Tagged As: Guitar Martin Tenor
Question:
My uncle happened upon an old Martin Tenor Guitar at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago (Model 0-18T I believe). He wants to convert it to a 6 string with a neck replacement. Will this have any adverse effects on the guitar? I'm not very familiar with tenor guitars, but I assume they are braced differently. So the question is this: Will my uncle get a decent sounding Martin 6-string out of this bargain of a tenor that he found?
Answer:
I agree with the general thrust of the thread here - getting a new neck for the guitar is probably not the way to go - but I have to say that, unlike Lance, I've never heard of a gut string tenor guitar from Martin. Particularly not at the late date of 1965. Any tenor guitar built at that point was probably bought by someone trying to sound like the guy in the Kingston Trio who played a Martin tenor guitar, and he was using steel strings. The whole tenor guitar subspecies was an offshoot of the popularity of tenor banjos in the 1920s, which also were strung exclusively with steel strings. So I have to respectfully disagree with Lance, and suggest that the instrument probably COULD be adapted with a new neck for six string playing. Whether it's advisable is a whole other question. The folks best able to do the work, and determine its advisability, would be the folks back at the Martin factory itself. I'm surprised no one has suggested that thus far.
Modifications to Martin Tenor Guitar
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Comment #1 (Posted by Bob Wiesman
)
I own a 1937 Martin 0-18T. It was made for steel strings. At one time I too was considering changing to a 6 string neck. However, somewhere I saw an article on doing such a conversion. It may have been in Acoustic Guitar. There was some question as to whether the bracing structure in the 4 string was different and/or lighter than that of a 6 string. The concern being whether the top could withstand the additional tension. I did not persue the conversion any further. I agree with the suggestion that contacting Martin would be best. Bob -
Comment #2 (Posted by JeffD
)
A four string (tenor) guitar is a heck of lot more rare than a six string. Sell it as a tenor guitar and use the proceeds towards the six string guitar you want.