4 string acoustic?

[pete]

Last night I had the pleasure of watching Dala (young Canadian female duo) and Martyn Joseph (seasoned UK vet). It was a great show and if anyone has the opportunity to see either don't miss out.

Martyn opened his show with a very peculiar instrument (to me anyway). It's shape and size were similar to a Nick Lucas 6 string. I couldn't see, from my slightly less than stellar seat, what brand it was. It looked like some exotic darker wood and had only 4 strings. It wasn't super bassy like a "normal" 4 string acoustic bass, but certainly had more bass than a typical 6 string. I have no idea how a 4 string is normally tuned either, but Martyn often strummed it open and I thought it may have been an alternate tuning.

Would this have been just a smaller body acoustic bass? Or could it have been that a guitar and a banjo once had a one night stand?

[ksdaddy]

A tenor guitar?

[pete]

I think you nailed it ks. I just visited tenorguitar.com. Thanks.

[nodehopper]

I have this pic in my guitar slide show screen saver. I love this pic!

 

 

[Hoss]

A tenor has been on my radar for a while--that's what happens when you listen to the Delmore Bros a lot!!

[august_reader]

I watched the old Disney version of "20000 Leagues under the sea" the other night. In it Kirk Douglas pretends to play a tenor guitar. I couldnt tell what brand it was, probably just a cheap prop, but the guitar sounded really nice.

[ksdaddy]

I bought a Harmony archtop tenor for five bucks once. Sold it a week later for $25. I had no idea people would pay stupid money for it later. That was about 15 years ago anyway.

 

In the late 90s I was at a junk shop and one of the 'regulars' stopped in to barter a little. He had an old Gibson tenor behind the seat of his pickup. He either said he paid $75 for it or wanted $75 for it. I was too stupid or broke to act. Looked like it was from the 30s.

 

Never thought any more about tenors until I saw Neko Case on tv playing a TG-0. This old man finds her attractive.

[pete]

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

[fortyearspickn]

As I recall, Nick...? on the original Kingston Trio played a tenor guitar. It fit in really well with Dave Guard's 5 string and the 6 string guitar.

[QuestionMark]

Forty years-You're absolutely correct. Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio played a tenor guitar (a Martin) and strummed it like a banshee, which greatly contributed to the Kingston Trio's sound. Had it not been for Nick and the Kingston Trio's popularity, the tenor guitar would have faded into the sunset during the late 50's and mid-60's. All the major manufacturers, including Gibson (the TG0) made sure a flat-top tenor was in their line-up of products during those years to compete with Martin's flat-top tenor, although a lot of them were entry level brands at the time. Even the old Spin & Marty show had a campfire folkie playing a tenor guitar player in it. Interestingly, the flat-top tenor guitar pretty disappeared after the Kingston Trio originally broke up in the mid-to-late 60's...only to relatively recently re-enter the line of up of some manufacturers (with some current guitarists again playin' tenors.) When Nick Reynolds rejoined the Guard-less/Stewart-less Kingston Trio (still with Bob Shane and George Grove in it) in the late 80's, fans realized how much his tenor guitar was missing from the group's instrumentation. Even now the current (no original member) line-up of the current configuration of the touring Kingston Trio again has a tenor guitar in its instrumentation, played by the successor of the late Nick Reynolds in the group.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[TommyK]

Back in the olden days, before the guitar became popular, the madolin and banjo were kings. In deed, at one time, Epiphone was known as Epiphone Banjo Company as the 'old fashioned' madolins were waning in popularity only to be replaced with a much more modern (chomed steel) looking banjo. What college boy would be complete without his skimmer hat, racoon skin coat, Ford roadster, a banjo, a Flapper under his arm and 'Twenty-three Skidoo' on his lips?

 

When guitars started to take off many banjoists favored the tenor guitars as they could tune them like a banjo and make a smoother transition.

 

They have kind of a cult following today. I don't think any of the major manufacturers make them today.

[pete]

TommyK,

I had quite a laugh and a very vivid image in my mind after Googling, and Wiki'ing all your slang terms. Funny man...Too bad I won't be able to find a flapper, they sound like a lot of fun. Anybody know how to make a time machine? I could grab a few tenor guitars for you guys too while I'm there.

[QuestionMark]

I don't think any of the major manufacturers make them today.

 

 

I'm pretty sure Martin still makes one as a Kingston Trio/Nick Reynolds model. Also, one of the import manufacturers (Recording King? or another) makes one.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff