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Newbies and the word "BEST"

What are the best materials for my first build?
Ahhhh that word best,,, it's in every forum from growing flowers to building home built airplanes. For most first builds of anything, we want to use the "best" of materials to do our worst first build. I have seen master builders take the worst of materials and create some works of art. And beginners buy the best of materials to make mistakes and blunders with on their first build. I am guilty of the second. I have seen this observation in the different hobbies I have been in, wood working, taxidermy, CBG building, and now, "real" guitar building. (LOL) Folks just starting out will ask for advice on the "best" of this or the "best" of that to start out with, and we all say it, and all want the best advice for the best materials. Maybe the word has different meanings to the user of it. However, for this site, it cracks me up to see some people seeking super high expectations out of a cigar box, stick and strings. Words slung around here like sustain, ohms of pickup output, neck angle, 250 or 500 pots, shielding, winding wire size, and other technical guitar terms are creeping into the CBG tech area. I understand that there are those that want to put more horse power under the hood, and the coolness factor, I get it. I understand that.
I can see using the best of materials once you have some building skills in your bag of tricks, but for starting out on the first one, we really do not need the best of this or the best of that. Mini rant over.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Lemin on August 30, 2009 at 12:59am

I don't really want to be "self promoting" but my take on CBG guitar building is fairly well representinted in the tutorial i have under the "Plans" tab on the main page.
I wanted a rock solid plan, set out to the "mm" and nobody offered one so I went out on a journey to do my own thing.

At most stages of the build i had to make decisions, so off i went to the forum and got some great answers. So i share with you in the plan process, some of my decisions and dilemmas and if you cant make up your mind I then tell you what to do.

We all like directions, rules, the 10 Commandments etc.

I used to teach management at one stage in my career and when we set our managers a management task and said there were "no rules" they fell apart.

"No Rules" separates the men from the boys. Its hard to get through CBG puberty, but when you are there you can be part of producing over 1000 pictures of innovative, beautiful, bad looking but good sounding cbgs etc etc. Then we are all happy.

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Permalink Reply by Jkevn on August 30, 2009 at 1:44am

We've kicked this ball around in a few postings lately, "Why izzit?" and my own "How do I..." posts argued about and poked a little fun at the people that ask the same questions over and over before they make the first sawdust. I'm always game for pokin a little fun...even at myself but, before I was a veteran of 5 builds and 6 whole months of CBG'ing, I was a new guy looking for answers.
I do things a little different, I read, read, read...look at pics, and read some more. I don't ask alot, mainly because I don't want anyone to know how JACKED-UP my thought process is at the time. It didn't take me long to get those first pictures up when it turned out good though.
On "Who wants to be a Millionaire" one of the lifelines is the old "audience poll", I think asking whats best is kinda like that poll....even in a group like this that thrives and insists on individuality and doing something different, we all want the assurance that we're doing it the way everyone else does. That's just a part of human nature and our need for acceptance. The old "long tooth veterans" do the same thing in a different way....here's a pic of what I just built....
In the beginning we don't even know how to ask for the information we need....out comes one of those "how do I do it Bestest" questions.
I'll answer those every chance I get. Somebody else will have to take a turn if the same question pops up 14 times...those questions are alot like these rants of late, nobody made me click that link...so I can't blame the guy that posted it.

You guys are gonna break me $.02 at a time, I've spent my whole allowance on opinion this week...:)

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 30, 2009 at 1:56am

I find that folks here in the "nation" are extremely complementary -- to the point that even
my first build got some kind words. The neck and headstock looked rather crappy in comparison to my later attempts. You build, you learn. Even some of the best looking CBGs can sound "off". There are no guarantees, but then again, that's half the fun. New builders, have fun. Really. Its an adventure. So what if it looks like this:

(I kinda like this box myself. Its real and traditional.) If it holds a tune, you're doing fine.

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Permalink Reply by StarGeezers on August 30, 2009 at 2:24am

There is a certain implied MOJO by using the more "primitive" parts... our rule is "Use watcha' Got!!!"... Just finished my first one (NOOB) ... didn't have to buy ANYTHING... Trying to keep it in the "Spirit" of the thing rather than take it to an Art object... I'm guessing that will come later ...???

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on August 30, 2009 at 5:28am

Depends on who is defininf "art". The old CBS are works of "art" to me and they didn't have the tools we have today. They are all great!

StarGeezers said:

There is a certain implied MOJO by using the more "primitive" parts... our rule is "Use watcha' Got!!!"... Just finished my first one (NOOB) ... didn't have to buy ANYTHING... Trying to keep it in the "Spirit" of the thing rather than take it to an Art object... I'm guessing that will come later ...???

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on August 30, 2009 at 6:08pm

Any time someone asks me what is best, I always respond with the same answer:

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."