Tenor Guitar

[shartom]

I received a Gibson Tenor Guitar as gift today. The original owner bought it around 1945 after he left the military.

The serial number is 110942. It is in mint condition except for the strings.

I am trying to pin down it's age. I believe the first three digets being in the "100" range place it in the late 20's to mid 30's.

Any idea how I might get a more specific date.

I have 5 Epiphones and a couple of newer Gibsons.

It's kind of neat to own a guitar that is older than me.

[TommyK]

I received a Gibson Tenor Guitar as gift today. The original owner bought it around 1945 after he left the military.

The serial number is 110942. It is in mint condition except for the strings.

I am trying to pin down it's age. I believe the first three digets being in the "100" range place it in the late 20's to mid 30's.

Any idea how I might get a more specific date.

I have 5 Epiphones and a couple of newer Gibsons.

It's kind of neat to own a guitar that is older than me.

 

You got any pics? I can't speak to it's age, but here's a site that is right up your alley. Might shed some light on age too:

http://www.tenorguitar.com/

 

Here's another page that shows history and some estimates on age. http://www.provide.net/~cfh/epiphone.html

 

Looks like Epi took a standard guitar, then omitted the two center machine heads, modified the nut, etc. to make their Tenors. They used the same names, like Blackstone and Zenith, for their Tenors just suffixed them with 'Tenor' in the 30's and 40's. vis Blackstone Tenor.

 

I've often thought a Tenor would be fun to play. Alas, none has presented itself to me to buy... but I remain hopeful.

 

btw. New strings will not affect the value of your Tenor.

[johnl]

Definitely put some new strings on that puppy. Both GHS and D'Addario make tenor guitar sets for CGDA tuning, or you can get good advice on other tunings and string sets at the tenorguitar.com or mandolincafe.com message boards. Here's the Gibson serial number section of the provide site:

 

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html#serial

 

Please post pictures!