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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| Lark In The Morning tenor guitar | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 24th, 2005 09:49 pm |
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1st Post |
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Will Approved 
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Tenor guitars are found mostly as vintage instruments, but there are a few dealers who sell affordable new tenor guitars. Lark In The Morning, a mail order dealer based in California, sells 2 models of new tenor guitars made in Korea (probably from the same factory that makes Samick guitars). I bought their deluxe model in July 2003, and I've been playing it ever since. What is unusual about these tenor guitars is that they are unusually large (auditorium or 000 size body), with a standard 25.5" (rather than the usual 23") scale length. Also, these are both solid wood guitars, with a solid spruce glossy finish top. The deluxe model ($465 with hard shell case) has solid rosewood back and sides, abalone binding on the body and soundhole, and gold-plated tuners, while the basic model ($365 without a case) has solid mahogany back and sides, and no abalone trim. They come tuned in standard C-G-D-A tuning with unusually thick (all 4 strings are wound) strings, probably because the long scale length would break standard tenor strings. I replaced the original strings with medium gauge Martin phosphor bronze strings tuned to D-G-B-E. It plays very well (nice, low action) and has a great tone. http://www.larkinthemorning.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=tenor+guitar
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Fri Mar 25th, 2005 08:54 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Will Approved
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 This is the tenor guitar that I own.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26th, 2005 05:58 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Tim3finger Approved 
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Hey Will  Thanks for the info on the LITM tenor guitar.  I had thought about one of those, but there was not enough info on-line for me to commit to buying one. Plus they are still a little pricey for me. I went with a Soares'y tenor this time, but having it and my homemade one doesn't rule out getting another tenor in the future.T3F
____________________ Tim "Trying to give back a little of what I've been given" |
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| Posted: Sun Mar 27th, 2005 04:49 am |
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4th Post |
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Will Approved
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Hi, Tim: If I had known Soarses'y tenors were available, I might have chosen that one. Two years ago, the only string instruments I could play were autoharp and uke, and since I had a baritone uke, when I read about tenor guitars, I decided to look for one to buy. The tenor guitar web site (http://www.tenorguitar.com) had mentioned that Lark In The Morning carried new tenors, so I ordered from them. My inspiration for playing the tenor guitar came from the Kingston Trio - Nick Reynolds of the original trio played a Martin 0-18 tenor tuned like a baritone uke. After playing the tenor for a while, I was able to make the adjustment to being able to play 6-string and 12-string guitar. Like you, I'm tempted to consider another tenor guitar, especially the 8-string Soarses'y. Back in the early 60's Nick Reynolds had one of his Martin tenors converted to an 8-string, and he played that instrument on some of their recordings. It's great to hear you and Dean ("1four5") get to jam together and post recordings here. This really is a great web site and forum. (Thank you, Richard Hefner!)
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Sun Mar 27th, 2005 05:14 pm |
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5th Post |
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1four5 Approved 
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After playing the tenor for a while, I was able to make the adjustment to being able to play 6-string and 12-string guitar. Thanks Will, you are right on the money there, and I'm glad I'm not the only one! Thanks for bringing this up! My experience has been with the baritone uke, and I get to jam on Tim's Tenor guitar. It has been my personal experience that there is no other instrument better at improving guitar skills than a four string instrument tuned to DGBE. When I stumbled on the bari uke by accident at the music store, I was going through some very frustrating times with my guitar. 6 string were just too much for a beginner to finger pick, and clumbsily strumming 4 and 5 string chords sounded like crap because I couldn't stop hitting the 6th or 5th string. With the frustrating strings eliminated, I could jam with abandon, and it all sounds good. One string assigned to each finger for finger picking is a revelation. It's hard to keep playing if you are not having fun. Almost overnight I was coming up with cool fingerpicking patterns, and more recently my strumming muscle control has gotten through a horrible brick wall. Migrating back to my guitars with the newly developed coordination and muscle control developed on the uke, with cool finger picking patterns, and strum patterns has been a dream come true. I've played a friend's 12 string guitar, and personally, it isn't my style or desire...but I've redescovered my love for 6 strings, and I have the bari uke to thank for that. So, for anyone out there who is up against a 6 string brick wall, I would encourage them to try a tenor guitar or a bari uke, and get back to having fun!!! Last edited on Sun Mar 27th, 2005 05:17 pm by 1four5 ____________________ These are the good times! |
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| Posted: Thu Apr 13th, 2006 12:31 pm |
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6th Post |
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Cliff1946 Approved
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Will, Are you still happy with your Lark in the morning Tenor? Cliff
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| Posted: Thu Apr 13th, 2006 02:40 pm |
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7th Post |
