Hi Guys,
I am 60, never played an instrument, cannot "read" music...
BUT I will build a cbg around a nice little box I have, 9.5 x 6 x1.7 inch (approx. I live in a "metric" country).
I did read that such a small box is not ideal but also not a problem on its own and can be made in a CBG.
I would start out with fret-less and also without piezo/mag pickup. So really something to simply learn to play on that thing.
What I am a little confused about is the length between the bridge and nut. If I use the "standard" (-+ 25"?) will my contraption with small box not be to awkward or sound silly?
If I make it say 21 or 22" will I be able to tune it to GdG and learn actually something or would I have to tune (and use special string) for that shorter neck? Or another key maybe?
Thank and sorry if this is the millionth time this question has been asked.
Ronny
Replies
And here 3 more pics.
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It took a while but I did start on my CBG about a week ago.
(I am in the middle of relocating to another house but I try to keep this thing going).
Since the neck will be straight (no scarfing or cutting), I will lead the strings to the underside of the neck and mount the tuners upside down. I did put metal bushing into the small holes to lead the strings to the underside of the neck, that should take care of unwanted and fast detuning.
I think I have the holes for the tuner a bit wrong, the first hole will have to be the middle string...
And as you will see in the pics, I have very few tools.
The neck will stop inside the box.
I also carved out about 5mm from the top of the neck inside the box so that the cover can vibrate as freely as possible.
I left about 1" in front and in the back (I mean, 1 inch of the lid stays in contact with the neck in the front and 1 inch of the lid stays in contact with the the neck in the back. Can I reduce this further so that the lid is even more free to vibrate?
I will fix the neck with screws to the underside of the box. This will give me the possibility to swap or adapt the neck if it doesn't work out at all.
More to follow
Ronny
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25.5 fender scale is good... but I have just slapped strings on almost anything and it seems to work
chose your strings wisely though..
Hi guys,
Thanks for all the advice and help.
Yes, that little box is way to pretty to make an on the lid neck.
So I will go for a through-neck. Inside measurement of the box: a bit under an inch (0.86), so no problem there.
But nothing is quite that easy... I did buy a stick (8ft) of hardwood, called "meranti" here (brown/reddish color), but the measurements are: 0.75" x 1.2". So the 0.75 is perfect for the thickness of the neck but the 1.2 is smaller than the 1.5" mostly used for a cbg.
Anyway, I'll start with that wood, if it turns out that the strings are too close together, the hole made in the box can always be made larger for a neck of the proper size. I will put the two external strings just 1mm (0.0394" ;-) ) from the outside of the neck. Do you agree or should they be more on the inside? Think I should do it differently, finding the right stick of wood first maybe?
I'll go for the 25" neck for the moment since I already subscribed for the 'starter pack" in "learncigarboxguitar.com" and the lessons/examples are all in GDg. I suppose having the exact same notes on my box as in the examples will make it a lot easier.
And thank you Robert for the proposed help on choosing the right strings. I sure will need it!
Now, if I can get the GDg notes out of a shorter neck I'm more than willing to try it.
All your responses really made it easier to continue with this project, I am almost convinced I may get there!
Now about the box and my lovely wife. If it had been a steamer trunk then she would probably have objected. A little thing like my cigar box is unlikely to contain all her bits and bobs...
Ah now, it's still easy. :-)
A 1.2" width is fine for three strings, consider that 1.6" (40mm) at the nut is fairly common on 6 string guitars.
You see 1.5" a lot on here because 1.5" is a standard off the shelf dimension for lumber in the US. A milled 1x2 in the US is .75" x 1.5".
A 1mm inset is too close to the edges. Mark the center line and measure 10mm to either side. That's your string spacing and the leftover 5mm on each side is your inset. You could even go up to 12mm spacing between strings if you like.
Having the same notes will make it easier to follow along since it will sound the same as the example.
