#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

Bridge Placement on eBay Purchase

Hello. First time post, not even stated building my first CBG yet. I am planning on building a Cigar Box Uke from scratch as my first project but before that thought I would browse eBay to see what they had.

I purchased the above without really scrutinising the photo too much. It turned out it needed a little more done than I thought. The seller has thrown in some tuning pegs and I can get the other bits and bobs I need easily enough from my tool box and the local hardware store.

What I want to ask is where do I put the bridge? Is the twice the distance to the 12th fret a hard rule? In which case is my bridge not going to be very far up the guitar? Would I be best to try and move the box further up the neck?

I figure if I try to finish it off, even if it goes wrong, it will be good experience. I am planning on using a hinge as a tailpiece to hold the strings and a bolt for the nut. Not sure what I am planning on using for a bridge yet. Will browse the site for ideas.

Thanks for any help. Love the site.

Not sure where to get good boxes in the UK as the old fashioned tobacco shop is becoming a thing of the past here.

Douglas

1 member likes this

Attachments:

CBG Guiat Mk 2.jpg, 856 KB

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on August 29, 2015 at 9:50pm

Douglas,more than anything else,that just looks like a poor attempt at scaling,,but without dimensions hard to be sure.Can you give the measurement from the nut to,say, the point of the anchor near centreline? I suspect you have a short scale on a long neck,if it's scaled at all

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on August 29, 2015 at 11:15pm

Like Darryl says without dimensions its difficult.Stripping off those frets and adding a new fretted finger board of the correct scale length may be the way to go

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Douglas McIntosh on August 30, 2015 at 1:33am

Still waiting on it to be delivered. Will post up a picture with measurements when it arrives. Whatever I have to do with it will be a useful learning experience I am sure. Thanks for taking a look Michael and Darryl.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David L. on August 30, 2015 at 1:53am

Hi Douglas,

For the UK I have bought cigar boxes from here https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/empty-wooden-cigar-boxes-paper-coated-la...
I did try eBay but find the prices too high and the boxes too small.

Thinking of alternatives I have found wooden photo slide boxes off eBay work well. Typically including postage the average price is around £10 for a wooden box with dovetail corners. Looking now there are some that look like a reasonable deal.
For a larger instrument (these old Boots boxes make a great six string guitar body) look for a box that has a 175 slide capacity http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Projector-Slides-Mahogany-box-/1217449018...
For a smaller instrument body the 100 slide capacity boxes are usually a couple of pounds cheaper http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-VINTAGE-WOODEN-SLIDE-STORAGE-BOX-CASE-...

For the project you have bought if it is a simple stick through the box you might find the stick will slide through the box so the bridge can be positioned nearer the centre.

Regards,
David L.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Douglas McIntosh on August 30, 2015 at 3:53am

Thanks for the advice David. When I have more info about the partially built BCG I will update here. Hopefully there will be an easy fix to let me build some confidence.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Otto on August 30, 2015 at 11:10am

Hi Douglas,

The thing you bought seems like a badly conceived project of the builder with a poor attempt at sacling, like Darryl stated. If removing the fretboard is an option, you might be able to save the guitar (just make a new fretboard with a more realistic scale). If not, I would try to remove the whole neck and save the box for a future project (it's a very nice box). We all learn from making mistakes.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Douglas McIntosh on August 30, 2015 at 11:29am

Indeed. He did say it was his first ever project.

Anyway will see what happens. Should be here in the next few days.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 31, 2015 at 4:19pm

Douglas,

Yes, normally, the bridge is 2X the nut to the 12th fret. Looks to me like that's a wall hanger, unless you wanna rebuild it. Those frets look like finishing nails or staples. They're awfully high, judging from the shadows. I agree with David L: it'd be relatively easy to strip the frets off, trim the neck down after sliding it through the box more, and either repurposing it as a simple slider, or adding a proper fretboard. Normally on a box that size, your bridge would sit 1/3 to 1/2 the distance from the tail, depending upon what scale length you decide on. I lay out mine by figuring out approximately where I want the bridge on the box top, then work the overall scale length to the nut up the neck from there. Then, I measure each fret from the nut for that particular scale length. Looks to me like Buddy tried working it the other way, and couldn't figure out how to fix his mistake.