# N(T)GD: Dumpster Diving Edition



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

New Tenor Guitar Day! Scored this from a dumpster during my visit to Thorold/St Catharines this past weekend. 1972(?) Harmony H4101 tenor guitar in ROUGH shape.

_The bad_: The top's split completely in half along the glue joint, bridge is split into 3 pieces and has been "repaired" with machine screws, and there are gouges in the fretboard (from frets 2-6) up to 2.64mm deep, along with a ton of little splits and dings in the body, and a pretty substantial warping of the (Truss-rod-less) neck. Never handled a tenor guitar before (and in earnest didn't even know that they existed until yesterday), so I've got a few weeks of work ahead of me to get this thing playable and (marginally) pretty.

_The good_: Well, the price was right. The lumber is beautiful (a nicely figured spruce top and a gorgeous blonde Mahogany back, neck, and sides? I'll take it.) Frets will be salvaged by a level, crowning and polish, so I don't need to re-fret. Nut and saddle are both almost pristine, and the tuners are intact.

Note: these pics were taken AFTER scraping off the mounds of yellow epoxy around the bridge and oiling the fretboard.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Neat find, good luck with the refurnishiing!

What tuning would you use on these?


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

sulphur said:


> Neat find, good luck with the refurnishiing!
> 
> What tuning would you use on these?


Thanks, brother! I've got a few commissions on the go (and a day-job), so this is gonna be cruising along in the back seat, but she'll get there.
As far as I've read, it's usually CGDA (same as a tenor banjo), but I'll probably play around with it. Maybe DADA, DGBD or GDAE (like a fiddle but down an octave.)


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

acoustic bass maybe?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Nice find. A friend has a similar one that required a little TLC when it was acquired, but it came back from the dead. Anything made of wood can be fixed.

Tenor guitars, like other fretted instruments like ukulele, mandolin, banjo, can fill out rhythm tracks in a way regular guitars do not, and they can offer a different lead voice as well. more versatile than they first appear.

I have a modern Kala tenor that I tune CGDA. I love 5ths tunings.

Peace, Mooh.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Nice find Taylor! 

After recently doing a much easier "recovery" project, with your help and the help of several other GC forum members, I will be very interested in your progress with this.

What are your options for the warping of the neck?

Cheers

Dave


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

laristotle said:


> acoustic bass maybe?


That was my first guess, too, but it's too short-scale, which had me tripped up until I googled the model number.



Mooh said:


> Nice find. [....] Anything made of wood can be fixed.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Thanks, brother! She'll get there when she comes. I'm not averse to CGDA, I'm just notoriously experimental. I've noodled on a tenor banjo before, so this should be pretty quick for me to get the hang of.



greco said:


> Nice find Taylor! [...] I will be very interested in your progress with this.
> 
> What are your options for the warping of the neck?
> 
> ...


Thanks, Dave! Right now, I've got it sitting in a hard case with a couple of damp-sponge-in-cup"humidifiers". All the damage seems to be from neglect and not from any flaws in material or craftmanship, so I think proper humidification might revive it. Failing that, I can try to steam it straight. If that still doesn't do it, I can either remove the frets and plane the warping out of the fretboard (it's an 8mm-thick board, and it's only warped by 2.5mm at the worst point) and then re-fret, or I can cut a new nut and saddle for it and use it for slide. Here's hoping those last 2 options will prove unnecessary.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

Taylor said:


> I've noodled on a tenor banjo before, so this should be pretty quick for me to get the hang of.


I have a tenor banjo as well. Instead of confusing myself,
I just tuned it to an open Cmaj chord and use it for strumming.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Dive baby dive! Well done!
Look forward to the progress reports.


Sent from my Other Brain


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Nice score.

Can you recommend any good dumpsters in that same area?


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

dodgechargerfan said:


> Nice score.
> 
> Can you recommend any good dumpsters in that same area?


Got this from the dumpster (actual dumpster, not donation bin) behind the Bibles For Missions Thrift Store on Scott, they're pretty prone to throwing out damaged goods, so they're one spot. Student housing in April is also prime pickings for cheaply-made guitars and the like, and furniture, which I've been known to harvest for the wood.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i mess around with a tenor as well.
i generally use open tunings for slide stuff, but im always trying different things.

mine is a harmony as well-


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Taylor said:


> Got this from the dumpster (actual dumpster, not donation bin) behind the Bibles For Missions Thrift Store on Scott, they're pretty prone to throwing out damaged goods, so they're one spot. Student housing in April is also prime pickings for cheaply-made guitars and the like, and furniture, which I've been known to harvest for the wood.


That's a block away from my house. 

Maybe we'll bump into each other.


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## bluebayou (May 25, 2015)

Very cool find. It is very fixable. I vote with the others here that would love to see periodic progress reports and pics.


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

bluebayou said:


> Very cool find. It is very fixable. I vote with the others here that would love to see periodic progress reports and pics.


You'll get them! There won't be much excitement for the first week or so--it's living in a humidified case for a while, and I've got a couple commissions to work through--but I'm sure there will be both triumphs and tribulations to be shared.


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## Jim9guitars (Feb 15, 2016)

Nice find. It looks to me like the cracks in the bridge were made by the screws in an attempt to keep the strings from pulling it off the guitar. I've seen this before with 12 strings that have been left in standard tuning for too long. A project for sure, but a cool one.


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Jim9guitars said:


> Nice find. It looks to me like the cracks in the bridge were made by the screws in an attempt to keep the strings from pulling it off the guitar. I've seen this before with 12 strings that have been left in standard tuning for too long. A project for sure, but a cool one.


You're definitely correct. I steamed the bridge off of the body, and all the cracks run grain-wise and originate from the screwholes. Titebond 3'd the cracks so the bridge was in one (sturdy) piece, filled the ugly screw-holes with a mix of dark rosewood dust and epoxy resin, and have it curing and awaiting scraping, sanding, and finishing now.


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Update: bridge is patched and re-glued-- perfectly functional but not perfectly beautiful. Centre seam is re-glued, too, but because of oxidation of the lumber, it'll always be darker. Neck warping has improved with humidfication, but has not been completely remedied, so I'm gonna try another few days of humidification before I hit I with some steam. Fretboard gouges will be patched with a blend of epoxy and rosewood dust, just like the bridge was.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

cool stuff...

Enjoy!


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