Convert a 6 string electric to a tenor guitar - will the pickups work?

I have a question for the guys who are familiar with electric guitar pickups. My wife saw this cool little 3/4 guitar and asked me if i could convert it to a tenor guitar for her.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Express-Electric-Guitar-110162740-i3606974.gc

Can i simply change the bridge / saddle for a 4 string and the nut or would i have to replace the pickups too. I'm not worried if they don't sound 'wonderful' but will they still make a reasonable sound with the poles on the 6 string pickups not lined up with the 4 strings of the tenor?

Thanks.... Bill

Not a perfect solution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOzYp6UODkQ

I was toying with the idea of removing the neck and, with a decent upright belt sander, reduce the width of the neck to 1 3/8" or so at the nut, frets and all trying not to damage the bolt-in section and the headstock, and then re-contour the neck and re-dress the fret ends. I then envision removing two tuning machines and carefully cutting the headstock as little as I can to produce a contour as close as possible to the original headstock. At 1 3/8" I can probably get a bone uke nut or just make a new one since I have the blanks. Refinishing the neck/headstock not a big deal I think. I"d then use either the center 4 saddles or use one of the new, inexpensive 4 strings saddles being made for CBG's. That's my idea on the matter. I'm sure there are lots who will advise us both if it's workable.

Not so sure i'm going to be as invasive as that Phil. I figure if the perfect nut width for her is 1 1/2 inches (as she prefers) then going up a tiny bit to the stock 1.69" will be livable with a little stretching, at least til we figure out if she really likes it. Main concern i have is whether after converting the thing into a tenor the pickups will actually make any sound...

PhilUSAFRet said:

or use one of the new, inexpensive 4 strings saddles being made for CBG's

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Can you explain this a bit more Phil, i'm not familiar with CBG's?

If you simply removed the two outside saddles form the guitar and used the middle four, then the pickups would be aligned with the strings still.. If you're going to change the string spacing, then you may or may not get good results. What you might experience then is some strings sound louder or quieter than the others since they don't align with the pickups quite right. There are some electric pickups that use bar magnets instead of pole pieces. Those would work with any situation. I can't think of a specific brand or model right now on those..but they might be more money than you'd want to sink into them anyway.
CB Gitty also sells an inexpensive 4 string pickup:
http://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-gu...olume-and-tone-perfect-for-cigar-box-guitars/ Maybe those line up with the aforementioned 4 string bridge they sell.
Here's a direct link to the bridge I think ricdoug is thinking of:
http://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-gu...-hard-tail-bridge-for-cigar-box-guitars-more/

That's a string through the body bridge though. So you'd have to have the body holes/ferrules in the right spots to work with it.

If it were me, I'd just take the 2 outside strings and saddles off and let her try it like that before doing any other mods. Maybe that'd work for her. If it does, just take the extra tuning machines off so they don't rattle and you're done.

Edit: This is the pickup I was thinking of earlier, but the one I linked up there looks neat too:
http://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-gu...d-foil-clip-in-magnetic-pickup-with-amp-cord/
There's a video showing Shane Speal modifying to mount directly to the top of something too.

Maybe the pickups would work well enough as-is though..never know til ya try.

Not quite the same, but I have converted a full size no-name dreadnought acoustic guitar to 4 strings, as an 'octave uke'. tuned a re-entrant GCEA, one octave lower than a tenor or similar.

I fashioned a 4-string tailpiece from a piece of metal with a 13mm string spacing, and tied it to the endpin using a length of black paracord.

I then replaced the nut with a nubone bass guitar nut with a 43mm width.

Since the pickup is a piezo under-saddle, I did not have any issues with that part, but since the edge of the tailpiece sits about 25mm behind the bridge, the strings tend to move on the original saddle whether plucked or strummed. I solved this by replacing the saddle with a bone acoustic guitar saddle which I have notched @ 13mm string spacing, and compensated accordingly.

The strings I have used are the GHS Vanguard Classic singles, which are smoothwound medium tension classical guitar strings. I used these strings in order from top to the bottom as 0.027 for the G, then the 0.035 for the C, then the 0.030 for the E, and then another 0.027 for the A.

Works well, but these strings shred the tips of my fingernails despite being smoothwound. I will probably change them out for the Thomastik-Infeld CHROME FLATWOUND equivalent single strings/gauges from the CF128 set.

Also in order to compensate for the lower tension, I had to completely relax the truss rod, which also fixed the buzzing at the 14th fret, across all the strings.

There are still a few adjustments to the the playability, but I was not playing it as a 6-string, and now it's a big-body octave uke with TONS of sustain that is quite loud and projects well with it's spruce top.

did you show her any of the vorson steel stringed ukuleles? probably a bit simpler.

bnolsen said:

did you show her any of the vorson steel stringed ukuleles? probably a bit simpler.

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They are very cool, i've been searching and they only seem to come in a tenor size and i'm looking for something she can tune DGBE. That would be a great choice though.

billten said:

They are very cool, i've been searching and they only seem to come in a tenor size and i'm looking for something she can tune DGBE. That would be a great choice though.

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You could tune a tenor DGBE. It'd just be a matter of figuring out the right string sizes to get enough tension.

Also, I don't think I saw this in the thread yet, but Blue Star makes some baritone electric ukes that are reasonably priced for a handmade in the USA instrument ($335 USD at Elderly Instruments)
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BSBK-CHRB-RSWD.htm
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BSBK-REDB-RSWD.htm
They're an awesome company to deal with.
....or you can get a customized one directly from the maker at Blue Star. He makes tenors too...
http://bluestarguitarcompany.com/