Home Made Resonator Boxes 101, v.2.0

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Comment by Hippy Chip's guitars on March 6, 2013 at 12:00pm

just found this group---I thought I would share this new build in progress---cedar frame with 1/4" maple plywood top and bottom, 10" dog bowl, maple neck, mahogany fretboard, 4-string "banjo"

Comment by Rand Moore on January 10, 2013 at 3:50pm

Hi Mark

Yeah, some builders seem to prefer to bolt (screw) everything together rather than to use a lot of glue. I believe bairfoot cajun is one of the leading proponents of this building method, and he is known for some very original builds. The other folks who build this way tend to be electronic CBG builders who do it so they can access the "electronics" inside their box fairly easily should some problem arise.

I prefer glue almost all of the time, but as I build more electrics I may change my mind and figure a way to access the electronics in the box.

You seem to have access to a nice wood working shop (with the table saw). I live in a flat (condo) so, I don't have the luxury of having a garage or shed that I can convert into a wood working shop. I still building on my desk which used to be my "guest room/home office", but is now my "wood shop". My wife won't allow me to buy a table saw or drill press, etc. So, I make do with hand tools and my electric hand drill.

Those boxes look like a good start for a couple of home-made box guitars. Good luck on your projects. Let us know how they turn out.

-Rand.

Comment by Mark Kedward Guitar Boxes (KGB) on January 10, 2013 at 3:00pm

Heres a couple of photos of my latest boxes  builds 7&8 and possible 9 I use wood recscued from the wood recycling skip in work so far this has  been mostly mahoghany/sapele or parana pine my wood working skills are not that good so the boxes tend to be" screwed & glued" The sound deck and neck is usually bolted to the box frame using threaded inserts which means the deck can be readily taken off and on andtighten back up again without fear them getting slack

Comment by rusty case on August 22, 2012 at 4:35pm

Wow!

An awful lot for me to learn here!

Thank you.

rc

Comment by Rand Moore on August 7, 2012 at 6:08pm

Check out the photos of Habanera Hal's latest build... Here's the link.

 

Here's a few pictures to wet your appetite....

The back board (opposite side as sound board).

 

Frame with sound board glued on.

Gluing on the kerfing strips while the frame is in the mold.

 

Finished instrument showing the body, bridge and soundboard

 

Close-up shot of the headstock.

 

That's some really nice wood working there, Habanera Hal. Looks like you are well on your way to becoming a real luthier.

 

-Rand.

Comment by wormil on July 20, 2012 at 2:42am

I'll be using fretwire on my current (3rd) build because the neck is too narrow (1") for copper wire. I'm not sure whether to use small or medium fretwire though.

During vacation I stopped at a Dulcimer shop and goofed around with a McNally Strumstick and it played so much nicer than my first CBG; not necessarily because of the frets, it was just better built all around. Now that I have some idea of what I'm doing, I'm really trying to make this new instrument a real player... mahogany neck, zebra wood fretboard, solid wood box, and a 25" scale. And really paying attention to the details of construction. Going to stick with the copper wire side markers though, love those and simple to install.

Comment by Rand Moore on July 20, 2012 at 1:21am

Hi Wormil,
Your first little uke turned out very nicely. Hope is sounds good. Waiting to see the Video. I like the idea of your copper wire fret markers on the side of the neck. Maybe I'll try that on my next chromatically fretted instrument. It also seems your 14 gauge copper wire fretting is attracting a following, but I think I'm too spoiled by the ease of installing real fret wires to go back and try yet another alternate fretting technique. I did one CBG with bailing wire, which is probably stiffer and slightly more difficult to work with than copper, but basically the same technique. After doing the one, I switched to cut nail frets (glued in with 2-part epoxy), and built several of those before scoring some real fret wire, which I've used ever since (except one which used cut skewers... At a time when I had run out of real fret wire). Those bailing wire, cut nail and tie-wrap (zip tie) alternate fretting methods were done when I was first getting into CBG making just a 2 or 3 years ago. At that time I felt a bit intimidated by the idea of using real fret wire, but I found those fears unwarranted. I think most builder start off with one or more alternate fretting methods before they settle on using real fret wire. So, maybe consider using them on your next build.

Other than that, your build is a great first build. Keep up the good work!

-Rand

Comment by wormil on July 17, 2012 at 12:50pm

Boat paddle uke finished with some pics of the construction process here:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/boat-paddle-soprano-ukulele

Every part built by me (except for strings and tuning pegs of course).

Comment by Rand Moore on October 30, 2011 at 2:13am

Hi Michael,

That's an interesting set of photos and an interesting way to attach the neck to the sound-box. But, I suspect there are easier ways to attach a neck to the box. You might want to check out some of the build photos on Cigar Box Nation (use the search box at the top-right corner of each page and use words like "neck attachment" for the search criteria. What do you see as the main benefits of building a CBG using this V-cut neck attachment technique? My main concerns would be to avoid using electric tools (other than a drill). So far, it looks like your technique could be done using simple hand tools. Well, let us know how your project turns out. If you plan to add many more photos, you might want to start a discussion in the section above, perhaps being general enough in scope to allow other techniques to be discussed -- like "Neck Attachment Techniques".

-Rand.

Comment by Michael Fred Johnson on October 25, 2011 at 6:21am

17/18 neck joint. Back centre joint reinforced with thin ply.

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