i'm an engineering student at ETSU and i'm trying to get my class on board to manufacture some CBG's.  we're going to have to make about 50 of these (one for everyone in the class and some extra's for faculty) and i'm trying to see how doable this is.  we have a budget but it's unclear exactly what it will be at the moment.  we are looking an making relatively traditional 3 string jobs with piezo pickups.  here are my questions/things i need to source:

 

1.  the cigar boxes (relatively the same shape)

 

2.  opinions as to whether this can be done for about 30 dollars a unit

 

3.  sources for tuning machines and hardware in bulk

 

if anyones feeling really generous the university will provide any documents needed for a tax writeoff.  again, i'd appreciate any tips or advice.

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Skip the piezo, make them fretless, if you need frets, just draw them on so people have a reference, then no fretboard is needed. Check out some of the e bay sellers for some inexpensive tuners and strings. Through neck is a easy build.
That should cut costs and build time, maybe somebody else has a source for boxes. Cheers Ron.
Huzza mungo p

-WY
Also get CB Gitty's 1/4" jacks. the screw shafts are longer than radio shack ones so you will be able to mount them directly on the box.

-WY

gary martin said:
$ 30 is plenty !
CIGAR BOX CENTRAL should be able to help .....just over there >>>
e bay has tuning machines @ $ 1.49 a set [6 off ]
and strings @ $1.49 a set of 6
see C B GITTY [here in the GROUPS ]for cheap piezos ,well worth the small investment ,plug em in !
please keep us updated with your excellant project
I agree, skip the frets, build them fretless, or do like I do most of the time and build as sliders.$30 is plenty for simple very playable fretless's. I agree also to not bother with all the lectric stuff for a class project.
well my concern with going acoustic and frettless is the marketing. my class is half marketing majors and half engineering. noone else in there has ever heard of a CBG so i have to sell them on this idea. whatever we build needs to be something that can be marketed to non musical college aged kids. i know nothing about playing guitar but i've been dying to build one of these and learn how to play it. but wouldn't be harder to learn on a frettless? also, i think the young'uns in the class are only going to like something they can plug in. but CB Gitty can the electrics for cheap (thanks for the tip). so let's hear some ideas on learning to play frettless with no prior experience because i am starting to like that route. thanks for all the input guys.
Jarret, learning to play a slide in open tuning is easy and sounds great. A slide guitar makes for an easy build, since you dont need frets. Also you have more tolerance for a high action, which works well with bottleneck style.

I am in the process of building 5 of them for my nephews. I will be making them fretless. Just marking where the frets would be, but highlighting the frets that make the 1,4,5 progression. If you keep the slide on those 3 marks, playing the 12 bar blues is like buttering your bread. Anyone can do it.

Good luck on this project!!!!

jarret lynch said:
well my concern with going acoustic and frettless is the marketing. my class is half marketing majors and half engineering. noone else in there has ever heard of a CBG so i have to sell them on this idea. whatever we build needs to be something that can be marketed to non musical college aged kids. i know nothing about playing guitar but i've been dying to build one of these and learn how to play it. but wouldn't be harder to learn on a frettless? also, i think the young'uns in the class are only going to like something they can plug in. but CB Gitty can the electrics for cheap (thanks for the tip). so let's hear some ideas on learning to play frettless with no prior experience because i am starting to like that route. thanks for all the input guys.
Like mentioned, Ebay....you can get cheapo elect/tuners etc from Japan and China Ebayers, delivery can take weeks tho....Mike
Dang ... a budget of 30 bucks each is actually outrageous.
I figure I have around 20 bucks, maybe less, and I use Ash and walnut necks and frets.
Building 50 will bring the price down because you can buy in bulk.
The only problem I forsee is getting that many boxes the same.
IMHO, go ahead, do the piezo and frets .... makes them marketable to a wider demographic. ( thats my 3 dollar word for the day)


Matt
yeah the 50 number is throwing off the cost. and i have to turn them out in 14 weeks (harder than it sounds) so hunting boxes on ebay one or two at a time isn't practical. may have to build the boxes.

i think the other posts and a few youtube vids have sold me on the frettless route, but i have a question. most of the wood working and shaping i'll be doing on an AXYZ CNC router table (fun and exspensive toy ;)) and i was thinking about carving the fret marks into the neck with it. would it affect playablity sliding over one of these marks?

also, i'm hitting up every sawyer and lumber yard around for good neck material with no luck. where can i find this stuff? and what size would i need? i was figuring about 2" square and about 4' long.

and here's where i am on cost at this point;
piezo,jack,strings, tuners = $16+/-

so i need a box, neck, bridges? for about $14

still chasing leads on boxes but i'd love to know what yall use and where to find neck material.

btw, thanks for not being clannish and helping me out. it seems a bit soulless to me to build 50 identical CBG's but i've been dying to make some and this lets me learn while someone else foots the bill ;)
Jarret, If you rout in fret markings it would effect the playability if you were actually using your fingers to fret the strings. But when you use a slide you dont actually press hard enough for the string to touch the neck. The slide acts as the fret. But personally I wouldnt route the fret marks.

As for necks I am using poplar which I purchased at my local Lowes, on the suggestion of other builders here on the nation. The harder the wood the better for the end product. But the harder the wood, the more time it takes to shape it.

CNC router should make for easy work on the necks.
You do not need such a big piece of wood for the neck, mine are maple with a oak strip down the middle for strength, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" wide is good, 3/4" thick and something like 25 to 30" long is lots for a through neck, depending on the scale, I found for me 21" makes makes a good sound and gives the CBG a good balance, that is the neck is not so long it is hard to hold.
[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f333/mookie098/P1011106.jpg[/IMG]
You can make them complicated or simple, depends on you, a straight neck with a little round on the back will not take long. Look through the photos, get some ideas and draw out what you think looks good, engineer something wild and efficient to build.
I am not a engineer but maybe blueprint( for the old guys here), sketch up the thing and then find materials that fit and massage it as you go along to fit in materials you find cost/time effective. Hard to price/source a piece of wood that you do not know the dimensions of or what type of wood it is. The engineering is finding the materials that have the right properties, cost, time to assemble ..... A straight neck is less strong than the laminated neck, but less time to make, the laminated is stronger with less wood but more time..... Photos are not on order, but you get the idea.
[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f333/mookie098/P1011109.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f333/mookie098/P1011108.jpg[/IMG]

The bridge and nut is just another piece of small wood, could be a cutoff, I am not a fan of bolts for mine but does not mean they are not a good thing and work well for people. My bridge is a piece of wood with a welding rod on top of it with the flux pounded off the rod. The thickness of the wood sets the height.
I still think marking the frets is a great idea and in the spirit of the original CBG, course CNC router is old meets new, very cool. If you mark the frets in say black and mark the blues frets in red or blue then it will make it even easier to play for a beginner. Fretless can still be playde without a slide, just take a look at Shane's playing. Cheers Ron.
[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f333/mookie098/P1011389.jpg[/IMG]
Cheers
Those are some beautiful necks Ron. Laminate looks like the best way to go if you the time. The brick outhouse of CBGs.

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