Hey all,
New to the forum so apologies if this topic has been discussed already (still working my way around the posts).
In summary i am a brand new to cigar box guitar with almost zero guitar experience (usually a drummer)...however a good friend of mine has hooked me up with a lovely 4 string fret less which i assume is designed for slide playing as the gap between fret and strings is rather high (from standard guitars) meaning the ability to press string to fret is rather difficult..if anyone can confirm if this is normal id be very grateful?
Also i was wondering if its possible to switch your 4 string...to a 3 string by simply changing the strings to your required 3 string set up?
or does spacing between strings cause an issue?
Thanks in advance
Smegbear
England
Replies
Welcome to the site. There are some very knowledgeable guys around here, all ready to help out.
While you can remove one string to play the guitar as a 3-stringer, you may want to spend some time playing all four strings with a slide. Properly tuned, it will sound very melodic and with a little practice you can knock off some nice sounding tunes.
Also, you may want to grab a digital tuner and set the tuning. GDGB is common tuning for 4-stringers. If you decide to remove a string, then just pop off the B and you have a very common 3-string tuning.
Either way, you will really enjoy the open tuning of CBGs.
yup .. sounds like it was built for slide / or lap slide only .but .. it may be used as freted if the bridge and nut can be replaced or lowered . hard to tell without pics / details .
change to a 3 string ? sure , spacing shouldn't be much of an issue . and if the nut / bridge is a threaded bolt, you can re-space the strings where ya want (hop over to the next thread etc) . if not . i'd leave the bottom 3 string spots , and use them as to prevent neck clunk.
hope that helps ;-)
Yes big help thanks :) ill get some pics soon as I am back home (work away),