NK Forster Tom Kimber Tenor – Top of the range, powerful, distinctive.

If you’ve been following my tenor guitars for a while, you’ll probably know the English musician Tom Kimber. Together, we’ve come up with a new version of my tenor guitar—combining the Session King shape with a bunch of upgraded features.

The Tom Kimber model features an SS-style soundboard, similar to the classic Sobell guitars of the 1990s. It gives the guitar extra midrange punch and a thicker, richer treble.

The first one I built had a torrefied Sitka spruce top, with a striking dyed burl maple rosette as standard. The neck is New Guinea rosewood, with ebony head veneers on both sides. The body is figured Queensland silkwood—lightweight, a bit like mahogany, and lovely to work with. It’s fully bound in Rocklite Ebano, finished in a high gloss lacquer, and looks every bit as good as it sounds.

This model includes many of the upgrades people often ask for when ordering a Session King tenor—only now they come as standard. A genuine step up in both tone and finish.