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Finally finished!!!

I finally got my first build complete, mostly. My high G string broke as I was tuning it up. As a guitarist, it's nothing new to have a string break every now and then, so I still make due for now.

Anyway, here's my unnamed geetar, feel free to drop a name for it down in the comments if y'all'd like.

Started with an empty cigar box and a 1"x2"x3' slab of poplar, salvaged some copper piping from an old house my dad and myself had to fix, ordered some strings, some fretwire, and a fretting template, and in about 14 hours worth of labor, out came a geetar.

For anybody who is reading this that hasn't built a git yet, don't fret it. (Horrible joke, I know and apologize).

But seriously, It's really simple when you really get into it. Have fun making it, and don't stress about it. I had fun throughout the entirety of my project, even though I stressed majorly about making a fretboard, and once I made the fretboard, I realized it wasn't worth stressing over. It was super simple, easy, and fun.

Anyway, enough rambling.

Thanks to all the people who have given me their advice in the build, you've all helped me a ton, and without all'a y'all, I probably wouldn't have been able to figure all this stuff out and actually build a git.

Oh, and one more thing. I see why you all call this "Madness". Everything that's box shaped that I see now is already turning into a git in my head, and truth be told, I love it.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 9, 2018 at 9:32pm

Don't sweat it, you get better with every one you build. The important part is whether it plays or not and that your having fun.

Where did the string break? Near the tuner or near the tail piece? Looks for sharp edges or burs.

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 10, 2018 at 5:12am

The string broke up at the tuner, I couldn't find any burs or sharp bits on it. It was just one of those classic cases of a weak string out of a bad batch. (that's my belief anyway)

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on January 9, 2018 at 10:26pm

Nice one Roland

Taff

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Permalink Reply by JL on January 10, 2018 at 1:05am

Looks Great!

May I suggest you hammer a flat on the bottom of the copper pipe bridge so that it doesn't roll while tuning and mess up the intonation?

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 10, 2018 at 5:16am

I will definitely do that with my next one, but for this one I'm not too concerned with the intonation and all because when I drilled my holes to attach the neck to the lid of the box, that neck ended up moving on the rear hole, and the entire neck is canted about 8* (I'm guessing, not good with degrees) to the right. You can kinda see that in the last pic I posted. That's also part of the reason my string alignment is so bad haha.

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on January 10, 2018 at 8:37am

Congrats on your first build, and for posting your pics. No sweat on thebroken string...play it as a chugger until you get the the replacement string. I suppose you're already planning you next build?

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 10, 2018 at 10:24am

Thank you much! And yep yep, just waiting for my dad to finish off one of his bottles of jack so I can have a body for it.

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Permalink Reply by Korrigan on January 10, 2018 at 11:44am

Congrats on the first of many Roland!

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Permalink Reply by 3qt17g550yh6r on January 13, 2018 at 10:22am

Hey Ronald, I like it! How does it sound? That is the most important thing I think. You can always work out your "small" imperfections on the next one. Honestly I like it! Super happy you fretted it. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 13, 2018 at 3:46pm

Currently not all that great since I'm tuned an entire step down and having to use a capo to get to open G, but beyond that its great, and I'm very excited for the next one!

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on January 13, 2018 at 5:10pm

It may sound better with a more solid bridge Roland, one with a larger footprint on the top, made of hardwood. Might be worth a try. That copper tube may be absorbing string energy instead of transmitting it to the top. Another observation is you have no sound hole. A lot of the sound would be trapped in the box. Soundholes are an important part of the sound producing chain.

cheers Taff

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 15, 2018 at 11:46am

Yep yep, already working on the sound holes, just gotta get over to my equipment to be able to cut them out since I finally have good templates. And as for the bridge, I fully intend to do an antler bridge on my next actual cigar box-bodied guitar. This one was primarily sticking my toes in to test the water. There are too many issues with this first one to even think about addressing them all, but as I said, the next will be exponentially better.