Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on April 10, 2011 at 2:39am

great answers from all these very clever experienced folks..  i'll just add.. u neednt take the 'cigar box' thing too literally..

if cigar boxes are hard to get, use something else.. theres plenty of boxes, buckets, tins ppl throwing away all the time right near you..

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Permalink Reply by David English on April 10, 2011 at 1:20pm

Hey Matt,

We're looking at coming down to Little Washington next Saturday. It's just down the road for us. A question on your suggestion to get the biggest box I can find. I went to another cigar shop today.  He had some boxes but none of them struck me as very big.  Most of them were either long an shallow or short and fat. About what dimensions am I looking for to get decent sound?

Thanks.
Artist Formerly Known as Matt said:

David, the plans here are great. The important thing is to NOT overthink it.

Find the biggest box you can, but pay no more than 5 bucks.

Use a regular paper covered wooden box. Easier to work with and get a good sound out of as a 1st build than the heavier thicker boxes (IMO).

Fretless will be easier and quicker. Just mark frets with a pencil or such and play. Even easier with a slide.

 

If you are interested, I'm going to be in "little" Washington this coming weekend at the music festival. I'll have a booth on the waterfront selling CBG's. Come have a look and ask questions. Look under events for more info.

 

 

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on April 10, 2011 at 2:24pm

For two shallow boxes, you can also take two  of the same size and fit them together, lid to lid. Either remove the lids from both boxes, or put in matching connecting soundholes. This can work well for a purely acoustic cbg...don't know about the effect on an electric.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on April 10, 2011 at 4:49pm

Oh, rule one on box aquisitions.

If you find a good source for free or cheap boxes, dont tell them what you use them for. They may not stay free or cheap.

Be vague. I just say I use them for various crafts.

Oh, and dont tell anyone where you get them free or cheap, or they may start beating you to them!

 

Two weeks ago I went by one of my favorite sources, where I asked some time ago what they did with the empty boxes. The answer was "Discard." Sat. they gave me a large cardboard box full of assorted cigar boxes as is common when I stop there. I have befriended the person who does the cigar restocking. She told me "come by Sunday, about three oclock, I will have something you want"

I arrived at ten of, she took me to the back room and handed over a shopping cart stuffed full. I didnt even look at them, just calmly pushed the cart to my car and unloaded it. I couldnt hide the smile as I counted three red dot Cohibas, a black Cohiba, three Padrons, a nice Macanudo..... on and on!

As I returned the now empty shopping cart she met me at the door and said "sweetie, I think you might be interested in these as well"..... and handed me two very nice sized special edition whisky gift tins with some very cool art on them.

She has never asked or shown an interest in what I use any of it for, typically just acts appreciative that it saves her a trip to the dumpster. I am polite and mum. 

It was a very good week, but my car still smells of cigars!

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Permalink Reply by David English on April 10, 2011 at 5:11pm

Legal robbery. Incredible! I'm still hunting around for a box. There are only 3 tobacco shops in town. Only 2 carry cigars. And both of them charge a little too much for their empty boxes. Apparently there must be some demand. All the ones they had today seemed small. It's my first build, what do I know, but they seemed mostly long and shallow or short and deep. Nothing really that would be a good size. I don't know though.  Just want to get some good sound. Online prices are great for boxes but the shipping is ridiculous. I'll keep looking. Maybe I'll run across a shopping cart full!
Mark Bliss said:

Oh, rule one on box aquisitions.

If you find a good source for free or cheap boxes, dont tell them what you use them for. They may not stay free or cheap.

Be vague. I just say I use them for various crafts.

Oh, and dont tell anyone where you get them free or cheap, or they may start beating you to them!

 

Two weeks ago I went by one of my favorite sources, where I asked some time ago what they did with the empty boxes. The answer was "Discard." Sat. they gave me a large cardboard box full of assorted cigar boxes as is common when I stop there. I have befriended the person who does the cigar restocking. She told me "come by Sunday, about three oclock, I will have something you want"

I arrived at ten of, she took me to the back room and handed over a shopping cart stuffed full. I didnt even look at them, just calmly pushed the cart to my car and unloaded it. I couldnt hide the smile as I counted three red dot Cohibas, a black Cohiba, three Padrons, a nice Macanudo..... on and on!

As I returned the now empty shopping cart she met me at the door and said "sweetie, I think you might be interested in these as well"..... and handed me two very nice sized special edition whisky gift tins with some very cool art on them.

She has never asked or shown an interest in what I use any of it for, typically just acts appreciative that it saves her a trip to the dumpster. I am polite and mum. 

It was a very good week, but my car still smells of cigars!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on April 10, 2011 at 6:03pm

Electrics are much easier, most any size can be made to work, though some are ergonomically odd.

The more desireable sizes, for acoustic purposes anyway, seem to be anything in the range of 9 or 10 inches long, and 1.5 or 1.75 inches deep, but you will have to look awhile to find them as the most common boxes just arent in that size range. Ill take 9 undesireable sized ones to get 1 in a useable size, and consider myself lucky at this point.

