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What is your favorite CB for sound?

I generally place them into a few categories, all wood, paper and wood, Masonite (particle board), and cardboard.

All wood is the best. I prefer Brickhouse the Mighty Mighty Menduro which is the largest box out there. I have one of the rare black. The Padrones are the same volume but longer and shallower. This is nice for the double resonator cone version you can see on my page. The quality of the wood is good the boxes are not constructed as well as a Brickhouse and I often have to fill in gaps or add additional bracing. They recycle them so my chances of getting a fresh one are less likely now. The wood is not dyed and I have some really pretty ones in my 25 box collection (and growing). Perhaps the usage and wearing make them more attractive I hope, like faded jeans.
Wood with Paper. The sound is as good #1 but the paper can deaden the sound if it is too thick or complete in coverage. The logos tend to be prettier but also larger causing me to try new ways to make sound holes that won't impede the graphics I like so much.
Masonite, let's face it sounds dead and really need to have pickups and go electric.
Cardboard is the same as above but they are great for me to practice new techniques on.

There is a newer category, the handmade box. Superior material assures great craftsmanship and you can control the sound however you will never get the true great sound of a dreadnought. Mandolins and ukes are not large either but have great sound. Not being a master of sound dynamics I just do my best. There was a great navy architect named Phil Bolger and a very famous airplane engineer named Steve Whitman who built square shaped boats and planes, not rounded. Science proved them to be correct in that they moved through the air with greater efficiency and speed. Phil's boats were banned from racing as they proved too fast even with handicap. People didn't like the flat sides and thought a true boat or plane was rounded and so they never really sold accept to the purist’s. One of those purest was Steve Job's who built the "Bolger Box" yacht just before his death that was to prove to be the "New Wave" in luxury yacht design. It has also been proven that rectangular shaped instruments produce better sound than the rounded ones. Moving air or moving through air or water is the same science. Again, everyone has been trained to want the traditional female shaped bodies (no guessing here as to why) despite the inferior sound quality. CBG's by accident are the vanguard of new instrument design and may change the world for the better.

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Comment by Michael Fred Johnson on January 11, 2013 at 7:52am: Hide glue is traditionally used by luthiers, one reason being that the instrument can easily be taken apart for repair.

I use Titebond original. Just discovered this can also be taken apart by steaming when I made a b*****s of gluing on the necks of No.27/28

Comment by Solid Wood Aroma on January 6, 2013 at 2:53pm: I heard the best glue for sound is hide glue?

Comment by Swamp Dawg Primal Music on January 6, 2013 at 2:51pm: I make my own boxes: 5mm solid pine sides, 5mm poplar plywood back and 3mm poplar plywood top, seems to sound better than your average cigar box, maybe also because there's no labels to dampen the sound. Also, gluing the top down both to the neck and the sides seems to help the volume since the entire box vibrates better.

Comment by Randy S. Bretz on January 6, 2013 at 12:08pm: I like the Corina westerns, all cedar boxes with finger jointed corners, great sound !!!! i have one from 1928 the wood is well aged and the sound is unreal !!

Comment by Suspect Device on January 6, 2013 at 11:38am: I like the Brick House boxes. The Tabak boxes are very similar in construction and work great as well. The large Cabrillas boxes are great, As are the bigger Cohiba red dots. The Jaime Garcia Toro & Toro Gordos are pretty good and have thin lids and bottoms. I do like the Padrons. I even use them on LP resonator builds sometimes. This kind of defeats the purpose of a nice wooden lid, but the 7000 is almost the perfect size for a standard license plate and the 3000 is perfect fit for a shorty plate. Every once in a while I will get lucky with a hardboard lid; I've built 3 cbgs with EP Carrillo boxes and they sound fine. But, yeah, for the most part, wood is the way to go. My box collection is at around 250 or something right now, though I'm seriously thinking of just building my own, & just gluing on custom trim & whatnot.

Comment by Bluesheart on January 5, 2013 at 7:25pm: I think the best sounding box I have used is a Punch Chateau. It is also the biggest box I have ever used or been able to find so that must have something to do with it. It is paper covered wood and I built on the paper side instead of flipping it over like I sometimes do.

Comment by Solid Wood Aroma on January 5, 2013 at 1:21pm: I must agree and that's where I am going next. Box building no problem.

Comment by Michael Fred Johnson on January 5, 2013 at 11:08am: I'm only up to No.28 so still experimenting with different materials/combinations. The best acoustically have definitely been the home made boxes using with solid timber (the thinner the better).

Was pleasantly surprised by one with a copper front,ply sides and solid back, might try copper again but not with the f holes, think I snapped 9 or 10 piercing saw blades cutting those