Beginning Box Building. Nothing too fancy, but functional. For people who don't have easy access to cigar boxes. Other home made non-rectangular box resonator discussions are also welcome.
Location: Planet Earth, but anyone from anywhere is welcome.
Members: 232
Latest Activity: Dec 2, 2022
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Updated: May 15, 2015
Due to my mistake of using the word "Resonator" in the name of this group, there now appears to be two groups of contributors:
1.) People wanting to discuss basic sound box construction (my intended audience):
2.) People wanting to discus building resonator cigar box guitars using metal resonators like what Old Lowe is famous for making and selling:
About This Discussion Forum
For those folks interested in building Resonator CBGs and Resonator Parts, please enter your posts under the Discussion Forum under either the "Resonator parts" discussion, or the "Placing the Resonator" discussion. Also be sure to check out my "Useful Links" which includes links to some interesting Reso-CBG related topics and photos (see below).
Most of the rest of this Discussion Forum is dedicated to people interested in discussing the various methods and styles of box building, including woodworking techniques, joinery, decorating and the like. Maybe we can have a different discussion forum for each style of box (rectangular, circular, octagonal, etc.) We'll see how the group evolves.
Useful Links:
Num. of Sides = Corner Angles
3 sided = 60 degrees
4 sided = 45 degrees
5 sided = 36 degrees
6 sided = 30 degrees
7 sided = 25.71 degrees (26 is okay)
8 sided = 22.5 degrees
9 sided = 20 degrees
10 sided = 18 degrees
11 sided = 16.36 degrees (16 is okay)
12 sided = 15 degrees
15 sided = 12 degrees
16 sided = 11.25 degrees (11 is okay)
Note 1: Plus Shipping Charges
Note 2: Klangbox also makes an interesting low profile magnetic pickup called the "Flatpup 3 Humbucker", which has been well received by some CBN builders.
Started by mitch jones Dec 12, 2018. 0 Replies 2 Likes
G'day all,When I first began to get into this cbg thing, I quickly realised that there aren't any cigar boxes available in my part of the world, & they're too expensive on-line. That meant I had to make them. After my fist "proper" build, I…Continue
Started by Doug Patterson. Last reply by Paul Curry Apr 13, 2017. 9 Replies 0 Likes
If this is not the appropriate place to ask this question, I apologize. I'm preparing my first box for a resonator cone but am unsure as to where the piezo should be placed. Is it placed on the cone itself or somewhere on the box? Any advice will…Continue
Started by Ron Lutz. Last reply by Ken Vickerson Apr 10, 2017. 4 Replies 2 Likes
My very first cbg build is the neck on top instrument made with walnut top, quarter-sawn sycamore sides, cherry back and red oak neck. I did have a couple of small revisions after this photo was made, I added a walnut fretboard and put a veneer on…Continue
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Murdoc_420 Apr 3, 2016. 13 Replies 0 Likes
[Originally Posted: Mar 25, 2011] I have decided to call this the "boat paddle box", or simply the "paddle box" design, because of the shape of the final product. This body style is the traditional body style for stick dulcimers and was…Continue
Tags: sound box, stick dulcimer body, paddle box, canoe paddle, boat paddle
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Philip Hale Mar 28, 2016. 8 Replies 1 Like
Hi All...For a long time I have wanted to build a resonator based string instrument, but I've put it off for a long time because of a poor success rate on prototype builds. I had lots of excuses. Chief among them was the difficulty of cutting an…Continue
Started by Monterey. Last reply by Monterey Jun 28, 2015. 13 Replies 2 Likes
I made a box clamp out of 1" x 1.5" Spruce I ripped from a 2" x 4" on the tablesaw.The back piece is the length of the box. The 2 sides are 0.5" shorter than the sides of the box, plus 1" for the width of the back piece. The front piece is 4" longer…Continue
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by Monterey Mar 9, 2015. 6 Replies 0 Likes
So I've seen a number of builds on the site with solid wood tops such as spruce and was wondering where people get that kind of lumber. Buying thick stock, joining and planing? Online site with soundboard material? Just curious of people's sound…Continue
Started by sasquatch. Last reply by sasquatch Jul 27, 2014. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Let me start by saying that I don't consider myself an expert in this subject, but I have made two very successful resonator boxes with simplest of tools and cheapest of materials.This particular box is made from 6mm ply for the sides, 3mm ply for…Continue
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by gary sheldon Jun 17, 2014. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Was thinking about building my own box and one of the things I like about some of the cigar box builds I've seen is the ability to open the box when the strings are off. Seems silly, but a nice option if you want to swap necks (screwed, not glued),…Continue
Started by Darren Addy. Last reply by gary sheldon May 19, 2014. 9 Replies 0 Likes
I'll start off by saying that this may not be everyone's "cup of tea" and that some people might consider this "overthinking". To that I will simply say that one person's overthinking is another person's "understanding". Let's start with something…Continue
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Hello. Is anyone out there?
