Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason W. on June 22, 2011 at 2:50pm

A wise dude on here once told me the heritage of CBG builders isn't making something fancy or pretty, it's making something fun with what you have. I got really discouraged when I saw the works of art people make on here, but it all starts somewhere.

 

As far as getting burned out, it's like anything else. My remedy is to buy a box with a couple cigars still in it and have a relaxing smoke on the back porch with the zune on Howlin Wolf or Son House. I probably shouldn't advocate smoking, but it works for me. =)

 

The guitars looks fantastic and the more you build, the better they'll get. I especially like the union jack plating for the sound holes.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on June 23, 2011 at 6:47am

I get burned out too. I guess everyone does if you have your nose to the grind stone too long.

Why do you build? For sale? To play your own instruments? To reinvent the mouse trap?

I have a few different interests. I juggle between them, so I don't get that trapped feeling.

I hope this helps. Have you tried a good Belgium beer lately?

Enjoy, Keni Lee  

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on June 24, 2011 at 1:13am

Speaking of good belgian beer, I was at the Omigang brewery in Cooperstown the other day, it goes well with a cigar bog guitar. With 5 done why not work on playing them for a while until you are inspired, by your playing, to build another to suit your playing.

Keni Lee Burgess said:

I get burned out too. I guess everyone does if you have your nose to the grind stone too long.

Why do you build? For sale? To play your own instruments? To reinvent the mouse trap?

I have a few different interests. I juggle between them, so I don't get that trapped feeling.

I hope this helps. Have you tried a good Belgium beer lately?

Enjoy, Keni Lee  

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on June 24, 2011 at 1:18am

Yes. I am a big fan of Three Philosophers. Duvel and Chimay too. Enjoy. 

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Permalink Reply by Terrill Kovacs on June 24, 2011 at 5:11am

I want to thank everyone for their advice - I think I am going to follow almost all of it.  Take a break, have a beer, play some music and have a smoke (Marlboro Menthols, though).  Keep the ideas coming - I think this is a great thread.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on June 24, 2011 at 6:27am

Grab a slide and a pick and enjoy the sweet sounds of your labor.  My second build is still my favorite and I play it most every day.  Working on #6 when the mood strikes me.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Patton on June 24, 2011 at 8:06am

Not overthinking is what I LOVE about doing this. I start out with a VERY rough idea of what I want, and I just go with it. If I mess something up, I improvise it to correct it. I've made 5... I think... and I've yet to get to a point on any of them where I'm like "I'm starting over!".

 

I just adapt. lol

 

All your builds look great! Keep at it!

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on June 26, 2011 at 4:18pm

Hi Terrill,

If learning to play these instruments is getting you down, you might try building a different sort of instrument - one more oriented to beginning musicians: stick dulcimers (aka 'strum sticks', 'strummers' and more than a dozen other names) and dulcijos. Both types of instruments use diatonically spaced fretboards, which pretty much restricts you to a single key (w/o retuning), but there are a lot less "wrong notes" because most of the accidentals just don't appear on the fretboard. This make it easier for novice musicians to master.

If you have never fretted an instrument and feel intimidated by the prospect, then try fretting one of your current builds using electrician's tie-wraps. Use the thinnest ones you can find that are still long enough to go around your CBG's neck. Use a larger sized (thicker) tie-wrap for fret 0 (in addition to your nut) so your open string notes sound similar to your fretted notes. There is some muting of the notes when you use tie-wraps as frets, but it is plenty loud to play by yourself. You can then tune the frets with a chromatic digital tuner, which I assume you have (if not, get one). We generally begin by tunning the instrument to D-A-D' or G-D-G' (open strings). Then tune the frets for string 1, stopping the string at the next fret, moving the fret up or down until its in tune, and repeating this for all the frets on the string. Then repeat this for strings 2 and 3 and eventually they will all be tuned fairly accurately. Alternatively, you can use a fret calculator to tell you where they go, but you will likely still have to fine tune the tie-wrap frets.

 

There's a lot of tunes that have been tabbed for the stick dulcimer and many more available for the mountain dulcimer that can be adapted to stick dulcimer fairly easily. Here is an example of a tab for Old Joe Clark:

 

The numbers above the words of the song indicate the fret on the melody string to fret while you pick the string with your right hand. In the tradition of mountain dulcimers, the second and third strings are usually just used as drone strings. With a little practice it is easy to master these melodies, and this success helps to reinforce your interest in learning more.

 

If this seems interesting, I can direct you to more information on CBN. There are several groups where stick dulcimers and dulcijos are discussed. These include:

 

1.) Dulcimers and Strummers

2.) Three string guitars

3.) Banjo Players Unite! (Dulcijos)

 

You can also check out my personal page as I have tabs there as well and descriptions of a number of stick dulcimers, dulcijos and other instruments I have made, all with diatonic fret boards.

 

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Dave on July 31, 2011 at 12:50pm

They look great.  Just curious, how did you anchor the chicago screw?

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on July 31, 2011 at 3:00pm

Some nice looking CBGs. I understand that it is a rather addictive hobby, but it is a hobby for most of us at least. I'm sure those have taught you a lot. Take a break if you get tired. Only thing more fun than buildin' em is playin' em. Lucky for us playing slide goes great with a cold one!

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Permalink Reply by Terrill Kovacs on August 1, 2011 at 5:15am

Good old eye-bolts.  I had to use a pair of needle-nose pliers for open them up a bit, but they worked like a charm. 

Dave Davies said:

They look great.  Just curious, how did you anchor the chicago screw?

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Permalink Reply by Terrill Kovacs on August 1, 2011 at 5:42am

Thanks for your feedback and encouragement guys!  I expect to put up a lengthy post soon, but in the meantime, I just uploaded pictures of builds 6 - 10 here:

 

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/builds-6-10

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