Now as to scale length, you are not restricted to 25" for GDG. If you like a shorter length I can tell you which strings will give those notes at any reasonable scale you choose. A shorter scale neck with the right strings will simply mean that the notes are closer together. Less distance to slide to hit the notes. :-)
I mouth off for quite a bit over on one of Tom Temple's threads about picking strings but I thought that might bit a little overwhelming to you at this stage so I don't mind calculating your strings for whichever scale you decide to use. Trust me it's not an imposition, it will take less time to do than discussing it has taken.
LOL Sure that little box of yours wouldn't contain all the wife's bits and bobs but it could hold the ticket stubs to the event where she decided you are the one, that lock of hair from a child's first hair cut, the odd photo or two of family and home, the letters sent while apart, small trinkets of little physical worth but priceless personal worth and so on...
Anyway get your parts together, decide what you want then think about it before making any cuts. If you are not sure on something ask. There is a good talent pool to draw from on this site.
Don't worry about being new or not having a lot of knowledge yet. Think about it, every single one of us has been at the place you are right now.
Like Wayfinder said check your internal clearance top to bottom. If there is not enough clearance inside there are alternatives.
Here is a to scale mockup of the difference between a 25" scale and 22" scale neck with a 4" headstock on a box with the dimensions you posted.
The red blocks are bridge and nut. For the purpose of illustration the scale length is the inside distance between the two.
Placing the bridge closer to the edge so as not to interfere with the image will result in compromised sound quality.
Placement is entirely up to you. But are you making an instrument or a pretty box for the wife to store her bits and bobs?
Scale length and strings...tell you what, you decide your scale and tuning and I'll tell you exactly which strings to buy.
Tuning, there is some lack of clarity between tuning and key because the term tuning is used loosely.
GDG is the key of G in 151 tuning.
151 tuning refers to the root note, the 5th note, and the root one octave higher.
DAD, EBE, AEA, CFC, etc are all 151 tuning in different keys. Regardless of which key you decide to adopt the playing positions will be the same for a 151 tuned instrument.
What this means is that if you are tuned DAD and the video you are watching is in GDG following the positions will be correct you'll just be in the key of D and vice versa.
Box looks cool with that picture. It may be small in depth and width, but the length is similar to the typical boxes you see here. And if you're doing a three string, it will be fine. For scale length, I don't see any reason to make it short (21-22")...a length of 24 to 25" will work out fine, and you can use standard strings to get the tuning you want. The ADG strings from a standard set with the A tuned to a G will give you the GDg tuning you mentioned.
You may also consider bridge placement behind the left horse, so the full picture is visible when completed. But, that's just my two cents.
Have fun.
As promised here a picture of my little box, 1.1" x 5" x 10.5".
A little small for a thru-neck, isn't it?
What about the nice picture? Original picture but glued on off course.
Once I have the neck and the "1 hour video" it will probably take me about 3 days to finish that project :-)
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I'm kind of "out of action" for the moment. Bad case of the flu...
Meanwhile, I did check out lots and lots of comments on cigarboxnation and lots of clips on youtube.
I see that I am certainly not alone in being a first timer and also not alone in my age group!
Since my woodworking skills are only a little better than my music comprehension, I decided to start with:
Unlce Crow 1-hour build videos as example for my practice guitar. No need to go fancy (yet).
I do have 3 real guitar tuners so I will use those and mount them in reverse. By that I mean, 3 small holes in the neck to put the strings through, 3 bigger holes for the tuners and screw those on the top of the neck instead of the normal method (underneath).
Also thinking of using a smaller box to start with so as not to make to much noise. Otherwise, one day, I could find my new precious guitar broken in the dumpster if the wife can't watch her series on TV!
To have less audio volume, do I need to put holes in the cigar box or better leave it whole? Neck on top of the lid or on top of the base?
As always, thanks for the encouragement and advice!
ok .. now you got a "learn in an hour " and a build in and hour " tip.
we are awaiting your video in 2 hours .
;-)
get er dun .. ;-)
ok.... after the flu ;-)
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