Need opinions from players

[Joe Williams]

I have a question for musicians. I'm not one, really. I love to build but play just well enough to judge sound and playability. My question is this: I just finished a little tenor that I love to death. I love the sound and feel. It's happy with either steel or nylon strings. It's scale length is just 20 1/2". I have another tenor with a 24 1/2" scale, and I know that standard is 23+, but as a "casual" player, I really love the short finger reach of this one. I like what I like for myself, of course, but would welcome the input of more experienced players as I may want to make a few more to pass around.

[Joe Williams]

I forgot to mention that it's tuned as a guitar, 1 - 4, although it could just as well be as an octave mandolin or a tenor banjo.

[Barry Daniels]

Cool little guitar. Is that black walnut on the b&s?

[Joe Williams]

Thank you. Yes, and plain old Home Depot pine on top.

[Jason Rodgers]

That's quite attractive. My own personal aesthetic doesn't like squared-off heels and butts, but other features are in fair proportion. How did you brace it? Those knots/spikes and heart/sap transitions sure do make for an interesting top.

[Joe Williams]

Thank you. It's a slightly domed x brace.

[Ed Haney]

Joe,

Obviously scale lengths affect the tone, but I'll ignore that. Another effect, as you pointed out, is the reduced amount of finger/hand stretching that is required when the scale is reduced. Players that are experiencing pain due to stretching often go to shorter scales to reduce the pain and allow themselves to continue playing. I believe that Larry Pettis is an example of this. He is an excellent professional player that seeks shorter scale instruments due to health reasons - so that he can make the stretches and still continue to experience his love of playing guitar. But he, like other musicians in this situation, prefers the guitar to sound as much as possible like a "regular" guitar. There is the challenge for a builder.

Ed

[Joe Williams]

Other than whatever the effect is of the heavier gauge strings required for proper tension, what is the effect on tone of scale length?

[Michael Lewis]

Heavier strings tend to be stiffer than lighter strings, and this causes them to produce more fundamental frequency and less overtones. The lighter strings are more flexible and consequently can move in more complex modes, which makes a more complex tone and tends to sustain longer than the heavier strings.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Additionally, because of the stiffness of thicker strings the upper partials tend to go sharper than those of longer and thinner strings. Adds a a bit of inharmonicity to the sound.

[Len McIntosh]

A puzzle to me is the lack of popularity of a "Four String Guitar" not a tenor, but tuned to the first four strings of a six string and having a regular six string scale length.great for beginners or uke players wanting to try guitar.
My first instrument was a uke, and was learned chording.

Next got a six string and adding the extra fingering didn't take long.

Your 20 inch scale means the frets are closer together but the strings should probably be tuned higher than a guitar.
Your four string with a 20 inch scale is a great beginner combination but should be tuned to give the correct string tension, if playing with others transposing guitar chords is necessary.
My thinking is two semitones for starters, put a capo on a regular guitar at the second fret and tune to the first four strings,
Use extra light strings.
Instead of transposing make everyone else play cappoed at the second fret!
A true tenor guitar is tuned in fifths (like a mandolin) and the 23 inch scale helps with some stretch chords and allows the first string usually .009 to be tuned to the A that's five semitones above the guitars E first string, and it's really tight!

[Jason Rodgers]

A puzzle to me is the lack of popularity of a "Four String Guitar" not a tenor, but tuned to the first four strings of a six string and having a regular six string scale length.

This was a thing, at one time. I saw an archtop in a music store once (don't recall the make) that had this very narrow neck: when I walked across the room to take a closer look I realized what it was all about. I think it was a cross-over instrument for folks who played banjo. The tuning you describe, DGBE, is called "guitar" or "Chicago" tuning.

[Joe Williams]

Len, this one has been tuned both as an octave mandolin and as a guitar, using the middle 4 strings of a guitar set to get good tension. I prefer it that way.