Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TC DeVeau on March 29, 2014 at 7:32pm

Thanks for the offer, but I have a shop full of wood, mostly from packing crates and pallets.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 30, 2014 at 1:44pm

I am building my own boxes now. I have used 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 9" x 11 1/4" and 9" x 12". All are about 2" deep or so. I like the 8" width the best. I am settling in on a 10" length for now. I use a floating bridge and that box length with some back angle on the neck. this lets me have a pretty good string break angle with and end of box, hinge, tail piece. I like the 8" x 8" boxes too. If I went to a fixed bridge or a tail piece mounting on top of the box into the neck, I will look at making the boxes longer. Then the guitar would hang better from a strap. I am building fret board to the edge of the box, pushing the box back as far as I can.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on March 30, 2014 at 4:06pm

TC,

I build my own boxes, too. 12-3/4 to 13" x 10 to 10-1/2" x 3 to 3-3/4" out of 3/16" lauan plywood, with 3/4" pine braces and stretchers in the corners and sides, glued and screwed to stiffen the box. Necks of 2 pieces of 5-ply 3/4" lauan plywood laminated together, so 1-1/2 wide, then shaped and scarfed. I do "neck-to's," terminating inside the box. Nice deep tone.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 31, 2014 at 1:28am

Those sound like a nice size. I am using wood sawed and glued for the top and back, about 1/8" thick. The sides are about 1/4" with corner blocking and an interior brace where the back gets screwed on. I am also using neck through to the back of the box. I have no space between the neck through and the top at the point of contact for the bridge. So I have not been using any top bracing. I am getting a nice bolt on body effect using modular furniture fittings.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on March 31, 2014 at 3:24am

Usually build my own boxes now,13"x8 1/2"x 2 3/4" with 19 frets from the nut to the body,seems to put the bridge in a good spot with a 650mm scale length.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 1, 2014 at 2:36pm

Shane Speals CBG that was the epicenter of the revolution was built on a Macanudo Porto Fino Cafe box
(8 1/2X7 3/4X2 3/4). This is the Holy Grail of boxes.

Best advice, build what you have, but stay away from thin. Thin sounds thin. Try to find boxes at least 2" thick.

• ▶ Reply