Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Al Allen (Hangten) on September 11, 2009 at 12:57am

This is a great idea. I see many interesting photos and wish this info was included. I'm a newbie and need all the info I can get.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on September 11, 2009 at 2:21am

Scale length doesn't seem all that important to me. That's the cool thing about scale. You can scale it up or down. As long as you can use a metric rule and a fret calculator, you can make the scale length anything you want. As far as strings and tuning; why aren't you experimenting with all sorts of different stuff? You want to explore the instrument, really get to know every inch of what it can do. Hell, you built the thing. Why would you only stick to a few standard strings and then try to find an accepted tuning? You want to know what the best tuning is on a CBG? Close your eyes and pluck one of the strings. Turn that string's tuner until it sounds good. Now repeat with the other strings. Now explore the neck and find out what you're able to do with what you just created.

For a newbie, the single most important thing you should be looking into are techniques to control the action of your strings. I wish someone would have told me about this when I got started. This was something I learned over time but whenever you have a serious guitarist pick up a guitar for the first time to play, the thing they focus on the most is the feel of the instrument in their hands. A guitarist (a real guitarist) fights a constant battle with string action. Too low and you buzz out on your frets. Too high and all your notes pull sharp when you fret the string. Especially when you build a guitar with an acoustic bridge, there are several hours involved of carefully adjusting the saddle to find that perfect sweet spot.

This doesn't matter so much if you're just building the guitar for yourself but if you plan on selling a guitar or two in order to finance your hobby, you need to devote some serious time to perfecting this aspect of your guitar. It sounds harsh but it's true: if the guitar doesn't feel right in the player's hands, it will be instantly discarded without a second thought. I don't mean the guys who live around the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets. I mean the guys who can play Hendrix as easy as breathing. They are a picky bunch.

Your chief measurement is at the 12th fret. The absolute maximum string height you should allow on a guitar neck at the 12th fret is 1/8". On a cigar box guitar neck you should allow just a little more as there is no truss rod and no way to adjust things should the neck "settle back" as everything cures up over the final stages of the build process. So on an untrussed CBG neck I'd say 3/16" is your maximum height at the 12th but only if your fretboard is wavy enough to make you seasick.

Josh

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Permalink Reply by Brian Lemin on September 11, 2009 at 3:30am

Yes, i agree that i would like to a lot more information about the creations that are posted. Those technical details would be a great start. I would like to know what the tunings are for the videos too.

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Permalink Reply by Will Carter on September 11, 2009 at 7:27am

Cool I would suggest something like:

Box details such as age and country of origin, build date, scale length, woods and materials and special features eg reso (as I curently am obsessed with resos)

Brian Lemin said:

Yes, i agree that i would like to a lot more information about the creations that are posted. Those technical details would be a great start. I would like to know what the tunings are for the videos too.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on September 11, 2009 at 9:51am

It would be nice to have info and I'd really encourage it but, some people are just not very talkative and that's okay also. No rules. Sure don't want to discourage anyone from posting a picture.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on September 11, 2009 at 10:06am

I agree, the photos are a great source of inspiration, and tech info would sure be nice to have, but anything goes is the only rule for CBGs! Bruce

Paul Doug said:

It would be nice to have info and I'd really encourage it but, some people are just not very talkative and that's okay also. No rules. Sure don't want to discourage anyone from posting a picture.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on September 11, 2009 at 10:08am

Plus, all that info will be available in the chat/forum. Takes long enough to look at 10,000 pics w/o having to read too! Bruce

Bluesheart said:

I agree, the photos are a great source of inspiration, and tech info would sure be nice to have, but anything goes is the only rule for CBGs! Bruce

Paul Doug said:

It would be nice to have info and I'd really encourage it but, some people are just not very talkative and that's okay also. No rules. Sure don't want to discourage anyone from posting a picture.

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Permalink Reply by Mortimer Snerd on September 11, 2009 at 2:34pm

I think a full detail documented step by step of all materials used so new people dont have to look in the archive where everything is already. Not to be blunt about it, but there are two Yahoo groups with a half dozen years of archived CBG chat with information just for the looking.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Thorsvik on September 11, 2009 at 3:06pm

Josh, You bring up some great points. Experimenting is part of the fun; if you look at my instruments you will see some variety in scale lengths and tunings. I have learned that scale lengths, string weights, and tunings all work together in making an instrument that has decent intonation and playability. I do like to learn from others and thought a simple caption with a few key design details included with posted pictures would inspire experimentation much like the pictures do. Doug

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

Scale length doesn't seem all that important to me. That's the cool thing about scale. You can scale it up or down. As long as you can use a metric rule and a fret calculator, you can make the scale length anything you want. As far as strings and tuning; why aren't you experimenting with all sorts of different stuff? You want to explore the instrument, really get to know every inch of what it can do. Hell, you built the thing. Why would you only stick to a few standard strings and then try to find an accepted tuning? You want to know what the best tuning is on a CBG? Close your eyes and pluck one of the strings. Turn that string's tuner until it sounds good. Now repeat with the other strings. Now explore the neck and find out what you're able to do with what you just created.

For a newbie, the single most important thing you should be looking into are techniques to control the action of your strings. I wish someone would have told me about this when I got started. This was something I learned over time but whenever you have a serious guitarist pick up a guitar for the first time to play, the thing they focus on the most is the feel of the instrument in their hands. A guitarist (a real guitarist) fights a constant battle with string action. Too low and you buzz out on your frets. Too high and all your notes pull sharp when you fret the string. Especially when you build a guitar with an acoustic bridge, there are several hours involved of carefully adjusting the saddle to find that perfect sweet spot.

This doesn't matter so much if you're just building the guitar for yourself but if you plan on selling a guitar or two in order to finance your hobby, you need to devote some serious time to perfecting this aspect of your guitar. It sounds harsh but it's true: if the guitar doesn't feel right in the player's hands, it will be instantly discarded without a second thought. I don't mean the guys who live around the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets. I mean the guys who can play Hendrix as easy as breathing. They are a picky bunch.

Your chief measurement is at the 12th fret. The absolute maximum string height you should allow on a guitar neck at the 12th fret is 1/8". On a cigar box guitar neck you should allow just a little more as there is no truss rod and no way to adjust things should the neck "settle back" as everything cures up over the final stages of the build process. So on an untrussed CBG neck I'd say 3/16" is your maximum height at the 12th but only if your fretboard is wavy enough to make you seasick.

Josh

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Permalink Reply by Doug Thorsvik on September 11, 2009 at 3:09pm

Brian, I agree on videos tunings would be extremely helpful. Doug

Brian Lemin said:

Yes, i agree that i would like to a lot more information about the creations that are posted. Those technical details would be a great start. I would like to know what the tunings are for the videos too.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Thorsvik on September 11, 2009 at 3:17pm

Paul,

I agree, some people aren't talkative; I don't want to discourage posting pictures. However, I wouldn't exactly call the following photo caption talkative: 25" scale length, GDAD tuning (low to high), strings 1,2,4,5 acoustic set

Doug

Paul Doug said:

It would be nice to have info and I'd really encourage it but, some people are just not very talkative and that's okay also. No rules. Sure don't want to discourage anyone from posting a picture.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Thorsvik on September 11, 2009 at 3:25pm

Gene

Thanks for understanding the spirit of the suggestion. Moving from no info on pics to some info on pics. I just suggested a few details that I often want to know but can't be determined by looking at the picture.

Doug

Gene said:

Iam guilty of no info on my pics, but if any of u guys or gals need any info on any of my builds please fill free to ask ,ill start posting info with them

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