Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Drake on February 10, 2010 at 10:48am

Dane Brown said:

Was wondering if someone could tell me typically, how far in inches is it from the end of the headstock to the nut ?? I'm using a 36 inch piece of red oak for my first build....thanks....

Hi Dane, Did you mean the end of the headstock to the bridge ? - rather than the nut. If that's the case then mine are typically about 33 inches when I use a scale length of 25.34 inches (same as Martin guitar). An overall length is about 38 inches including head and tail projection for the CBG shown here.

I made this comment recently on another post regarding fret scale - I first decide where I want to position the bridge on the box to take regard of both the pattern/picture/graphics on the lid and also to get a position approximately 1/3 of the distance from the end of the box. I believe this gives better resonance than positioning the bridge too close to the end of the box. I then decide what fret scale I want to use (generally the same as my Martin D-18 which is 25.340" or 643.636mm). This then determines the length of my neck - - measure from the position determined for the bridge to where the nut will be to establish neck length. All the best John D

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Permalink Reply by Dane Brown on February 10, 2010 at 11:04am

John, Thank you for your response....actually I was speaking of from the end of the head stock to the nut...I guess better put is how much length do I need on the neck stock for putting in my tuners for either a 3 or 4 string CBG.........with a lil spare room left over .....
John Drake said:

Dane Brown said:

Was wondering if someone could tell me typically, how far in inches is it from the end of the headstock to the nut ?? I'm using a 36 inch piece of red oak for my first build....thanks....

Did you mean the end of the headstock to the bridge ? - rather than the nut. If that's the case then mine are typically about 33 inches when I use a scale length of 25.34 inches (same as Martin guitar). An overall length is about 38 inches including head and tail projection for the CBG shown here.

I made this comment recently on another post regarding fret scale - I first decide where I want to position the bridge on the box to take regard of both the pattern/picture/graphics on the lid and also to get a position approximately 1/3 of the distance from the end of the box. I believe this gives better resonance than positioning the bridge too close to the end of the box. I then decide what fret scale I want to use (generally the same as my Martin D-18 which is 25.340" or 643.636mm). This then determines the length of my neck - - measure from the position determined for the bridge to where the nut will be to establish neck length.

All the best John D

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Permalink Reply by John Drake on February 10, 2010 at 11:30am

Hi Dane, Sorry for the misunderstanding. Without wanting to be "smart" I guess the answer to this is the old "how long is a piece of string." The headstock shown in my photos is about 7 inches, but this is very generous in its dimensions. I like to space the tuners at about 1 3/4 inches apart with the first one about 2 to 2 1/2 inches from the nut. Do a search in "pictures" on headstock and you will find a multitude of designs and layouts. Hope this helps, John D

Dane Brown said:

Was wondering if someone could tell me typically, how far in inches is it from the end of the headstock to the nut ?? I'm using a 36 inch piece of red oak for my first build....thanks....

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on February 10, 2010 at 11:39am

Dane, I made mine about 4 1/2" from the nut to the tip of the headstock. My guitar is smaller than Johns so the head came out smaller. Just need to make the closest tuner far enough away for a good angle from the nut.
Dane Brown said:

John,


Thank you for your response....actually I was speaking of from the end of the head stock to the nut...I guess better put is how much length do I need on the neck stock for putting in my tuners for either a 3 or 4 string CBG.........with a lil spare room left over .....

John Drake said:

Dane Brown said:

Was wondering if someone could tell me typically, how far in inches is it from the end of the headstock to the nut ?? I'm using a 36 inch piece of red oak for my first build....thanks....

Did you mean the end of the headstock to the bridge ? - rather than the nut. If that's the case then mine are typically about 33 inches when I use a scale length of 25.34 inches (same as Martin guitar). An overall length is about 38 inches including head and tail projection for the CBG shown here.

