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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 16, 2016 at 1:57pm

contrary to  popular  belief   that  you will  get   better  resonation    with  a space    ,   i  believe   gluing  right to  the top   resos  the  whole  guitar  as   one   much   better  .  most   that have tried    the same  exact  box  trying both  ways     , say the one glued to  the lid actually sounded better .  many  also  say they can't     see / hear the difference   .

i have rarely   heard  someone that has  tried both ways   with the same  box say  the space  sounds  better .

i  have also seen more folks that swore  by  the space for  years  .. change  and  start  gluing after seeing / hearing  their  own 2  examples  .

as for  the  "keeping the box closed"   ..   a more non  permanent solution  is better  for changes   and repairs  etc that  may be  needed  .   ie:small screw  , latch  , friction  ...  etc etc  ..  depending  on  design  ...,  even  when   gluing to  the   neck keep some sort of access  ..  even a back plate etc  .. or allow  the neck to  open  "with"  the  lid . etc etc etc . ..  ;-)

then again .  just my opinion.  ;-)

this debate comes up  often  on  here  .. and  many   swear  by both  ways  .  so  count this as a vote for glue ;-)

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 16, 2016 at 4:18pm

i  may  have  misinterpreted the  question  when i   first  read  it  .  hence  my  answer  is  more  based  on the   "leaving  or  cutting out a recessed area  between the neck and  lid  or  not  "

. but  the answer  still be  relevant .

hope that clarifies  things  ;-)

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 16, 2016 at 2:09pm

What AP said... as far as closing the boxes, most of mine are glued closed with weaker glue... I use Tacky glue, and put really small dots every couple of inches, then clamp the boxes closed.   I can cut the glue easily with a razor blade, but it stays closed otherwise...

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Permalink Reply by Josh Thompson on June 16, 2016 at 2:36pm

Thanks guys, again that's what I've always done is glued mine just noticed more pictures coming up with them not glued.

I'll stay with them glued.

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on June 16, 2016 at 3:39pm

Not gluing mainly leaves more options for future alteration, repair, reuse etc.  Certainly looking at "regular" instruments they all are glued tight.  As far as keeping the lid closed, if the neck is attached to the box, the bridge should hold the lid tight.  I have tried screwed down lids, using the box latch and using just the bridge, but as each was one of a kind they offer no evidence of better or worse sound quality.  

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on June 16, 2016 at 6:57pm

I try to get my builds to open from the back. Since I have bypassed the actual cigar boxes for the more acquirable plain wood boxes (there are many many out there to choose from) it is much easier to place the back of my builds with the 'shortest' walls. If that makes any sense.

So it is much easier for me to have a perminant 'fix' between the soundboard and the neck. I will say that I prefer an 'overhang' of the fretboard into and cut out of the soundboard.

I've rebuilt a build to fix the box closed but before doing so I've glued and fixed the box (soundboard) by glueing the neck to the soundboard.
I considered not doing this because I thought it might interfere acoustically but I heard little difference. There was more acoustic change in the box by glueing it closed.

So I will continue to glue my necks to the soundboard. I figure that if there is very little change to the sound then I might as well trade it for a more solid construction.

Just my humble mumble's

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Permalink Reply by JL on June 17, 2016 at 3:40am

I use a lot of screws, I'm forever on the "final step" and discover I need to back up 2 or 3 steps, to fix/repair/redesign/catch-a-missed-thing.

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