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removing one string

good morning everybody, this is my first post and obviously i got a newbie question..

first of all, forgive my english, i'm from italy :)

so, after years and years trying to play guitar and never making something out of it (i can barely play 3 chord songs, as long as they don't have barres haha) some friends of mine decided to give me a present, a 4 string cigar box guitar, knowing my love for slide. the inside joke obviously was "if you can't manage 6 strings, maybe 4..." haha. anyway, i have yet to receive the present so i'm looking online for youtube tutorials and i discovered this community too. unfortunately i have noticed that there are tons of video tutorials for 3 string cbg and not as much for 4 string cbg. i'm not completely "naive" about music theory, i am taking piano lessons and i understand open tunings and so forth, so.. can i remove one string from the guitar (which i think is tuned gdgb) and make it gdg? will the neck "suffer" from this? i was thinking maybe i could get acquainted with 3 strings and then add the fourth string, so the third of the chord, which obviously will make things a bit more complicated. i don't want the neck to be stressed from removing the string, also because where i live there are no luthiers who can help me with cigar box guitars.. i have been asking around and what i have received is just a bunch of puzzled faces.. so, sorry for my long introduction.. is it possible? can i remove one string and then add it later (as in months later)? will the neck be ok?

thanks anyone who can help me

paolo

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on October 27, 2016 at 11:27pm

Welcome to the forum and to the wonder world that is cigar box guitar. Yes you can remove one string! It will not harm the neck.

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Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on October 28, 2016 at 5:34am

Ciao, Paolo. Welcome.

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Permalink Reply by paolo martedi on October 28, 2016 at 5:56am

thank you for your kind answers, happy to know i can remove one string without causing damage to the neck.

i doubt i'll ever build a guitar myself since it took me one hour yesterday to hang a picture on my wall haha i'm totally clumsy with working with my hands :D

paolo

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on October 28, 2016 at 9:43am

Welcome Paolo. Once you start playing your cigar box guitar, and start looking through these forums and seeing photos of cbg's that are very basic to build, I doubt that you will be able to resist the pull to build one yourself! There are some very good videos (Glen Watt has several, among others) that demonstrate easily built three string cigar box guitars for very little money, using a few basic hand tools. Then, we'll have you for good! Oh, yes, Paolo.....you will build! Rare is the person who can resist.

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Permalink Reply by paolo martedi on October 29, 2016 at 6:14am

ok let me put it this way.. maybe, BIG maybe, i will build one someday, or better.. i'll translate those instructional videos for my dad and he will build it, since he is the handyman of the family :D

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on October 29, 2016 at 3:30am

Ciao, Paolo!

You should not be concerned about removing a string, it might even sound better! The first of the two CBGs I've built had four strings. The highest pitched string always sounded wrong. At first I thought I hadn't tuned it right and spent a frustrating two weeks trying to tune it. As I became more familiar with it AND playing music, I realized it was in tune but didn't have the sustain that the other strings had. I removed the string, tuned it to GDG and have been happy with it.

I eventually moved the remaining strings on the neck so that they were more centered and didn't have the empty space caused by removing a string. This would make for a relatively easy introduction to luthiery!

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Permalink Reply by paolo martedi on October 29, 2016 at 6:17am

thank you for your answer matt.

just a question though, won't the removed string bar me for playing more tunes or at least make it more "refined"? i've seen justin johnson on youtube making wonderful covers of "come together" and many other songs, on 3 string cbg, but.. i mean.. he is justin johnson haha. my fear is that i won't be able to play some songs if i don't have that 4th string..

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Permalink Reply by Matt Quinney on October 29, 2016 at 7:45am

I'm not a very accomplished player, so others may have a better answer. It seems that it is not a matter of not being able to play songs, but the complexity. You can play a melody on one string. Another string and you can harmonize. Three strings, a chord. More than that, fuller and/or more complicated chords.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on October 30, 2016 at 5:32pm

Matt has it right... a 4 string chord will sound "fuller" with the extra string, but you're really not that limited... It is a matter of personal preference. When you pull that one string, you will need to tune the other strings again, as they will go sharp...