I made this comment recently on another post regarding fret scale - I first decide where I want to position the bridge on the box to take regard of both the pattern/picture/graphics on the lid and also to get a position approximately 1/3 of the distance from the end of the box. I believe this gives better resonance than positioning the bridge too close to the end of the box. I then decide what fret scale I want to use (generally the same as my Martin D-18 which is 25.340" or 643.636mm). This then determines the length of my neck - - measure from the position determined for the bridge to where the nut will be to establish neck length.

All the best John D

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Permalink Reply by Clare on February 10, 2010 at 12:01pm

MichaelS said:

Dane, I made mine about 4 1/2" from the nut to the tip of the headstock. My guitar is smaller than Johns so the head came out smaller. Just need to make the closest tuner far enough away for a good angle from the nut.

Hi, what are the good string angles from the nut to the string post? I realize it'll be a range since the farthest one would have the most shallow angle.

thanks, Clare

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Permalink Reply by John Drake on February 10, 2010 at 12:14pm

Hi Clare, This will depend a lot on the design of your headstock - and particularly if you decide to cut it at an angle. If you do not use an angled head then you may need to use something to hold the strings down to keep them firmly on the nut. See the bar in the attached photo which does this. regards John D

Clare said:

MichaelS said:

Dane, I made mine about 4 1/2" from the nut to the tip of the headstock. My guitar is smaller than Johns so the head came out smaller. Just need to make the closest tuner far enough away for a good angle from the nut.

Hi, what are the good string angles from the nut to the string post? I realize it'll be a range since the farthest one would have the most shallow angle.

thanks, Clare

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Permalink Reply by Clare on February 10, 2010 at 12:17pm

Thanks John, I'm just starting out so I will not be cutting them at an angle. I will use some sort of bar. Thanks.

John Drake said:

Hi Clare, This will depend a lot on the design of your headstock - and particularly if you decide to cut it at an angle. If you do not use an angled head then you may need to use something to hold the strings down to keep them firmly on the nut. See the bar in the attached photo which does this. regards John D

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Permalink Reply by Clare on February 10, 2010 at 12:26pm

By the way, I love that wood floor. What a great place to display your instruments. Thanks for the pretty pictures.

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Permalink Reply by John Drake on February 10, 2010 at 12:57pm

Hi Clare, I should say that it can be done without a bar but usually you need either a pretty thick neck which has the head cut thinner for the tuners or a neck which has a fret board applied or a fairly high nut to hold the strings well above the neck as for slide playing. The example below has a thick neck.

You can also use string trees or retainers as used on standard guitars as shown below. eye screw or screw eyes are another method.

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Permalink Reply by Dane Brown on February 10, 2010 at 1:10pm

Thanks for all the great tips.....I now wish I had cut the head stock area wider than the rest of the neck, but you have to start somewhere.......you have some beautiful CBG's......I'm so new to this I don't even know how far apart to space the strings yet....I'm a newbie for sure but I'm sure I can find out the info in Cigar Box Nation.....One thing I have already accomplished is to make myself some bridge and nut blanks from some deer bone....I hope that is good material....its pretty easy to work with so far........also thinking about making some from some 7.62 brass empty ammo shell casings.....might add a bit of twang to the sound.....

Again...thanks for the help......

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Permalink Reply by John Drake on February 10, 2010 at 1:26pm

Best of luck Dane. There certainly is lots of information here on CBN. Please note that not all of the photos used were of my own CBGs. The last three were from other members on this site and were used to illustrate the points being made. Regards John D

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Permalink Reply by R Johnson on February 10, 2010 at 3:06pm

I picked this up at my local farm supply store for $1.49. They came in different sizes and this one was just right for the string tree on my 6 string.
[IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l86/sewkid/Tin%20Pan%20Guitar/J6S...[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l86/sewkid/Tin%20Pan%20Guitar/J7S...[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l86/sewkid/Tin%20Pan%20Guitar/L5F...[/IMG]

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