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Will Approved
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Cliff1946 wrote: Will, Cliff: Yes, I still play that Lark In The Morning tenor guitar. It's great for practicing melody picking, and I've used it as a lead instrument on some occasions. It's still the best looking guitar that I own, and I'm thinking about getting a similarly-trimmed Blueridge 6-string 000-sized BR-73 guitar (glossy finish, abalone trim, solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides). Will Last edited on Thu Apr 13th, 2006 04:15 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Thu Apr 13th, 2006 03:59 pm |
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8th Post |
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viking Approved 
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1four5 wrote: After playing the tenor for a while, I was able to make the adjustment to being able to play 6-string and 12-string guitar. Hi Will & Dean I have to agree with Dean here I purchased a Plectrum Banjo a few months ago and it is having a positive effect on my guitar playing. After asking you all about tunings I decided to leave it in DGBE When I accompany myself on guitar I tend to add colour to my playing by using various BASS rifs, arpeggios, links, etc. with either strummed or picked chords. But using a 4 stringed instrument on a regular basis has forced me to reevaluate my treatment of the treble strings. In order to add that colour now I have to look for the melody and that can only be a good thing. Now when I pick up my guitar I find that things I have worked at on the Plectrum Banjo transfer straight on to the 6 string fretboard with all my old Bass work in tact GREAT !! So Guitarists rush out and grab a 4 string anything, I,ve found it a tremendous bonus. MARK 
____________________ Hear You Soon MARK |
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| Posted: Thu Apr 13th, 2006 04:12 pm |
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9th Post |
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Will Approved
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I heartily agree with Mark (viking) and Dean (1four5). For me, the baritone uke and 4-string tenor guitar tuned DBGE were key instruments that helped me to gain the necessary dexterity to make rapid chord changes and learn to crosspick melody notes, and it made the transition to tenor banjo, 6-string and 12-string guitar much easier for me.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Thu Nov 2nd, 2006 04:42 pm |
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10th Post |
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andyrizz Approved
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Hi, I would like to reply to your entry regarding the Lark tenor guitars....I am a seller of these. A few years ago , the factory in Korea that makes these had a problem where their specs were all of a sudden, for no reason, off. They produced a large batch of these tenor guitars with THE WRONG scale length of 25.5" instead of the standard 22.75 to 23" scale. The 25.5' scale would make it a "plectrum guitar". This was okay if you tune it dgbe, called "chicago tuning". However, if you tuned it CGDA the action didn't feel right and the strings would break easily. Most especially the high "a" string. I discovered that the problem was an incorrect scale length and notified Lark who then notified the Korean factory. They fixed the problem. However, I got a lot of returns on these, mostly with folks who tuned CGDA. Another thing that happened is that a "famous tenor online group" started to bad-mouth the product. This bad-mouthing was intense mostly from those who said they were tenor guitar builders.Usually private builders charge $$$$$$ to make tenors or any instrument. I presume that these tenors were perceived to be a threat to their business, so to jump on any kind of bandwagon against the competition probably seemed like a the thing to do. I wrote to them and asked them to ease up a little , explaining the Korea-factory-spec-problem, but was ignored. Anyway, thankfully, I continue to sell these with great success. I own the same model with the rosewood, abalone and absolutely love plaYINGIT. iT HANGS AT MY DESK WHERE I PICK IT UP FREQUENTLY. aS FAR AS THE STRINGS GO ON THESE. tHERE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE kOREAN FACTORY SHIPPED THESE WITH non-standard All wound strings. This was for tuning it in low cgda tuning. Since Korea is not the "tenor guitar capital of the world" nor the "land of a million tenor enthusiasts" they would make these string errors due to their ignorance. However , in the last 1.5 years I have had these come in with standard tenor strings on them. You are correct regarding the body size being an auditorium or 000 size body. This makes for increased projection as well as a fuller richer tone covering more frquencies than a smaller body would give. These tenors are very versatile. By simply using standard tenor strings, .036w--.024w--.016p--.010p, the following tunings are available:
[size=GDAE , like an octave mandolin] any way, I could go on and on about how great these are, but that's enough for now peace, andy rizzotti
____________________ peace, rizzzzz |
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| Posted: Thu Nov 2nd, 2006 04:59 pm |
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11th Post |
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Will Approved
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Thanks, Andy, for the information you've posted. What you described is exactly what happened to me. My Lark In The Morning "tenor" guitar arrived in the mail in July 2004 with the 25.5" scale length and 4 wound strings. I had never intended to try to learn CGDA fifths tuning, so I promptly removed those strings and put on the upper 4 of a standard set of guitar strings and tuned it to DGBE. Later on, I measured the scale length and body dimensions, and realized that it was a 000-sized plectrum guitar, so that tuning was appropriate. It does have great sound and looks, so I'm very satisfied with the instrument. By the way, CGBD is plectrum banjo tuning, the original tuning for plectrum guitars. Last edited on Thu Nov 2nd, 2006 05:02 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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