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So, I went and did it.

I built my first CBG. It's an insidious disease, one that strikes without warning, but refuses to let go. Grr.

I goofed around with guitar and violin when I was young. My best friend bought my old guitar back in high school and then over the years we drifted apart. Hadn't played since. :( Long story short, I later married his sister and while visiting him recently he pulled out his CBG. I left that day with most of the parts to build one for my wife. Between working on other things and in horrible working conditions, I managed to put my first CBG together!

Okay, I am still waiting on the tuners (machine heads) so I don't know how it sounds yet. But yes, I'm hooked. So, here it is. It is obviously a 6 string. The design is what my wife wanted. A bit rough. It's a basswood box from a craft store.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rusty Summer on January 29, 2016 at 6:36am

Excellent job. It is beautiful

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 29, 2016 at 7:08am

Thanks, didn't build the neck of course. Not there...yet. ;)

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 29, 2016 at 9:45am

Nice job. Looks like a First Act pickup. They actually sound pretty good in the solid body guitars, it'll be interesting to hear them in a hollow body.

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 29, 2016 at 11:16am

Yeah, leftover parts from my friend. Working on adjusting the bridge right now.

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 29, 2016 at 10:10am

i'm hoping it is just the picture angles etc ,, but it looks to me like your bridge placement is not to scale . is the measurement from the nut slot to the 12th fret the same as from the 12 fret to the bridge slots ? if not .. you may have a problem .. or a slider .

neverth less , its a beautiful build . hoping its just the pictures

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 29, 2016 at 11:11am

Hi, yes, actually it is to scale. Deceiving to me too. Had to double check it when I started. Thanks

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 29, 2016 at 11:39am

whew ;-) good to hear ;-)

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 30, 2016 at 3:52am

Yeah, that would be a mess if not. ;) Sounds good so far. Missed a ground wire on install. Will fix it today. Hope to post a video of it in future. Being my first, I ran some bracing inside that is attached to top. Worried it wouldn't project as much when unplugged. Seems to be the case, but then again, I don't know how it would sound if I had kept it away from the top.

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 29, 2016 at 2:21pm

Stringed, tuned, and sounds good! Have to add some video when I can.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 30, 2016 at 7:12am

A nice little mod to do is a coil tap if the pickup is a 4 wire. I always heard that coil tapped Humbuckers didn't sound good, but they sound good to me. Not overly bright like regular thin single coils and you still get the hum cancellation like having a dummy coil mod in a Strat. You can find diagrams all over the net.Just need a 3 pole 2-way mini toggle switch.

Permalink Reply by Donald Swan on January 30, 2016 at 8:01am

Hmm, yeah I don't like too bright. The pickup seemed to have a second set of wires that were clipped. (Old stuff I got for free) Thanks for that idea.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 30, 2016 at 8:48am

A 4 wire pickup will have 2 wires together (that makes both coils active), a hot wire and a ground wire. If the pickup has a metal cover, a 5th wire will be for a cover ground.

If the 2 wires are clipped, then somethings wrong. They should be twisted or soldered together and taped.