Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy Webb on January 15, 2010 at 9:19pm

@MicCheckOne
That's why I call my first "The Prototype" and my second "My First" lol

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on January 16, 2010 at 12:02am

It's all recoverable...just a few tips. Tilt back headstocks are not formed by bending, they are either cut from the solid or scarf jointed - you could probably just cut a splay onto the end of the existing neck and glue on a new headstock to form a scarf joint. The main point to note is aim for a good large glueing area (a good scarf joint gives about 3 square inches of glueing area and the joint is also reinforced by glueing on the fretboard over the area of the scarf- tying to do a dowel joint and gluing to the end grain makes for a really weak joint (but you know that now anyway!). From the photo it looks like you've got another dowelled and butted joint on the neck..unless that's well lapped over (by a few inches) by the sides of the centreblock that's another joint waiting to fail...the whole idea of a 'thru' neck" is that it for strength it should be a single continuous piece from top of headstock to tail of the guitar.

With these oilcan guitars, I much prefer to do a conventional bolt-on neck fixed to a centreblock, then you can fix the bridge to the block, and adjust the neck angle by shimming. With your one piece arrangement you've got no leeway for post-build tinkering. If you look at conventional guitars, even acoustic ones, most of them are built so that they can be taken apart, repaired and tinkered with, so something going wrong doesn't mean having to trash the guitar. If it were mine I'd repair it or re-build it with a new neck and centreblock ..you've got the can, electrics and hardware sorted already.

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Permalink Reply by MicCheckOne on January 17, 2010 at 7:21am

Thanks for the good advice, guys. After the initial sting of seeing hours of hard work snapped off at the neck, I've been able to take a deep breath and think about how to salvage this "prototype" (good way of looking at it, Randy). ChickenboneJohn, thanks for the tips on necks and headstocks and joints and such. Honestly, I had never done any serious woodwork before this, so my knowledge of joints was pretty limited. And I think I'll take your advice and stick to the bolt-on neck design from now on.

I'm going to take a break from this oil can guitar and build an ordinary cigar box guitar this week. Already got a few beautiful boxes from my friendly neighborhood head shop (if the box is empty, they'll let me take it; if there's one cigar left in the box, they'll give me the box if I buy the last cigar) and also stopped by a thrift store and found what appears to be a faux-antique wooden medicine cabinet, which would make a nice "jumbo" CBG, haha. Wish me luck!

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Innes on March 21, 2010 at 1:04pm

Hello there, I am also in the process of building my first oil can guitar. I had a question about single coil pickups and how they react with the metal can. If they do react what happens and how can i prevent it from happening?
Thanks

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on March 22, 2010 at 7:00am

There's no ill effect at all...I put a Telebridge and pickup in, with a Strat pickup in the neck- after demo-ing one at guitar shows this last month people were amazed at how good it sounds...the general view was.."Wow, sounds better than my own Strat"..so go ahead.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Innes on March 22, 2010 at 10:38am

One more question which is what is the best way to cut the can for placing the pickups in?

ChickenboneJohn said:

There's no ill effect at all...I put a Telebridge and pickup in, with a Strat pickup in the neck- after demo-ing one at guitar shows this last month people were amazed at how good it sounds...the general view was.."Wow, sounds better than my own Strat"..so go ahead.

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Permalink Reply by MicCheckOne on March 23, 2010 at 4:16am

Hi Trevor, I used a
Dremel rotary tool to cut out the pickup holes for my oil can guitar. I attached a small cutting wheel accessory to do the cutting, then used a sanding/grinding accessory to file down the jagged edges. It worked out well, but the noise was pretty intense (like plugging a dentist's drill into an amplifier)!

Here's another method from ChickenboneJohn, whose comments you can read earlier in this post. He's pretty much the man when it comes to oil can guitars:
"The metal is REALLY thin and will cut with a Stanley knife or a stout pair of sharp kitchen scissors, but watch out on three points -a) it's very easy to cut too far and totally ruin the can. b) Once you've cut thru' the rolled seams or started making an opening for a pickup, it is all too easy to bend and distort the can badly, especially if you try forcing the neck into a cut-out which is fractionally undersized or has a 'tight spot' on it . c) The cut edges are RAZOR sharp, so be very careful that you don't cut or stab yourself - you can get some seriously nasty injuries working with cutting thin sheet metal." Whichever route you go, good luck, and have fun!

