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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on October 26, 2010 at 11:48am

What kind of strings are you thinking of using?

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Permalink Reply by Manuel Patricio Tenorio on October 26, 2010 at 12:12pm

G,B,A of steel, but I´m afraid it breaks the box, and I spend a few years ago when by mistake I put steel strings on a Spanish guitar and a distortion of the guitar, I have already made the strings, the pick up and the rest; the tension is higher so I have fear it breaks the box or double mast
(once again sorry my english) thanks

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on October 26, 2010 at 1:48pm

Steel, nylon, or acoustic strings won't break the box unless you build the guitar in an unusual way. I do a more traditional style where the neck extends through the body (see the free plans section above). If you don't use this method, you might have to reinforce the lid like a standard guitar.

One thing to remember -- either it is electric with a pickup or it is acoustic. Else there is no point in making a guitar. There has to be sound somehow.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on October 26, 2010 at 1:58pm

Yes, what Wes said. If the neck goes through the box, it should be strong enough for steel strings.



Wes Yates said:

Steel, nylon, or acoustic strings won't break the box unless you build the guitar in an unusual way. I do a more traditional style where the neck extends through the body (see the free plans section above). If you don't use this method, you might have to reinforce the lid like a standard guitar.

One thing to remember -- either it is electric with a pickup or it is acoustic. Else there is no point in making a guitar. There has to be sound somehow.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by HENRY LOWMAN on October 26, 2010 at 4:23pm

I find nylon strings to give a warmer sound than steel, although I use steel as well. Try extra light electric guitar strings and see how the tension works on your build. By the way, use a piezo pick up (or 2 wired in PARALLEL) for nylon strings. GOOD LUCK! :-)

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on October 27, 2010 at 4:41am

I used a Cohiba box for my mandola (my sig picture) and it's holding the tension of a full set of 8 mandola strings with no problem and no bracing.
The tops to these boxes are solid cedar, and they are MUCH thicker than a regular guitar.

You can adjust the amount of tension by the neck angle. More neck angle means a higher bridge which means more tension.... Keeping the neck angle shallow will result in less tension.

I'd like to experiment with one of these boxes... Running the top through a thickness planer till it was about the thickness of a standard instrument top, and then applying bracing.

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Permalink Reply by Manuel Patricio Tenorio on October 28, 2010 at 12:27pm

thank you all for your comments are helping me a lot, even talk to my professor of strength of materials and helped me with some calculations and it is possible taking into account the strength of tension, now I'm safe enough to put steel strings, thanks to all
greetings from Cuenca

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