But it gets worse, once you find some in a desireable range, then you often discover they are fiber board or cardboard, and really, I havent found a paper covered box yet that wasnt some pretty poor quality mushy plywood with a spanish cedar veneer at best.

And since it seems for some reason, there is a sudden demand for the few good boxes around, I doubt its going to get much easier to find anything useable at all for a decent acoustic.

But I am mulling an idea.......

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on April 11, 2011 at 3:13pm

Box size is a mystical magical mix of science, art, and plain old good luck.

It's called MOJO!

 

Typically the smallest I'll build on is a Montesino Toros. 10.5x6.5x2.

But good boxes can be had from 9-11In. long, 6.5-8.5 wide, and 1.5-2 in deep. This is very general, btw.

 

There are exceptions. A big square Hoyo is a good one .. but then, the Romeo Y Juliets make great mandos and ukes.

 

If you make to the festival .... I'll have a decent box or 2 for ya to get you started building.

 

AFKAM

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Permalink Reply by David English on April 11, 2011 at 4:52pm

The more I read and look the more I'm learning that box selection is important but finding good ones can be tricky. I have a funny search story though.

I found another tobacco store in town today, so I went in to see what I could find.  I asked the guy at the counter if he had any empty cigar boxes.  He said "Yes, they are 50 dollars."  I thought I had misheard him so I repeated back in the form of a question "15 dollars?" He said again "50 dollars." Still in disbelief I asked again in an 'I'm an idiot and can't hear very well, can you say that again' kind of way, "15 dollars? He said "5-0." I stood there for a second in silence (probably with a stunned look on my face) and he said "They are humidors. I said "Oh no, I was just wanting some regular old empty cigar boxes if you had any your getting rid of. You don't have any?" He shook his and and said "No." So I left.

I have no idea what that was about.  Bad communication? I don't know. But it was funny!

Thanks for the offer on the boxes. We're definitely coming down to festival on Saturday.  We have a family birthday to go to in the morning, so it looks like we'll probably get down there around 3 or 4 o'clock.  My kids are music lovers too and mini musicians. They'll think its great to be around all the live music. Until then I'll be hunting down my other materials and maybe get started on the neck.

Thanks for all your help!

JDEIII

Artist Formerly Known as Matt said:

Box size is a mystical magical mix of science, art, and plain old good luck.

It's called MOJO!

 

Typically the smallest I'll build on is a Montesino Toros. 10.5x6.5x2.

But good boxes can be had from 9-11In. long, 6.5-8.5 wide, and 1.5-2 in deep. This is very general, btw.

 

There are exceptions. A big square Hoyo is a good one .. but then, the Romeo Y Juliets make great mandos and ukes.

 

If you make to the festival .... I'll have a decent box or 2 for ya to get you started building.

 

AFKAM

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on April 11, 2011 at 6:46pm

Best advice I can give:

In 2008, I was in the exact same spot you are; I'd never built an instrument in my life and I'd never even considered doing so.  For my first guitar, I followed this guide to the letter:

http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/305691384?profil...

 

Do this.  Don't even think about what you're doing or why.  Just follow the instructions.  When you're done, play it for a bit and figure out what you did wrong.  Fix what you did wrong, one or two things at a time.  With each new guitar, challenge yourself to take the difficulty up one level higher.  I'm describing the exact same process that I followed 3 years ago.  I promise you, if you take this route, it will bear fruit!  It is so important that you screw some things up and learn how to fix them.  Your failures are going to be 10 times more useful to you than your successes.  Trust me.

 

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on April 12, 2011 at 12:12am

LOL Josh, I had all but forgotten that one. I even used a Punch box like the finished pic.

 

Yeah .... thats a good one.

 

AFKAM

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Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on April 12, 2011 at 2:41am

Lol I followed those same directions as well straight from Scotty's site. And my first needs much repair after 8(+-) years of play.

 

J.D. I had the same type of experience at a pipe shop in Kansas. Nice old lady, she had the cool "it looks like a book, but is really a humidor" humidors.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on April 12, 2011 at 8:41am

I don't think anyone knows what they're doing at first when starting a new hobby or project, though i find i always do as much research and info gathering as i can, ask questions, study other people's work then make calculated decisions.

As for CBG'S there is loads of information on this site, i found Josh's downloadable book, went through hundreds of photos and vids, i found Mr.Gitty's shop for all accessories and hardware, and found cigar boxes on ebay going fairly cheaply, though mainly in the US and shipping was expensive - no traipsing round tobacco shops.   I phoned round and found a hardwood supplier in another County who, after a little sweet talk, sold me some planed-to-size wood for necks.

Starting off simply is a good idea, the first project is the hardest but it gets easier as you go along, techniques and calculations become second nature, i'm still only a beginner on my 7th build, some have done 200....happy building! (-;

 

 

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