A while back, a member posted a build that He did making the box out of Cedar roof shingles. The instrument had a great sound to it and made me want to build one for myself.
The shingles have a taper to them and would require planing and I don't have a planer. Also I would have to buy a bundle at 18 dollars. Cedar planks were available at the grocery store for grilling Fish. They were 2 boards 1/4" x 5" x 12" at 4 to 6 dollars a package.
Settled on a Western Cedar fence plank at Lowe's 5/8ths" x 5&1/2" x 60" for $2.55. This was just enough wood for the box and any braces needed, but would need to be dried more. Cut the pieces and dried them in the oven.
Made a frame for the box and the top and bottom panels. Since 5/8ths" is too thick for an effective acoustic, I layed the box frame on top of the panels and traced the inside barrier. I routed the back inside to 1/4" and glued a 1/4" brace along the seam and routed the top inside to 3/16th" and glued a 1/4" brace along the seam. I'll have to add a cross brace later for the bridge, but it will only contact the center brace and the box sides to maximize top vibration. The top is glued to the frame and the back is attached with 4 screws for now, may glue it later. The box was sanded to have a curved side profile. It has a 1&3/4" sound hole. I plan to attach the neck to the box side with screws and glue.
The neck and fretboard will be made of Red Oak. Going for 4 strings and 25" scale with bridge near center of sound board. I plan on using a Uke style bridge and nut. Plan on putting in 2 piezo, 1 on the low string side and 1 on the high string side wired to a blend pot.
Tags:
Got it tuned up and so far it's holding up and staying in tune.
It's has an awesome mellow tone. A lot of sustain due to the bracing that links the bridge to the neck, but the top still vibrates enough to give it very good volume. Very pleased with it so far.
Need to fix a couple of frets and add the strip piezo and Lipstick Tube pickup when I get more funds. Then I'm going to try making a video. May take a couple of months.
Wondering if 250k pot will work well with the lipstick Tube and the strip Piezo?
In the first pic, you can see that the fingerboard area that supposed to get a marker is just a shade darker than the rest of the board. I also added some white colored pencil side dot markers.
Really love the access to the tuners and they all turn the same direction so it's easy and not confusing.
Need to work on fret #2 some, but it has a great mellow tone with a lot of sustain and reverb from the springs. Been having fun with it when I can.
An unexpected benefit.
I was sitting with this CBG on my leg and lightly against my stomach and started getting a echo effect that warbled when I pressed on the top and let go.
It's coming from the back. The back is just attached at the corners by 4 screws for easy access. The back is slightly warped creating a gap on the sides. So closing the gap and letting it open creates a warble effect that is acoustic only. I'm sure it won't be in the pickup signal when I install the pickups and wire it.
An update:
After playing it for a couple weeks now it still sounds great. Had to add a couple of screws to the back lid to stop the echo effect because it was just too uncontrollable. I noticed the string level getting taller on the upper frets, I think that the front side of the box is bending inward because it's the weakest part and has been a problem before. The neck is Red Oak and has a trussrod and is straight, so it's not the problem. Has to be the front side of the box.
Maybe I should try a lower/drop tuning to take pressure off. It's tuned G/D/G/B now, so I'll drop a whole step at a time till it works out.
So a lesson is learned, don't use Cedar(or other soft woods) for the sides of your box unless your neck goes through the box.
Thanks, I'm always eager to learn something new and pass it on.
I tuned down from G/D/G/B to E/B/E/G# and I was able to play all the way up to the 12th fret without fretting sharp.
Then tuned down to D/A/D/F# and I can fret to the 19th fret without fretting sharp. The strings aren't too loose, but they're on the dark side. So this is as far as I can go with it.
I can always use a capo for higher stuff, if I can find one that will work on this neck. Does anyone make a capo for these? Has anyone used a regular capo with success?
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