Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marty O on December 10, 2013 at 4:24pm

By the looks of the photo (correct me if I am are wrong) you don't seem to have any bracing under the neck and tail piece. Does the tailpiece connect straight to the back of the box? if this is the case then that could have been the cause of the box cracking.

What I would do is place another piece of timber (same dimensions as your neck) and glue it under the neck which then travels through the box and connects with the tailpiece. This then enable the box to have far less stress placed upon it. See pic below:

Hope this helps,

Marty

Attachments:

• CBG037.jpg, 41 KB

Permalink Reply by James A OBrien on December 11, 2013 at 1:04am

Matty O

You are right, and that's what I figured. I have two questions about the guitar you show in the photo. Does the timber going through the body with the sound hole, effect the acoustics of the guitar? Does it make it less loud, than having no timber (I know it seems the only option is to have the timber through the body).

The other question is where did you get the hardware which holds the strings attached to the top of the box?(pictured in your photo)


Thanks James

Permalink Reply by Marty O on December 11, 2013 at 11:31am

Hi James

The guitar is not as loud as I thought it would be but I am not sure if it was the timber that the box is made out of or if the timber running through the box limits the sound. The timber/heel doesn't touch the soundboard so it might be more the quality of the timber.

The bridge was made by me (I first saw them on Wayne Bigler's CBG's)…it is basically a piece of aluminum from the hardware store and have have taken some fender style saddles of some 6 string bridges. I bought about 6 Telecaster style bridges from China and used the saddles to build my own bridges. 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Chrome-Guitar-Bridge-65mm-6-Saddle-For-C...

Hope this helps

Marty

Permalink Reply by James A OBrien on December 15, 2013 at 11:37am

Hi Marty,

So I purchased those fender style saddles, but what is the metal, bracket type piece you attached them with. Do you remember the technical name of this piece of hardware you purchased at the hardware store? I'm assuming it has to have the three holes in order to install the three saddles properly. Can you point me in the specific direction?

Thanks

James

Permalink Reply by Marty O on December 15, 2013 at 1:42pm

It is called aluminum angle…it is a piece of aluminum measuring 40 mm x 12 mm x 600 mm (cut off a piece about 45 - 50 mm wide…I made about 14 in one go….bought 7 tele style bridges from China)

1. You will need to drill 10 holes your self into the aluminum

a. 4 into the base of the bridge to screw it onto your box firmly

b. on the end you will need to drill 3 holes (if it is a 3 string CBG) to insert the saddles

c. you will now need to insert 3 small holes for the strings to go through…this can be done at the end of the bridge directly under where the saddles attach to the bridge (I prefer this way as it is easier to create) or you can put the 3 holes directly beneath  where the saddles lie (this way you will then need to drill holes through your box…some say it gives you a better sound but I don't know)

Hope this helps…also, I live in Australia so sorry about the metric measures

Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on December 10, 2013 at 5:30pm

What Marty said. You need some structure between the neck and tailpiece. The empty box doesn't have enough strength.

That's why most simple builds use the neck through the box style of build.