was. Missing were the BRW bridge & the 4 tuner buttons were crumbling/missing. I located a similar Brazilian bridge from an ES-140 & converted it for the replacement, rather than making a new one. The guitar had been stored in a closet for years as the finish was in near-perfect condition w/ only minor checking. Normally tuned to banjo tuning due to being long-scaled, I elected to tune the D_G_B_E strings to normal tuning, only w/ heavier gauged strings. Great feeling V-neck, but way too small for my liking. I also had never heard of a P-60 pickup! A very one-off guitar.





David Newton....Very nice guitars!

ColonelJLloyd 

^ That is friggin' awesome! Neko Case plays electric tenor guitars a lot. SG Juniors and LP Specials mostly.

tcpasley

Most luthiers I'm familiar with are overwhelmingly backlogged with orders. When you finally get your instrument, you'll consider it "vintage" because of the time you've waited for it. Five years is "quick turnaround" for a Gilchrist mandolin or a Wayne Henderson guitar.

tcpasley

Reduce, Reuse, Rebicycle

Primitive Don

Late to the party, as usual. Here's a snagged web pic (courtesy of Nationwide Guitars) of a Silvertone 1454 (my camera is broken). Basically a top of the line Sears catalog guitar made by Harmony in Chicago, with 3 killer DeArmond pickups for a great variety of thick tones and Bigsby tailpiece. It's a bolt-on cheapo, but my 1965 model has been my baby for about 20 years now. It was acquired for the princely sum of $30 at the height of the hair metal craze in a pawn shop that otherwise sold 7-string Steve Vai Ibanez models and the like. Now I see people cleaning them up, putting them on eBay and asking insane prices for them. I think 3 of em have showed up in as many weeks. Even though I've owned other nicer guitars (currently playing a Gibson Les Paul Special), this one's a keeper.

HOLY MOLEY, COLONEL. What a collection! Is that Gretsch White Falcon was yours? WOWZA.

Also wanted to compliment David Newton on his great handbuilt instruments, once again. MANY beautiful instruments in this thread!

ColonelJLloyd 

No. None of those Gretschs are mine. That Falcon is a 2009 model, I think. It's not terribly impressive to play, but it's quite a looker. Not surprisingly, the best Gretsch in the pic is the '61 6120.

The Epis in the foreground are the best sounding electrics in the pic, in my opinion. They've been modified, though. I slapped a Lollar in that black '72 reissue hiding in the back and changed the wiring. Good tones out of that one, too.

David Newton

tcpasley, you picked two of the most well-known builders in their respective fields.
My impression is that custom builders are in the main barely scraping by, since the "economic inconvenience."
You can buy that one in the middle today!

auchencrow

Here is a departure from traditional luthiery - and rumor has it that these 3-piece tops were made from helicopter blades.



1967 Shiny bowl Balladeer.
(It's plastic, but it sounds good as long as you're not expecting a traditional sound).

fas2c

I have an 80's Lawsuit era Yamaha SBG200 in pearl white. Solid mahogany, Gibson headstock, and gold hardware. It isn't a 2000 but is sounds great. Peavey Custom 212 amp too. Pic isn't mine but just like it


I have a '68 Baldwin Style 2, 5 string. It isn't a wood rim model rather a heavy machined AL pot but it is far from the cheapo Al pot remos and Iidas. Another, not new but 10 yrs old, is my custom made walnut 5 string, ebony fretboard with Gibson's Bella Voce inlay done with abalone and burl walnut resonator. It is stunning.

20grit

In most cases, the list is just sort of a guide. There are people on those lists who have been there forever. Wayne's list grew by leaps and bounds when the book about Claptons guitars was published (I played them both. Clapton has terrible taste in nut widths. Almost stepped on one of them because someone left it lying on the ground.) Don't let stories of lists/wait times scare anyone away.

auchencrow

Celebrity endorsements don't hurt a luthier's prospects:
Franklin Guitars: Stefan Grossman
Olson Guitars: James Taylor
Bourgeois: Ricky Skaggs, Bryan Sutton
Santa Cruz: Norman Blake, Tony Rice

BassNotBass

They're slowly developing a cult following once again. They became extremely popular as jazz developed and the tenor banjo was phased out in favor of guitar. It allowed banjo players to transition effortlessly to a guitar like instrument. Usually tenor guitars are tuned in fifths like a tenor banjo but alternate tunings are pretty common. I have mine tuned to open G (like my cigar box guitars) and I play delta style slide blues as well as jigs and music of a medieval vein that I would also play on penny-whistles, recorders and bagpipes.

The Tenor Guitar Site

BassNotBass

Why not... what was lacking? I truly don't understand.

rhm

Well, I'm sure the problem was with me, rather than the instrument. The plain truth is that I didn't play my banjo enough to become really proficient on it. I didn't get to the point that I could play something interesting while singing, or improvise around my inevitable mistakes; so if I had a chance to perform solo, I'd go with a more familiar instrument (guitar or double bass) on which I can basically put my hands on autopilot while I concentrate on remembering the words.

In a band situation, I almost always play the bass; so if I were to play something else, someone else would have to play the bass, and for some reason I've always had a hard time persuading someone else to do that. So bringing in the banjo was a matter of persuading someone else to learn it. Which I did; but when you take up a new instrument, it can take a while to figure out what it's good for, and this can be limited by your record collection. So in the case of my tenor banjo, and the records we had on hand at the time, our only model for how to use the thing was "Honey Pie" by the Beatles. This was before the internet, you understand. We had a lot of fun with that, but it didn't add up to a very broad education.

I'm well aware I didn't give the banjo a fair test, and I still vaguely wish it had been otherwise. Tell you what... if I ever see a nice old archtop tenor guitar at a yard sale, I'll pick it up!

Here's a challenge for you... I've got a 14 year old son who recently quit the violin/fiddle after playing for many years. He talks of picking up another instrument, guitar or bass, but hasn't mustered enough enthusiasm for it to actually do it. He sings in a professional choir, has a thorough grounding in music theory, can read music &c. So show me some tenor guitar playng (on youtube or whatever) that'll capture his imagination!

20grit

That's an easy change over. If he can play fiddle/violin, he can play a mandolin. If he can play a mandolin, he can play a tenor banjo/guitar. They can all be tuned the same way.

rhm

I know that! But it's going to take someone other than his father to convince him that this is something he wants to do.

David Newton

and don't forget my ticket to luthier stardom!
David Newton Guitars: The Brown Chicken Brown Cow Stringband

BassNotBass

Ain't that the truth! I'm still trying to figure out at what age and how long the transition takes when a kid's attitude goes from "Dad is the coolest" to "Dad is an old fart". Because it sure seemed to have occurred overnight although I can't quite place if it was pre or post teen years.

I spent Easter Sunday with my grand daughter (8yo) who really surprised me. I brought my tenor with me and she wanted to learn to play. Before I knew it an hour and a half sped by with her being intent on learning "Twinkle Twinkle" and learning how to fret and play pizzicato (albeit with one finger).

Needless to say I'm now in the process of building her a tenor version of a Silvertone with an amp in case. but of course to appeal to her girl sensibilities of aesthetics it's going to be metal flake purple with a clear plexi pickguard. I'll include several sheets of white cardstock shaped like the pickguard so that she can draw designs on them and insert them under the pickguard (the ability to customize/personalize will go a long way) and the headstock is going to read "Hannahtone" in the Silvertone font).

1 Lugnut

One of these might capture/convince his imagination...?

20grit

Show the kids some pictures of Les Paul tenors online. That should convince him. I saw a nice looking Gretsch Duo Jet tenor on ebay about a year ago too.