Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bad Wolf on December 31, 2012 at 8:57am

my first build i glued the neck to the lid, my second i built it so the lid is completely free of the neck. while the boxes were of two completely different types in all honesty they both sound great. im not real sure there is that much of a difference in the sound. maybe as i build more ill start to notice it but really id just go for whatevers easiest

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on December 31, 2012 at 9:55am

I have built them both ways, and I wasn't able to tell the difference in sound. I just cut the recess notch to be on the safe side. Either way works.

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Permalink Reply by mr lems on August 12, 2015 at 8:43pm

I find more sound comes out of the back of my cbgs!

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Permalink Reply by Sean Rush on December 31, 2012 at 9:59am

I cut the recess notch in mine for a simple reason: electronics. It also made it easier for me to get the action right, as I just cut down a bit more of the non-recessed part on the tail end to get the neck to angle down a few degrees.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on December 31, 2012 at 11:16am

contrary to  popular  belief   that  you will  get   better  resonation    with  a space    ,   i  believe   gluing  right to  the top   resos  the  whole  guitar  as   one   much   better  .  most   that have tried    the same  exact  box  trying both  ways     , say the one glued to  the lid actually sounded better .  many  also  say they can't     see the difference   .

i have never  heard  someone that has  tried both ways   with the same  box say  the space  sounds  better .  

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Permalink Reply by Brendan deVallance on December 31, 2012 at 2:11pm

I'm not sure the space makes it sound better, but it makes me feel better. I have also had good results both ways.

Dont get me started on the sound holes.

—B

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on December 31, 2012 at 2:45pm

To me it seems more likely an urban myth that you have to "hollow" the neck where it passes under the sound board. My second mountain dulcimer (MD) was a neck-through (neck-thru glued to the underside of the soundboard) with a 3/4" fingerboard (glued on top of the sound board for the entire length of the sound box). So wood was glued to both sides of the sound board, and if anything, the resulting instrument sounds better than my first MD. But, as a creature of habit, I still tend to build my box guitars with a the neck hollowed out.

Here's a photo of my 2nd MD:

However, for drum based instruments, you will notice a big difference if the drum head contacts the underlying neck, as has happened on one of my builds where the instrument was build in a dry air conditioned environment, then played in a humid un-airconditioned room (after a day or so), the sheep skin head expanded and the bridge began touching the underlying neck and the sound was very muffled. I finally fixed it by cutting away another 1/4" of wood away, and gluing it back on to the underside of the neck. (Please excuse my run-on sentence.)

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Howell on December 31, 2012 at 7:08pm

I have built both ways using the same box and design.  The one that I glued the box top to the neck is, by far, a better sounding guitar.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on December 31, 2012 at 9:15pm

Theory says to let the top vibrate as much as possible. However, practicality dictates that the top must be attached to the box somehow, and the neck must be attached to the box. Those who attach the neck to the top, may actually be transmitting more kinetic energy from the vibrating strings to the top, causing it to vibrate more. When you do this, it seems to me, as in Rand's dulcimer example, that the neck is acting literally like a bridge. Theory also says the top must be strengthened in certain places, to enhance the likelihood of particular vibration modes or frequencies. That's why you see strutwork on commercial soundboards (and on some CBGs). The Uncle Crow build attaches the neck on the outside of the box top, and it resonates like crazy. I've got one of Shane's antique cedar boxes, where the fretless neck does not touch the soundboard except at the entry and exit points. And you know what? it resonates like crazy! I've found that my loudest home built boxes are those where the back and sides have been stiffened considerably (gluing and screwing), while the neck attaches to the top only at the end where it enters the box, and the tail. Other wise, I've hollowed out the neck to let the top vibrate.

Experiment! No rules! Build two, one with the neck touching, one not. Some people will hear a difference. Some will not. I bet they both sound good.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on December 31, 2012 at 10:41pm

It shouldn't affect resonance at all, i have my lids pressed snugly against the neck ( recess area not glued to it ) and they sustain well. (-:

you should be able to feel the whole guitar vibrating when playing

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on December 31, 2012 at 10:52pm

Steve-O,

How the heck do you even see with yer lids pressed against yer neck?

>:-E

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on December 31, 2012 at 11:56pm

i bump into things all the time..i have the bruises to....owwwch..b***ger, where's me plasters...? )-:

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