Here is my first hand made box with decent materials. The front/back/sides are Western Red Cedar. The sound board is birds eye maple.
It is not totally complete, but it sounds very good acoustically. The volume of the box is around 300 cubic inches. More than triple the largest cigar box I have. Built in the galley of my sailboat.
P.S. I like the look of your copper resonator a lot.
Gary
Rand and Michael,
Once again I thank you for the answers. I'll probably do one with the galvanized in a week or so. I have some other projects to finish up first.
I am in the process of converting all my guitars to a dropped neck design with copper tailpiece. So far, so good. I have done 2. Each takes quite a lot of time.
Gary
Hi Gary,
If the sheet metal is relatively thin it should work fine as a sound board. There are lots of builders who use old license plates (the metal variety) for their soundboard and usually they install a pickup (piezo or magnetic), so using sheet metal shouldn't be that much different. I have also noticed that the box frames they use for these license plate guitars are usually pretty heavy (thick) as compared to what I use for my acoustic instruments. My advice would be to search the "Pictures" section of Cigar Box Nation and look at various license plate designs. If you want to do an acoustic only build, then do with your lightest gauge sheet metal. Here I'm thinking cookie tin thickness. Give it a try and enjoy the experimentation process...
-Rand.
I have some galvanized sheet metal in my truck. I am tempted to use it for the top of a CBG. Has anyone tried this? How did to sound?
Gary
That looks great Michael.
Gary
Hey Guys,
Tired of measuring, marking and then cutting slots for frets? Then see Special Tools group. You can build a great mitre box/ fretboard copier in a few hours with scraps and a few screws. I built mine today then made a fretboard in about 5-10 minutes. It will save me about 4 hours on each guitar/uke I build.
Hi Gary,
I guess your slotted tail-piece should do the trick just fine. And thanks for the clarification about the necks/fretboards.
-Rand.
Started by Doug Patterson. Last reply by Paul Curry Apr 13, 2017. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ron Lutz. Last reply by Ken Vickerson Apr 10, 2017. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Murdoc_420 Apr 3, 2016. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Philip Hale Mar 28, 2016. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Monterey. Last reply by Monterey Jun 28, 2015. 13 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by Monterey Mar 9, 2015. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by sasquatch. Last reply by sasquatch Jul 27, 2014. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by gary sheldon Jun 17, 2014. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Darren Addy. Last reply by gary sheldon May 19, 2014. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Michael Fred Johnson. Last reply by Michael Fred Johnson Apr 29, 2014. 11 Replies 4 Likes
Started by martin baker. Last reply by martin baker Apr 29, 2014. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Apr 28, 2014. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Started by David Ford. Last reply by Barsymes Cratchnee Jan 8, 2014. 14 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Tom Walters. Last reply by Rand Moore Jan 1, 2014. 7 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Bert the Welder. Last reply by Mike Strehlow Dec 5, 2013. 3 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Richey Kay. Last reply by Richey Kay Nov 9, 2013. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Nov 4, 2013. 6 Replies 1 Like
Started by Richey Kay. Last reply by Richey Kay Nov 4, 2013. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Aug 22, 2013. 9 Replies 0 Likes
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