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Permalink Reply by Order99 on September 23, 2013 at 10:51am

 I haven't  made nearly the amount of instruments as most on this board (two dozen at the very most), but I can tell you this-I am constantly surprised by what works and what doesn't. The boxes I think will sound the best will be as tonally dead as presswood soaked in water, while the ones I wouldn't expect to work rang like church bells. Often, two identical boxes from the same manufacturer prove completely unalike in quality of sound-go figure..

  In fact, the best sounding guitar i've made to date consists of pressed fiber boxes (fancy dense cardboard) laid edge to edge and glued together to make a single chamber, and 6mm birch plywood soundboard glued in place. Needless to say, I varnished every inch of that instrument inside and out for proper waterproofing!

  To date, i've tried lunchboxes, metal cookie tins, thin plastic cigar boxes, paper, thin cedar, thick cedar over 10mm,cardboard, masonite, one very confused campfire coffee pot and several tin cans epoxied together with JB chemweld-so far, so good.

  I recommend the 'tap test' for everything you use.And if you have the courage, you can do what I do and, er, well...sing to them. I know, I know, you get the strangest looks-but I can sing or hum quietly at a prospective soundboard, and the feedback from my fingers on the other side of the box will tell you exactly how responsive to low, mid and high tones that box will be.I obviously can't administer any of these tests if I purchase online...

Good hunting!

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Permalink Reply by Larry Epstein on September 23, 2013 at 5:59pm

I love it! Sing to the box and feel the vibrations in the soundboard; what a great idea! Hard to do over the Internet though.

I've had better luck with the tonal qualities from deeper boxes... 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches. And the bigger, the better (within reason). I put a 6- or 7-inch resonator cone in the few cbgs I've made, so the tonal quality of the wood is a bit overwhelmed by the twangy quality of the resonator. The box matters, but I think the quality of the build matters more.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 26, 2013 at 4:36am

I'm the noob to this game, with 4 builds under my belt. My only add is that I found that the "Punch" boxes have a pressboard lid.  I really like the all-wood boxes, and to me, they sound better than the paper-over wood boxes . . . but that is with my limited experience.

 

John

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Permalink Reply by Suspect Device on September 26, 2013 at 5:48am

There are some inconsistencies in many of the manufacturers' box construction. Some of the paper-covered Punch boxes have hardboard lids, but many DO have wooden lids. Same with some of the Macanudos & some of the Fuente Chateaus. You gotta check. I prefer the wood lids for acoustic or piezo/rod builds, but the hardboard/paper covered ones are fine if you are installing a mag pickup. Another box I have had success with is the Ashton VSG, Torpedo size. They always seem to sound great acoustically. Plus, pretty box.

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Permalink Reply by Damon on December 11, 2013 at 11:17pm

Padron. For reals.

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Permalink Reply by Richard G Caudill on December 12, 2013 at 11:08am

I like em all !!!!   I try to make it as accurate as possible ,,, as u cannot predict the tonal quality ,,, each and every box u use is gonna sound different !!!! I made a beautiful 4 stringer ,, it sounded like crap ,,, ok ,, make it into a 3 stringer and  it  lit up like a Christmas tree!!!  Just keep working and learning ,, and u's soon see what boxes u seem to like best and those will b the ones u use the most . It is a serious adventure !!!!!!

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