Is a sound hole necessary for an electric guitar?

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Permalink Reply by David L. on January 10, 2010 at 5:10pm

Hi Esteban,

I don't know the answer to the first bit. Regarding the jack plug socket it was discussed previously here
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/14-phone-jack-advice-nee...

Regards,
David

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Permalink Reply by L.J. on January 10, 2010 at 6:12pm

I never put holes in electrics anymore. Adds to the feedback.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 10, 2010 at 6:43pm

If you plan to use it solely as an electric, I would skip the sound holes.

As for the jack, Stewart Macdonald sells a jack with a long shank on it. Or you can drill a big hole in the box that the entire jack will fit through, then put a wooden plate over it with a hole for the jack itself.

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Permalink Reply by Shane on January 10, 2010 at 7:48pm

A sound hole is not necessary for electric...OR ACOUSTIC cigar box guitars. Soundholes merely add acoustic bass response and a little bit of volume.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on January 10, 2010 at 9:09pm

I'm with Shane on the sound hole deal.Mostly I put sound holes on most of mine because it makes the customer feel better about the "custom built" concept.
I just finshed an autotag CBG ,didnt put a sound hole but DID stick a piezo in it.
It would have been too quiet with OR WITHOUT a sound hole unless it was lectrified,,,,,,,

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on January 10, 2010 at 9:57pm

There are solid-body electrics, Semi-hollowbody electrics, and hollowbody electrics. They all have distinct characteristics, and I suppose they might translate to the CBG electrics as well.
Hollowbodies, like the big Gibson "jazz boxes", have a nice, mellow tone but do tend to feed back when played at high volume. Some artists have used this to their advantage, notably Ted Nugent.
The semi-hollowbodies, like the much-liked Gibson 335 and it's variants, try to be "the best of both worlds". They are popular with jazz artists.
Solid-body instruments have less tendency to feeding back as a result of acoustic "loops", and can be made in any shape or style as the body lends very little to the sound.

Experiment!

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Permalink Reply by Julian Perry on January 11, 2010 at 6:20am

On the jack-fitting question, I have used a larger drill-bit to counter-sink the hole on the inside of the box, so the body of the jack socket sits in it nicely. Be careful not to drill too far though!

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Permalink Reply by Larry McInnes on January 13, 2010 at 9:17pm

Hey Estaban. I asked the same question about the jacks at the Handmade Music Clubhouse site. I got turned on to these bad boys and now I'm just waiting for them to come in the mail.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/336794.html

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Permalink Reply by Esteban Celis on January 19, 2010 at 7:58am

I found one way to solve the problem It may not be the choice for many, but it seems that it may work well and avoid problems such as bad connections. I used an RCA wire connected to the piezo and a wire that has a female RCA in one side and a jack for the amp in the other. Take a look at the photos.

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Permalink Reply by Tres Seaver on January 19, 2010 at 10:43am

Esteban Celis said:

I found one way to solve the problem It may not be the choice for many, but it seems that it may work well and avoid problems such as bad connections. I used an RCA wire connected to the piezo and a wire that has a female RCA in one side and a jack for the amp in the other.

Sure, that works -- the only downside is that you can't use just any old male-male 1/4" guitar cable.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on January 19, 2010 at 10:50am

Les Paul did not think you needed holes in an electric..

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Permalink Reply by Tim on January 19, 2010 at 11:02am

just to add on purly electric if your using electromagnetic pickups i sugest adding wood to the lid and skipping the cut out on the neck. to give you less feed back.

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