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Permalink Reply by Delta Blues Classics - JStoltz on April 7, 2009 at 6:42pm

3 strings are fun because it distills things down to a very simple level and you only need 3 strings to form a chord. A 4 string, however, gives you a larger range of notes to play with and if you want to play a 3 string, you can always remove one of the strings. As far as the build is concerned there is very little extra effort involved in building the 4 string as opposed to the 3. When you go past 4 strings is when you need to start being concerned about neck strength and truss rods, etc.

One positive of the 3 string is that you can build 2 guitars out of every set of 6 tuners you purchase. Also, in all honesty, I do find myself picking up my favorite 3 string more often than any of my other guitars when I'm just goofing around at home.

Just my 2 cents. If you're like the rest of us, you'll probably end up building stacks of CBG's anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just build a 3, then a 4, then a 5, etc. After building everything else, I starting building one and two string diddley bows.

Jeff

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Permalink Reply by Larry McPheeters on April 8, 2009 at 6:30am

I have been building the 4 string guitars simply because with the 4 string instrument you can remove one string for simlicity but you still can have the full sound of the 4 strings if you want it.
Larry McPheeters
South Lake Tahoe Ca.

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Permalink Reply by BT Cohosh on April 15, 2009 at 3:45am

Hey Jim--

I've built both, and neither one is hard.

The 4 string does give a fuller sound, but it also means there's one more string to figure out what to do with (that's just me, though--you may actually know how to play).

I'm with Jeff, too, in that 90% of the time, when I pick up a guitar to noodle around with, it's a three-stringer.

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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 15, 2009 at 3:53am

I usually build with six strings (sometimes 7) because I like more strings.

But on a 1x2, I find 4 strings a little too crowded, so I would stick with 3 on a 1x2.

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Permalink Reply by BT Cohosh on April 15, 2009 at 10:02am

Doc--

Do you use nylon strings on your 6 (or 6+ !) string builds? Do you mess with truss rods and stuff?

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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 15, 2009 at 10:19am

I mostly use nylon strings except on my one-string give-away guitars which use 18g steel wire.

ATM, the Goblin six string has John Pearse/Tomastik folk strings which have nylon-wrapped steel trebles, but I think the overall tension is similar to nylons.

I don't mess with truss rods. (Although the Goblin does have a truss rod since it uses a recycled electric guitar neck).

BT Cohosh said:

Doc--

Do you use nylon strings on your 6 (or 6+ !) string builds? Do you mess with truss rods and stuff?

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Permalink Reply by Roosterman on April 15, 2009 at 8:34pm

Iv built both (2 three strings and 2 fours) and prefer the 4s any day. I even dismantled one of my 3s and rebuilt it as a 4!
Its amazing how much extra body that additional string can give. Sure you need a wider neck (40mm is good), but you certainly dont need a truss rod - I use standard electric guitar 10 strings and theyre fine. Just use a good bit of oak, maple, mahogany etc.
Upside of 3s though - you get 2 cbgs out of a pack of machine heads! lol
I agree with Delta tho... youll build a stack of both anyway!!
Enjoy :o)

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