From Festival Napkin to Industry Standard: the Story Behind Eastwood's Tenor Guitar Revolution

by Evan Antonelli

Warren Ellis's Vision Meets Eastwood's Innovation

In 2007, Eastwood Guitars President Mike Robinson traveled to Minehead, England, to attend the music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. As a longtime fan of Warren Ellis, Mike was looking forward to seeing his performance with a new band called Grinderman. Afterwards, Mike and Warren struck up a conversation and Warren mentioned an intriguing idea: the creation of a tenor guitar. 

At the time, Mike was unfamiliar with the instrument, so Warren described its unique characteristics and the vision he had for the design. Though initially skeptical about the market for such a niche instrument, Mike recognized the creative opportunity—and Warren’s unmistakable passion. Choosing to trust Warren’s artistic instincts over his own reservations, Mike committed to bringing the concept to life, and the result was the Warren Ellis Signature Tenor Guitar.

Warren Ellis performing with the Warren Ellis Signature Tenor

Launched in 2011, the Warren Ellis Signature Tenor was unlike any other tenor on the market at that time. The body was reminiscent of a Mustang, but more compact. It had a 23” scale with a 1 5/16” nut width and wide string spacing to accommodate Warren’s wild string bending technique. The pièce de résistance was the single Warren Ellis Blade Pickup in the neck position and the simple control configuration, designed to showcase the sonic potential of the tenor tuning with its heavy low strings and biting high strings.

Growing the Lineup from One Model to Many

The Warren Ellis Signature tenor was a huge success. (And still is today!) Encouraged by the response, Eastwood decided to make more tenors in other configurations, including the Astrojet Tenor NK DLX. This model had more traditional tenor features, such as a much narrower 1 1/8” nut and a design based on existing vintage tenors played by the incredible Neko Case. Unlike the Warren Ellis Signature Tenor, it has six-string hardware, pickups, and vibrato—making it a snap for folks to mod their instruments.

Neko Case performing with her vintage electric tenor guitar

A Home for Tenor Fans: Introducing tenor-guitars.com

Eastwood’s bold foray into the world of tenor guitars did not go unnoticed, with the tenor guitar community recognizing Eastwood’s innovation and willingness to try new things. The Tenor Guitar Foundation contacted Eastwood to see if they were interested in participating in the annual Tenor Guitar Gathering, and Eastwood donated a tenor guitar for a giveaway. Eastwood’s relationship with the tenor guitar community has continued to grow, and Eastwood still donates a tenor guitar every year to the Gathering. This past year, Mike did an interview with the Tenor Guitar Foundation for their newsletter, which you can find here. Feedback from the tenor guitar players also led to Eastwood’s most traditional tenor yet, the fully hollow archtop Eastwood TG-150. The TG-150 fuses vintage style with modern components and quality and hearkens back to the instrument's origin: a way for tenor banjo players to access the softer sound of guitars without having to learn a new instrument.

The Eastwood TG-150 in repose

Fifteen years after Warren Ellis and Mike Robinson sketched a tenor design on the back of a napkin at a music festival, tenor guitars have come to comprise a large portion of Eastwood’s models. With a wide range of over twenty different models, Eastwood is now the market leader in electric tenor guitar offerings. Most players who try Eastwood tenors come back to buy more, and occasionally express frustration at needing to sift through Eastwood’s entire lineup to find the tenors they’re after. Mike decided it was high time to give our tenor guitar fans a home of their own, and in April 2025 we launched a dedicated tenor website: tenor-guitars.com.

In addition to offering tenor guitars for purchase, tenor-guitars.com is the place for the tenor guitar community to grow and explore. The website features learning resources, video demos, blogs, and news about what’s next with Eastwood’s tenors and related instruments such as octave mandolins. There’s also an incredible five-page Alternate Tuning and String Gauge guide, an invaluable resource for tenor players looking to explore different tunings without having to get a PhD in string tension.

Tenor Guitar, But Make It Fancy

With Eastwood’s tenor domain expanding, tenor players have begun asking for an instrument with more high-end features. This has led to the newest additions to the Eastwood tenor guitar lineup: the Rivolta Duocata Tenor and Rivolta Duocata Tenor Baritone—the first tenors ever offered in the Rivolta Series.

The Rivolta Duocata Tenor and Rivolta Duocata Tenor Baritone

The Rivolta Duocata Tenor and Duocata Tenor Baritone both feature chambered Ash bodies with bound F-holes, along with checkerboard binding around the body. They sound as good as they look, with Warren Ellis Blade and Mini Humbucker pickups. The soft satin finish on the maple necks and the rounded nuts make these instruments feel like well-loved old friends from the moment you pick them up. Like all Rivoltas, there’s serious attention to detail in their construction, with sleek contours and flawless finishes. Mike recently sat down with Eastwood Brand Experience Manager Ellen Angelico to talk about tenor guitars, the tenor guitar community, and where he sees tenor guitars headed next. It’s a fun conversation, and you can check it out on YouTube.

What Makes These Four-Strings Special

Tenor guitars can expand your creativity. Switching to four-string from six-string guitar and branching out from standard guitar tuning will get you thinking about melody and chord structure in new ways. They’re also great for violin, cello, and mandolin players looking for an electric instrument while staying in familiar fingerboard geography. Their small necks and shorter scale are easy to play, and their simple chord shapes make them an excellent choice for beginning players as well.

Here at Eastwood Guitars, we say “Four IS More!” Tenor guitars are limitless creation machines, and we make something for everyone. No matter your price range, playing style, desired electronics, or tuning preference, you’ll be able to find the perfect tenor at tenor-guitars.com. We’ll see you there!