Chicago Tenor Guitars
My Tenor Guitars are made to a pattern based on American parlour guitars of the late 19th century. They have a 620mm (24.4″) scale length, a little longer than most, allowing them to play comfortably in a range of open tunings using the four lightest from any regular off-the-shelf set of guitar strings.
The default is, of course, Chicago tuning – DGBE – but they sound great in a huge range of tunings, making Chicago tenors incredibly versatile.
The reduced tension of four strings allows each soundboard to taken far thinner than that of a six-string guitar. Just how thick depends entirely on the piece of wood in question – It has taken years of practise to find that point where the soundboard is almost on the edge of being too thin. Coupled with a light x-bracing pattern this makes the my tenor guitars phenomenally responsive for such a small instrument, with really surprising volume and projection and a beautiful clear tone that’s very distinct from any other guitars.
They will sound great played in a ‘Chicago’ or ukulele tuning (DGBE), a fiddle tuning (EEAE etc.), a Banjo tuning (DGBD, CGCE, DGCD, DF#AD etc.)
Featured instrument right: Walnut and spruce with holly and ebony trim, bound side sound port and traditional pyramid bridge.
If you wish to tune them in fifths like a conventional tenor or plectrum guitar this is achievable using a slightly different set of strings – though I can make shorter scale tenors specifically for this based on a couple of my body shapes.
Prices from £2500
Alternative configurations of the chicago tenor guitar include –
Classical – with fan bracing and a tie-on bridge to take nylon strings. This configuration may also be used with re-entrant tuning to create a ‘sub-baritone’ Ukulele (great for ukulele bands!)
Banjo – With a 5-string banjo neck, also available as fretless
Classical Banjo – with fan bracing, a tie-on D bridge and a 5-string banjo neck, designed to play with nylon or nyl-gut banjo strings. Also available as fretless for ‘minstrel’ players.
8-string – a thicker soundboard and heavier bracing lose some of the sweet tone in favour of a double-strung configuration. This makes an excellent and highly versatile alternative to octave mandolins and bouzouki.
Ukulele
I really enjoy ukulele. In spite of the fact that I make relatively few of them a year I have probably designed more shapes and styles for them than I have guitars. The diminutive size allows a tremendous platform for creativity as a maker, and a well designed and made ukulele sounds absolutely fantastic and is just great fun to play.
It also gives me access to some really interesting timbers from trees that perhaps didn’t grow quite big enough to yield guitars, something which will contribute to the character of each instrument. It allows me to keep each instrument individual, and because the configurations can vary to such a huge degree I don’t really have a standard model – it really is an invitation to design your own unique instrument with very few limitations.
Featured instrument right: Short scale (480mm/19″) baritone for GCEA tuning, 12th fret body join, extra wide neck. New Forest grown ash back and sides with pau ferro trim, spruce soundboard and cedrella neck. Pinned bridge, planetary tuners.
Second featured instrument right: Concert size made entirely from New Forest grown timbers. Spalted beech back and sides and headstock, maple neck, cedar of Lebanon soundboard, laburnum fretboard, walnut bridge and yew trim. French polish finish. Tie-on bridge. This was the first instrument I managed to make entirely from timbers that grew locally after moving the workshop to the National Park.
Prices:
Soprano or concert from £1000
Tenor from £1250
Baritone from £1500
Piccolo Guitar
On the surface a guitar/ukulele hybrid, the piccolo guitar was made by several historic American manufacturers in the early 20th century and is a very genuine guitar, albeit a small one!
I use the same body shape as my more classically styled ukuleles, either in tenor (regular) or baritone (‘large’) sizes, but the piccolo’s are designed and built for normal light gauge steel guitar strings with modern x-bracing and an active truss rod. Size and string depending they can be tuned anywhere between three and six steps above a full size guitar.
A 40mm nut makes for a perfectly playable neck even in so small an instrument, and they generate a good amount of volume and a surprisingly rich, full tone. It’s the first guitar that visitors to the workshop tend to pick up, and the reaction of ‘it sounds just like a normal guitar’ never ceases to raise a chuckle.
Great fun to pick up and play, excellent for travelling – a guitar that will put a smile on your face!
I don’t make many of these, they tend to be custom orders, so there isn’t really a standard configuration. Here is a walnut and red cedar example, along with an all recycled mahogany and rosewood guitar made as a ‘little brother’ for an all-mahogany martin owned by one of my favourite customers. Both examples have an optional traditional pyramid bridge.
Prices from £1500