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on March 23, 2010 at 8:54am

What I do for cutting openings for neck and pickups is to put some masking tape on the can so that I can accurately mark the position in pencil for the openings, then pierce into the corners of the opening with a stout craft knife, and cut across the centre of the pickup opening so I can then fold back "flaps" to give a neat safe "rolled edge".

Once you have made the initial cut, the rest can be done with a steady hand and a pair of sharp kitchen scissors. For rounded corners I make lots of little snip cuts about 1/8 inch apart so I can fold it back little by little. It's difficult to be accurate with this, so I usually try and put a sharp cornered wooden block at the back of the line where I'm folding so my fold-back flap is nice and straight. I work the corners by judicious use of a piece of dowel or a round plastic screwdriver handle to get the radius "just so". No power tools involved, just a sharp blade and a very methodical way of working.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Innes on April 28, 2010 at 11:29am

Hey guys, thanks with all the help! Its been a slow process putting it together,but I am about to put the wood body within the can. What is the best way of going about that. Screws? Bolts? I know both will work but is it necessary to put on bolts with washers etc.
Thanks
Trevor

ChickenboneJohn said:

What I do for cutting openings for neck and pickups is to put some masking tape on the can so that I can accurately mark the position in pencil for the openings, then pierce into the corners of the opening with a stout craft knife, and cut across the centre of the pickup opening so I can then fold back "flaps" to give a neat safe "rolled edge".

Once you have made the initial cut, the rest can be done with a steady hand and a pair of sharp kitchen scissors. For rounded corners I make lots of little snip cuts about 1/8 inch apart so I can fold it back little by little. It's difficult to be accurate with this, so I usually try and put a sharp cornered wooden block at the back of the line where I'm folding so my fold-back flap is nice and straight. I work the corners by judicious use of a piece of dowel or a round plastic screwdriver handle to get the radius "just so". No power tools involved, just a sharp blade and a very methodical way of working.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 28, 2010 at 7:37pm

I just use screws, usually self-tapping with a round crosshead on 'em.

John

Trevor Innes said:

Hey guys, thanks with all the help! Its been a slow process putting it together,but I am about to put the wood body within the can. What is the best way of going about that. Screws? Bolts? I know both will work but is it necessary to put on bolts with washers etc.
Thanks
Trevor

ChickenboneJohn said:

What I do for cutting openings for neck and pickups is to put some masking tape on the can so that I can accurately mark the position in pencil for the openings, then pierce into the corners of the opening with a stout craft knife, and cut across the centre of the pickup opening so I can then fold back "flaps" to give a neat safe "rolled edge".

Once you have made the initial cut, the rest can be done with a steady hand and a pair of sharp kitchen scissors. For rounded corners I make lots of little snip cuts about 1/8 inch apart so I can fold it back little by little. It's difficult to be accurate with this, so I usually try and put a sharp cornered wooden block at the back of the line where I'm folding so my fold-back flap is nice and straight. I work the corners by judicious use of a piece of dowel or a round plastic screwdriver handle to get the radius "just so". No power tools involved, just a sharp blade and a very methodical way of working.

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Permalink Reply by Joker on April 29, 2010 at 4:45am

Here's the one I got from Bairfoot Cajun. Don't know how he worked the inside, maybe through the cap
;^)

Find more videos like this on Cigar Box Nation

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Permalink Reply by Roosterman on April 29, 2010 at 9:58am

I have no idea how I missed this whole conversation, but WELL DONE!

I cant add anything to what CBJ has already explained so well, except for that if I had the patience, I would leave the can intact too!

Oil cans are difficult for a first build (and for a 60th build....) but looks like you did good. Its all a learning process.

The best bit is Iv learnt a lot just reading through - would you believe that an hour ago I was busy screwing up a perfectly good tin. If only Id a read this first!!

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