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What boxes sound best?

Does anyone have an opinion on what boxes sound the best? A couple of people have asked me to make them guitars and I'd like for them to sound as good as they can.

Should I be looking for a box with the most volume (cubic in)?

I have a few boxes on hand. A Jamie Garcia, a Flor de las Antillas and a Cohiba. Would any of these sound better than the other two? I can always go out and look for other boxes as well.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 12, 2013 at 5:57pm

Most people like the Cohibas and Padrons, in the largest size you can get them. Generally, big box (deep) gives great tone, as does one with a thin top or bottom. All cedar boxes, which can be hard to find, give great warm tone.

Of the 3 shown, without seeing how thick the tops or bottoms are, I'd rank them:

1) Cohiba
2) Garcia
3) Antillas

But your mileage may vary...

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on August 12, 2013 at 8:03pm

The ones that get made into decent axes? :D
(Then get played by decent players..)

Don't sweat it just do it mate, they all sound pretty good when you work out how to build em and how to play em

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 13, 2013 at 5:12am

Oddly enough, that was similar to my gut reaction response which I didn't type.

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Permalink Reply by Clarky on August 13, 2013 at 12:00am

I agree, just go for it and don't worry too much, there won't be much difference. I've used a load of different boxes, different strings, pickups, different wood for neck, tuners, different sized sound holes etc and some just work better than others for no great reason other than the build just works.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on August 13, 2013 at 12:32am

I managed to find some great old boxes cheap on ebay - they're 8" x 6", thinnish wood, a bit small i thought but decided to use them on my budget range of guitars "Old Timey" - i made a 3 string fretless from one and blow me down it gave the sweetest, bassiest sound i ever heard from a small box! I bought some more to use, so you never know, biggest and thickest ain't always the best! (-;

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Permalink Reply by Clarky on August 13, 2013 at 1:54am

That's the same box as I just used, sounds sweet too! I've got a few deeper ones of the same ilk and they sound great too.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on August 13, 2013 at 2:40am

My only advice is to practice a lot with the less attractive ones so you know what you're doing with a real good looker. Same advice for cigar boxes being made into guitars.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on August 13, 2013 at 3:40am

They should all do fine, but I would agree with "Oily" as to ranking.

Ed does have some good advice though. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Suspect Device on August 13, 2013 at 5:59am

I concur with Oily. I have built 2 or three guitars with all three of these boxes. The Cohiba is probably going to sound the best and be the easiest to build with, since it has a normal lid and the others are of the clamshell type. I really like the jaime Garcias and the Antillas, but in the larger "Toro Gordos" size. I tend to hoard the Cohiba boxes for special builds, as they are harder to come by. The Flor de las Antillas was the top-selling cigar for 2012, so there are a gazillion of those boxes out there, which is nice if you are prone to the occasional mis-cut or other mistake.

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Permalink Reply by Old Man Vinegar on September 20, 2013 at 7:14am

All I can say is over the last year I have built 68 CBG's , obviously they all have a different sound and tone. Even the same brands will sound different. I have had my favorites but ultimately wind up selling them eventually. The Punch boxes sound good and there is a Punch that has no paper on it that really sounds good . The Brick House boxes always give me a rich deep tone. I found a Arganese box once that really sounded great, but my daugter liked it and took it from me :-)). The loudest box I found came from a craft store. It was the same size as a Cigar box but was not a cigar box. My daughter had my logo lazer etched on it and it sounds awesome. However I still prefer a real cigar box. I tell people all the time. My favporite part of the build is stringing it up. It is like Christmas mornig to me, You never know how they will sound until that moment. Keep building nd experimenting :-)