Does anyone know of anyone using this site from the uk?

I am finding it really hard to source a good sized box (12" length) no one on Ebay over here is selling boxes this big does anyone have any ideas where i can find something of this size or if they even exsist.

 

Also does anyone have any tip for neck building i have found this really hard on projects in the past and wondered if there was an easier way to build a neck.

 

Many Thanks

 

Andrew D

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12 inch boxes?...I reckon you'll have to make one that big. You can get boxes around 11 inches long, but you may have to import them from the USA. A couple of us UK people do buy boxes from the states, but we are buying 20-30 at at time, and it's serious money for a job-lot (also you get hit for import charges & VAT), but they work out pretty reasonable on a per-box basis.

 

There's many ways to make a neck...what aspects do you find hard? If you let us know then we can perhaps suggests alternative ways of doing thing, work-around techniques or tools that will help you.  Making a neck is perhaps the hardest part..but to a certain extent it's as hard as you make it - employ a bit of thought beforehand and don't make it overly complicated. 

 

There's loads of info on here, whether it's doing a headstock scarf, fretting, shaping the back of the neck etc.

its mainly with the shaping of the whole neck, i guess if i just made a simple straight neck it would be easier.

thanks for the quick reply,

 

i was thinking of making the box myself as i found some really nice soild wood sheets in the street behind my house a few weeks ago and kept it thinking it would come in handy for something.

 

thanks for the advice

 

Shaping the whole neck, how do you mean? Headstock, heel, back of the neck, fitting it into the box..there's quite few operations...if you could be a bit more specific ( a picture is always good) we can get some idea of the difficulties you are having. From your reply you imply aren't building a 'simple straight neck', so what are you doing that needs some help?

Andrew - check out the Brits and London groups on the 'Nation, plenty of advice to be had there locating materials, though yes unless you're really lucky the big 11-12 inch boxes are usually to be found in the USA, shipping is around 16 pounds for one box, also there are hardwood suppliers in the UK that do Oak necks to shape yourself, again phone around you should find one. Some builders have used wine bottle boxes with great success, and very cheap to buy.

As for shaping necks i don't do anything too fancy, just round off the corners and add a fretboard - shimples! (-;

mainly the back of the neck.

getting a nice round shape at the back.

 

Thanks Steve ill look around.

 

thanks for the help ill upload some pictures when im done.

For shaping the back of the neck, coarse rasp file (or a 'SurForm') and sandpaper (and lots of hard work) will do the job. With sandpaper, I use the cloth backed aluminium oxide coarse (60 grit or lower) stuff, then work my way through the finer grades. Use a cork block or at least an offcut of wood for sanding, it's much more efficient and accurate than just holding the sandpaper in your hand.

 

If you want to go traditional, a spokeshave is good, but you'll still need something like a half-round rasp to get in to the concave curves at transition areas like the heel and back of the headstock.  Also...a decent bench-mounted vice, or at the very least a 'Workmate" is essential to hold the work while you attack it vigorously.

 

You can do it all by hand, but if you want to go the serious powertool route, and you fancy building lots of guitars, a bench belt sander with a 40 or 60 grit belt will shape the back of the neck in about 5 minutes flat..and it will level fretboards, clean-up scarf joints, square-up end cuts and do a myriad of other jobs quicker, and more accurately than you can do by hand. Change the belt to a 120 grit, sand-out the rough sanding marks for a couple of minutes and you'll be pretty much ready to give it a quick rub down with extra-fine grade sandpaper and put your finish of choice on it.

 

You certainly don't need power tools to do the job, it just makes it quicker and easier. I wouldn't be without my bench sander, but I built probably over 50 guitars before getting one.

Welcome onboard Andrew!

 

My advice would be to start simple - when a neck is as narrow as it is for 3 strings you can get away with rounding the edges with a file or spoke shave and its still comfy to play, despite being alomost square in profile.

No need for a scarfed headstock either if youre not sure about doing them.... Fender having been doing guitars for years and they havnt figured it out yet.... ;o)

Have alook through the millions of pictures and Im pretty sure youll see something that helps you out.

 

Re boxes, I ship bulk lots in from the US. If there is enough interest Il double my next shipment of boxes and sell them through the Brits group. Il be bringing a load to the festival in October too.

Hi Andrew, you got some great help here, these guys are the experts..

Im in Australia, and i had the same problem, cigar boxes are really hard to get, the shipping costs are prohibitive etc etc..   I did manage to scrounge a couple of smallish boxes to get started, and I got a few really nice ones from the USA on ebay, but i really got burned on the shipping.  In the end i started making way bigger numbers in cookie tin and salad bowl guitars, just because those things were far easier for me to get, and i learned how to make them work for me and sound good and now I've managed to sell a bunch of em.   Do keep looking for cigar boxes, a nice one can be quite a find, but i'd just like to point out, there probably is some other kind of container in a bin right near you that could make a great guitar, it just isn't a literal 'cigar box'

 

I think a lot of us around here lose sight of the fact that when people were making cigar box guitars in the early days of the last century they were using cigar boxes because cigar boxes were plentiful, people throwing them away all the time, not necessarily because they were the holy grail of tone..  Now smoking is right out of favour, even those who want to do it are taxed to the point where its impossible, especially high end cigars like might come in a quality wooden box.  But plenty of Australians getting fat on cookies...

 

i recommend embracing the recycling element, grabbing a nearby container of any type and just go for it mate. ;)

and please, no flaming from the cigar box fetishists, i know they can be great guys and i'm not ragging on cigar boxes at all, im just saying, if you're living somewhere where cigars are not smoked in numbers, maybe you ought to expand your thinking..

 

and tell us a little bit about your tool shed so people can help with your questions mate, if you have access to any kind of power tools, list em, theres a lot of ways you can shape a neck.   +1 for a sander personally, i think its great, and I round over the back of a neck on a big 12" disc sander in seconds..  Its also great for finishing off frets and making straight edges, rounding over corners etc..  ALso, if you can get access to a bandsaw, you can do much more ambitious things like tackling a taper etc etc

Hey Jef

 

I made a three string slide guitar using an old buscuit tin, the tin gave it a more far eastern sound.

 

I have a box which i am currently working on a design for. I am looking for a bigger box so i can make a Tenor size cigar box uke.

 

I dont really have much in the way of power tools i have a jigsaw and a drill. i have various grades of sand paper and a sanding block. i also own various sized clams and vices and a basic tool kit including hammers and screwdrivers.

 

when i made my last guitar i shaped the neck with a pocket knife but it was a little unpredicable. i'm thinking that i may just make a basic neck with a fender style head so i can have to worry about angles and stuff.

 

Thanks to everyone who has got back to me so fast.

 

 

 

I dont know if there are any members who live in the north east of england but i have just recieved an email from a cigar shop in newcastle upon tyne who are selling boxes. prices range from £2 to £10 the owner says prices depend on size and qaulity.

 

May be worth checking out if you live in the area.

 

the shop is the cuban cigar club and its located on Grainger Street.

You certainly don't need a large box to make a tenor uke, you can make ukes on pretty small boxes. I've got one made from a Punch box, around 9 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches, and it's plenty big enough and plenty loud enough acoustically.

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