Short Body Tenor...

Pete Howlett

Pete Howlett

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Short body tenor NOT long necked concert. :cool:

This came from one of those 'petri dishes left on the window cill' accidental things! Tom attached a tenor neck to a concert body to demonstrate to a student the area occupied by the heel when sanding and we both looked at each other and simultaneously said, 'That looks interesting - like one of those early English 4 course guitars!'

So I quickly put together some wlanut and spruce orphans, made a 15 fret to the body tenor scale neck and this is what it looks like - it's our fun instrument for The Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. May soundport it, even sunburst and fit a pick-up just for fun!

short Body1.jpg

shortbody2.jpg
 
That's strange - I've got one with a tenor scale & a concert body & that is a long neck concert - so I guess you're going to have it as a different scale length - 16"?
(I've seen some 'concerts' with a 16" scale)
 
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Looks nice :)

It'll be interesting to know what it actually plays like ... as in what's it like to handle (I'm sure it'll sound fine). I've got a "travel" guitar with a disproportionally long neck (compared to the body), it often feels "head-heavy" and definitely needs a strap, despite being relatively light, much like my non-resonator 5-string banjo, needs to be played "head-up" to keep it stable :confused:
 
Nomenclature - it's all wrong. ~Long scale is different from long neck. Thats why we are calling it 'short body'.
 
I guess I'm missing the joke on "long neck concert" vs "short body tenor". Seems exactly the same. But nobody else is marketing a "short body tenor" so it makes sense for you to corner the market with yours. :p

Anyway it looks nice. Love the back. You should definetly side port it. :cool:
 
It can be called by a different name, & that's OK, but it just confuses people, having the same basic thing being called by different names. ;)

There is also the Romero Creations Tiny Tenor, a smaller bodied tenor scale uke, that gets quite a lot of praise, but it has a more triangulated shaped body.
(There were a couple of concert ukes with 16" scale, but they didn't call them a 'long neck', even though they obviously were.)

Long neck just means longer than the standard for that size of uke - I have both concert & soprano bodied tenor scale 'long necks', & also a soprano bodied concert scale 'long neck'. People know exactly what I'm talking about when I mention them. :)
 
Pete's right, though. Soprano, concert and tenor refer to scale length, not body size. So calling a 17" scale instrument with a smaller body a "long neck concert" is factually wrong, even though it's without a doubt the more familiar terminology. If I built instruments, I'd probably not want to mislabel them just to sell them more easily, so Pete's decision to name it for what it really is makes sense to me. :)
 
But he is putting a tenor neck on a concert body.
attached a tenor neck to a concert body
Click to expand...
So I'm wondering where the bridge is going to be placed, distance between saddle & nut gives the scale.

On my long neck concert, the distance between the saddle & the base of the uke is quite a bit less than on a standard tenor, (3.1" as against 4.2").

At one time there was only a soprano, derived from a machette, then we got bigger ones, so it is all evolution, but we already have names for certain types of uke. :)
 
As a maker with over 23 years making ukulele I think I have a pretty good idea what I am doing.
 
I'm not questioning your abilities - just your logic in using a different name for an established type of uke. :)

It's your party, so do what you like, call it what you want, it's no skin off my nose. ;)
 
You could call it a super-duper scale super soprano. A rose is a rose...
 
I don't conform. I also don't agree with the view that because someone says so that is how it should be. This instrument is a fun piece - getting AR about it is a bit ridiculous :)
 
I don't really mind what it is technically called. I think it's lovely and I would like to call it "mine"! :D:music:
 
I've always wanted a concert scale tenor. Easy fretting for short fingers with a big tenor sounding body.
 
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