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new cbg sound help

hi, my name is mark and from from uk and got my first cbg yesterday. The short question is, it tends to sound very light and tinnie so i would like to base it out to give a heavy blues sound. obviously i need to change the strings but if i can desribe it to the best of my limited ability maybe that will help.

it currenty has accoustic strings probs light medium. two melody strings grouped together but i might take one of these off later i'm not sure

lenth of neck is 12 frets

solid cookie tin body with one large sound hole in the back ( this creates its own problems because any movement causes a blowing effect from the amp)

I tend to fingerpick rather than strum as i already play banjo (don't switch off) and find this more natural. With my naked fingers un-amped is very quiet but if i use my finger picks for more volume as expected this adds to the bright tinnie sound i don't want.

dont get me wrong i love the thing and enjoy playing but it needs a tweek here and there.

any help will be much appreciated, thanks Mark

PS If needed i'm willing to forego the accoustic side completly to get the sound i want

Tags: cookie, help, newbie, sound, tin, tinnie

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 14, 2011 at 2:08am

I think the reason it sounds tinny..is because it's made from a tin! You must remember we are talking about instruments made form "found objects", and they are what they are. Even after 350 builds, I still don't know with absolute certainty what they are going to sound like until I string them up...it the nature of the thing. Tins can make great guitars, but often they will be very banjo-ey with little sustain and a lot of treble.

There's probably not much you can do with it acoustically, other than put on heavier strings and tune it lower. If it's got a piezo pickup, that will make the tinniness even more apparent - they can be notoriously trebly. One way to get round this would be to install a magnetic pickup, as they are easier to manipulate the tone thru a decent amp, but the basic tone will still come through.

Is this a guitar you've made or one you've bought - if it's an established builder they should be be able to help you.

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Permalink Reply by Fat Fingers Grim on July 14, 2011 at 3:55am

thanks chickenbone, it was bought. i guess i'll just have play around with it the best i can. Change strings etc and buy a new one with hindsight later on. I managed to get a reasonable sound with full base and quite a bit of gain so it hasn't been a total loss. liked your vids i've seen btw, thanks for the help

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Permalink Reply by YeahDoIt on July 14, 2011 at 5:14am

Are they new strings? New strings sound weird, sort of peak about 200 Hz and have a brassy sound. You might try bigger strings at lower pitch. I am still experimenting with strings and tunings. I can't seem to find something that I really like.

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Permalink Reply by Fat Fingers Grim on July 14, 2011 at 12:06pm

yeah i'm off to my local guitar shop at the weekend, i know the tin sound and it being made of tin sounded a bit dumb but what i was really after was advice on getting round this, any ideas?
ie cloth over sound hole, specific type of amp, strings anything and everything really.
thanks YeahDolt i guess it's the nature of the beast

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 15, 2011 at 1:22am

What sort of pickup is is? Piezo or magnetic?

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Permalink Reply by Fat Fingers Grim on July 15, 2011 at 5:24am

piezo with just using my sons practice amp. i've been looking on ebay 4 amp and trying to find reviews of any i might fancy (or afford ) but as i've only ever played acoustic instruments bit lost really gain reverb and base is about all i know. You seem to be the dude to ask ( i know you're busy good luck with the weekend ) i just think that like YeahDolt said about experimenting with different stuff i can chip away at it but any experience is much appreciated. If i don't come up with any answers i might have to buy a couple of tickets , wrap up warm and drive up north on Oct festival. Cheers for the time

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Permalink Reply by Printer2 on July 23, 2011 at 6:31pm

Can you still get inside? How about a layer of Duct tape or two on the backside to tame the tininess?

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 23, 2011 at 7:15pm

pop a pick up in there for sure .

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Permalink Reply by Fat Fingers Grim on July 24, 2011 at 1:18am

as of my last post i have changed strings and bought a new amp and it sounds much better already. However i have noticed that the middle string is slightly lower and buzzes against the frets when trying to slide across all 3 strings, i have to be extra careful. generally much better though thanks. I'm still going to experiment with strings, but wanted to settle on amp first and take it from there