I bought a "Chillin Moose" box on E-bay. Supposed to be all wood. Important graphics are on top; slide; fiber board. Sound killer. Will a rod piazo under the bridge save this expensive purchase? Obviously Im newby; this is my first build, and failing before the first cut.
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I agree with most of what you say Mark,i've include a pic of 1 of my very 1st builds,almost 1/2 in thick Macanudo box,i spent some time and thinned the top and bottom to less than a 1/4',as it was early days,there are many things wrong with this guitar,but accoustic tone and volume is very,very good,i'm in the process of re doing neck,nut and bridge now
I've never worked with one of the nice wood Macanudo boxes - only the paper labels with the pressboard top. I've seen some pretty thick lids, but haven't used any yet. So far all of the boxes I've built with have been in the 1/4" thick or less range. I've heard of folks having to thin down lids, but I haven't had to yet - knock on wood. Still, I think it's all about experimenting, having fun, and building for the fun of building. I guess I'm saying that a lot of what we do is pretty subjective. I mean, what one person thinks sounds great, another person can find lots of what they consider to be faults in. Without knowing what something sounds like, you just don't know if you'll like it or not. I had lots of people tell me that paper label boxes would sound dead. That just hasn't been my experience. They sound pretty durned good - to me. What others think may be totally different - I just don't know.
When you start adding pickups, be they piezo or mag pup, a lot of what folks think about a thick lid, pressboard, plywood, or some exotic tonewood goes right out the window anyway. I've always thought that was funny. I've seen folks worry about how thick a lid is when they're going to put in a mini humbucker, glue down sound hole covers/grommets/screens, drill a hole to add a volume knob, drill another hole to add a jack, screw the lid shut, then add a hardtail bridge. Hmmmm... not much lid left free to vibrate, is there? Oh well - 99.99% of them sound fantastic plugged in, so no big deal. I just don't think it worth working yourself up over - at least not to the point that you don't build it.
Nice build, BTW, Darryl. I need to keep an eye out for one of those boxes. Cheers!
you sound out of breath Mark,hope your ok with your lungs.
I'm fine. That's just my voice. LOL!
For some reason, people like to hate on boxes with fiberboard lids. I think they sound just fine. We're never going to create a sound that rivals a Martin or Taylor acoustic out of a cigar box, so I don't even try. I just run with what I have. Since you're going to add a piezo into the mix as well, I say just go for it.
I got into a similar discussion with a couple of folks on Facebook, weighing the pros and cons of a Macanudo box with a fiberboard lid vs a Java box with a plywood lid. As evidence of the difference, I submit this unedited video I shot during this discussion.
Is this it?
I'm with John - as long as the lid is fairly rigid, just go for it, it may well surprise you. If you don't like the tone, just transplant the neck to a new box!
I've used wood boxes with cardboard tops, even MDF boxes... all sound different, none of them sound bad.
In fact, one of the best sounding guitars I've made (of 31 so far) is a Punch box with a pressboard top...