HARMONY TENOR GUITARS

Harmony 4-string Archtop Tenor Guitar

37 ½” in total length Body is 19 ½” long x 3 ½” deep

Heavily arched Back and Top, which extends the depth Upper Bout

11 7/8” wide Lower Bout - 16” wide Solid Spruce Top -

Carved “F” holes, Very pronounced arch

3 layer cream colored painted edge binding

Neck is set at the 14th fret

20 Brass Frets with Painted “snowflake” markers at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets

The Fingerboard is 1 3/8” wide at the Nut

Moveable Brazilian Rosewood Bridge and Trapeze Tailpiece

Through the years tenor guitars have had several periods of limited popularity. Originally, tenor guitars were used in small string "parlor" groups and small Jazz bands. They were very popular in the early twentieth century. The reason was simple, America was going through a mandolin and ukulele craze as well as a dixieland tenor banjo fad. The tenor guitar could be tuned as a mandolin or uke, and used by a player to "fatten" the sound of the mandolin band by adding a guitar. Since it was tuned the same, any mandolin player could double on guitar. It was the same with the tenor banjo. The tenor guitar was a prized addition to a band without the band seeking out a guitar player!

This is an Archtop Tenor Guitar that is based on the Monterey line. Harmony built this style of guitar clear up to the early 70's. The model shown looks to be of mid '60's vintage.

The second tenor guitar craze came in the mid 1950's. These guitars were commonly called "lead guitars" and were used by some players as a lead instrument. They were good for simple scales and for playing popular melodies. With the advent of Rock & Roll with its heavier "bottom end" and power chords, the tenor guitar again faded into obscurity.

This is a model TG929 Stella

What are they good for today?

Tenor guitars are still very desirable. They are a great conversation piece as they are not commonly seen. They can still be tuned as a mandolin, baritone ukulele or tenor banjo for a great "retro" sound for other 4 string players. I feel that the best use for these fine instruments is for players who are missing fingers due to an accident etc...and cannot play the full chords of a 6 string, or for people who have arthritis or are elderly and their hands are too stiff to heft a 6 string neck, and for beginners who can learn the first 4 strings on a real easy neck. Another group is people who have small hands, these guitars work well for them!

This is an example of how not to string your guitar!

Look at the tailpiece! It is a funky combination of steel strings and tie on nylon strings! I bet that sounds good! And easy to play too!

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