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Permalink Reply by Brian Lemin on September 7, 2009 at 8:20pm

Let the lid vibrate. Not so important if you are going to amplify it especially if you use an under string pick up.

I am the guy that wrote one of the "Free Plans" above, so you would expect me to say "keep the lid free to vibrate".

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Permalink Reply by David L. on September 7, 2009 at 9:45pm

Hi,
If you are going to have a neck going through the whole of the CBG and sticking out the other end to make the tailpiece for the strings I do not think it would make a difference structurally and if left open could always me fixed down later.
As I am limited in my woodwork skills and tools available (I only have a small rotary hand tool - a dremel copy plus a few hand tools and an old drill) for my first few efforts I have always recycled electric guitar necks (also I tend to get impatient waiting for the end result and this speeds thing up). Another reason is that I can play a six string (badly!) so have tended to stick to this method. Back to your question - for the type of CBG I make, the neck fixes at only one end and the bridge towards the other end. Even though I use the lightest strings possible (8 gauge erlectric) I have found the lid starts to get lifted at the ends by the string tension. Rather than fit loads of strengthening batons along the lid (as it would reduce the volume the lid generates) I simply fit hinges to both ends as this (with the removal of a few screws) means I can easily access the guitar insides if I wish. If you are thinking of this type let me know and I'll add a description of what I do to make the neck pocket with a few pictures of the insides of the CBG - added below are a few hinge shots. I used a wooden 35mm photoslide box for this rather than a proper cigar box - this setup wouldn't work on a box smaller than about 12" long as the scale length of the guitar neck would mean the bridge is off the end of the box.

Attachments:

• S1030002.JPG, 959 KB
• S1030003.JPG, 990 KB
• S1030004.JPG, 964 KB

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Permalink Reply by Roosterman on September 7, 2009 at 10:01pm

Hi buddy, and welcome!

Advantages of a thru neck (for me anyway) - its fairly easy to do with regard to lining everything up, it takes the stress off the box, and helps with the sustain. I always 'notch out' a little under the lid, just like the other chaps said, as it helps the lid vibarte = more acoustic volume. Its not the only way or the right way though... you'll figure out what works best for you as you go along.

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Permalink Reply by Marsup Ecco on September 7, 2009 at 11:56pm

Thanks for your thoughts, guys...
I think about building a three string, but without letting the neck stick out at the end of the box; I want the strings to go through the lid and be fixed underneath (many seem to do it that way and I like that look... string-through-body)
now the question is: how can I do it?
I see two ways:
- the neck is attached to the complete lid without sticking out at the end of the box;
- the neck is attached to some kind of construction and does not cover the complete length of the box
as I want to electrify the cbg, isn't it better to use the second way? because if I'd like to have a magnetic pickup, the first solution wouldn't work as there wouldn't be enough space to fit in the pickup, I guess... while having a piezo would work with both ways, right?
I'm pretty confused about this, it seems to be basic understanding of a cbg but still I don't really get it...

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on September 8, 2009 at 12:36am

The second: an extra 1/8" recess that allows the lid to vibrate

Hard to see here but there are two recesses. Of course, I reinforce it since the neck has less structural integrity. You can also glue to the bottom of the box. I've seen and done that before too.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on September 8, 2009 at 1:22am

The easiest design to get right is "neck thru". You have alignment issues settled and there is very little stress on the box. If you use a true hard wood (like oak or maple) you can do a double relief to raise the neck to the box to create a neck-on-fretboard and still relief for free the box top to vibrate without fear of structural weakness in the neck. I tend to only do a single relief to free the top to vibrate and add a seperate fretboard to the neck to get the fretboard above the box level and add strength to the neck to prevent bowing...

BTW, you can have the advantages of neckthru design without a tailpiece sticking out by "blinding-off" the neck inside the box at the tail and using some other string termination design...

hope this helps,

the best,

Wichita Sam

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Permalink Reply by David L. on September 8, 2009 at 9:44am

Hi, Thank you for the kind words (not sure if you liked to be called Tiny, Tinyguitars, Mr Tinyguitars or Mr T)- I'd be happy to post some but my nephew is getting married tomorrow so I shall do it later in the week so I have time to undo the hinges to show the insides to show how the neck was fitted. Being a newbie could someone kindly tell me how to embed the pictures into the posting rather than attaching at the end? Also is it okay to post the pictures here or do I have to put them onto the picture part of the website?
tinyguitars said:

David, this is really an incredible looking guitar! Please post more pics please? Great work man! :)

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