Will this box work?

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on July 4, 2012 at 1:11pm

Should work fine.  You may have to reinforce the "super thin top & back", but should have some god acoustic sound.  Remember - there are no rules... - If everything does not come out perfect on the first one it gives you a god reason t make a second.

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Permalink Reply by Josiah Goldsmith on July 4, 2012 at 2:36pm

Yeah, you're right.
I should have mentioned, the top and back are plywood, I've tried pressing in them and I doubt they'll break. The top at least will be reinforced by the neck though.
Thanks

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Permalink Reply by wormil on July 5, 2012 at 1:24am

Plywood is no problem. There is anecdotal evidence that plywood works just fine acoustically. I have a birch ply bridge on mine and it works exceptionally well. If the ply is 1/8-ish you'll probably want to brace it.. the Popsicle stick suggestion would be just fine.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on July 4, 2012 at 2:49pm

Should be perfect and have a great sound with the big size.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 4, 2012 at 3:12pm

yup  . ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Richard G Caudill on July 4, 2012 at 9:13pm

Suggestion ,, get some popsicle sticks ,, stand em on edge ,, hot glue em to top n back of box so as to miss where u gonna put ur stuff ,, will stiffen it just a scode ,, but won t negate ur sound potential

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 5, 2012 at 2:34am

Jim,

Don't worry about the plywood. I build my own boxes from 3/16" lauan plywood, and they work great! Many commercial gits nowadays used laminated tops.; heck, my $1600 Ovation acoustic-electric has a laminated top, and it sounds awesome acoustically.The soundboxes on the old Harmony Stellas were built completely from birch ply, and they continue to sound great. I would echo some of the other guys, and suggest perhaps an X or long V brace, to stiffen the top. Try it without first, though. If it resonates well without bracing, then you're good to go.

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Permalink Reply by GARAGE HERMIT on July 5, 2012 at 5:00pm

it'll work fine, i've made quite a few cbg's using art box's, plywood top & bottom's,, also used cutlery/fishing/wine/jewlery box's, alloy plate, wood plank one's, you can make them out of anything,, go for it,

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Permalink Reply by Rusty Pup (Mark) on July 19, 2012 at 8:25am

I know I'm late to this party, but if I may, I'd like to make a suggestion.

Normally, I'm a "go for it and see how it works out" kind of guy, but this may be a different case. If this is your first build, and that box is a little bit special to you, I'd suggest you find a couple of other boxes that aren't special and build with those first. I know I got caught up in the "this is my first build and I really don't want to mess it up" thing on my first build, until someone casually reminded me that I didn't pay a thing for the first box. Even if I totally messed it up, I wasn't out a dime, and I had 2 more boxes to try again. Not being paranoid about messing up a box sure made the first build a lot easier for me.

I too have a couple of special boxes, and I'm saving them for later builds - when I have a lot more experience and feel a lot more comfortable with my skills and abilities. I suggest that you find a couple of cheap/free boxes that you have no emotional or financial attachment to and just go for it. Once you dive in, you'll see that a lot of the concerns you have are really not concerns at all.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Josiah Goldsmith on July 19, 2012 at 2:49pm

I agree, I bought a £1 cigar box off eBay (Romeo y julietta) so i'll us that :)

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