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Comment by Wichita Sam on May 18, 2014 at 4:44am

Hi Doc,

 

Let's reverse engineer your situation.  Take the nut for the tuner and install the wash that will go on top of the headstock.  Screw it into the tuner at least 3/4 of a turn.  Measure from the base of the tuner to the botton of the wash, snug against the top of the nut.  THIS MEASURE is the maximum thickness of your headstock.   No screw the nut all the way into the tuner.  Measure again from base of the tuner, to the bottom of the washer.  THIS 2ND MEASURE is the minimum thickness of the headstock.

 

You will most certainly have to thin the headstock.  How much will depend on your two measurements.  Make sure that it is between the two measurements that you took above....

 

hope this helps.

Comment by Keith Stanford on May 18, 2014 at 4:40am

Howdy doc....like the fellow below your message (Robert Dawkins) said, the best starting place for building the CBG is www.GittyMan.com

In his book he gives the exact measurements for hole drilling and placement from the edge on the Headstock. That is the simplicity of his book....EVERYTHING is laid out for you in one resource.  At only $14, you might want to grab that book now as you get instance access to it.

It will save you a boat-load of time going forward on things like the electronics, etc.

Now on to your question:

For a simple CBG, the neck thickness of 3/4" for a 3-string CBG is good....but the Head Stock thickness needs to be thinner to accommodate those Tuning Keys. 

(1) You are going to want to have some post left to wrap the strings around when you do the tuning. 

(2) And you will want to make sure to have an angle on the sting going down from the NUT to the Tuning Keys.  That is another reason for wanting a thinner Head stock. 

(3) The distance you place the Tuning Key holes from the edge of the Head Stock also is important to insure that each of the strings are not touching a nearby Tuning Key.

kieta

Comment by Robert Dawkins on May 11, 2014 at 4:03pm

Just a quick shout-out to Mordacai for his great resource, the Gittyman Manual! I've been collecting all the stuff I need to get started on my first GBG, and of all the websites I've visited, his e-book has been the best how-to resource I've found...easy instructions, clear photos, and the parts lists are the best.

If you're considering building a CBG, then this manual is the best investment you'll make...hell, he's even got a money-back guarantee!

http://gittyman.com/

He'll also send you extra CBG goodies to your inbox, and his customer service is phenomenal...if this sounds like a plug for Mordacai, it is: He's impressed the heck out of me, and that's not easy!

Comment by gary sheldon on May 10, 2014 at 7:48pm

Suspect,

You probably couldn't tell from the photo, but I think the bridge break angle is fine.

I couldn't get a decibel meter going, but there is an  Iphone ap which lets it display decibels in the ambient noise.   All this decibel meter stuff is because I am trying to prove that a tightly clamped neck joint conducts sound through the wood as well as a glued joint.  I may be wrong about this.

Comment by Suspect Device on May 10, 2014 at 11:17am

One more thing to keep in mind is that the placement of the bridge can make a huge difference in how much volume you will get out of a box. In my experience, if the placement of the bridge is very close to tail, there is often less volume, as it limits the resonant surface area of the lid/soundboard. But that does not appear to be the case with your uke. The catch-22 to this -at least with a  build that is either thru-neck or one that requires some distance between the string retainer/tailpiece & bridge- is that by moving the bridge forward, the break angle of the strings across the saddle is decreased, which can also lower the volume. This is why bridge pins make sense on most acoustic guitars and typical uke bridges are all-in-one string retainer/bridge&saddle too.

Comment by gary sheldon on May 10, 2014 at 10:18am

Hey Suspect,

  Thanks for that.

  I guess my ear is not sufficiently trained to thump the boxes.  Also I have tried carrying around a tuning fork.  But the ear doesn't work for that either.

  I want to get a decibel meter.  I have seen one for $50, but I am cheap.  I may make an uncalibrated one with a small speaker and my digital meter.  I think that will work.

  I have piezos in all my guitars/ukes, but I do want them to sound ok unplugged too.  I carry them around a lot and don't take my amp with me usually.

Comment by Suspect Device on May 10, 2014 at 9:21am

That is pretty uke! I often give boxes the "thump test" before I bring them home from the cigar store, Slap my thumb on the lid and listen to the depth/timbre of the thump. A dead box can be a drag if you are building a strictly acoustic instrument, but for something with wires, pickups or piezos, once it's plugged into an amp, do the "acoustic properties of a cigar box" really matter much anyway?

Comment by gary sheldon on May 10, 2014 at 5:13am

I just ran into another soundless box.  It is Dunhill.  Very pretty box and a nice size for a uke I am building.  I guess I am going to have to cut the sound hole early on in the build.  It set me back quite a few hours.  I guess when they design these boxes they are thinking cigars, not guitars.

Gary

Comment by Suspect Device on May 2, 2014 at 2:59pm

Some mdf/hardboard lidded boxes actually sound pretty good. I have had good luck with some EPC Carrillo, Macanudo, A. Fuente vitola boxes and some others that were hardboard. I find that the problem isn't so much the material itself, but that the mdf lids tend to be a little on the thick side. As a general rule, the chip/cardboard lids are the ones I try to stay away from. 

Comment by gary sheldon on May 2, 2014 at 12:54pm

WARNING MDF.

One of my cbg's had a less than impressive soun.  I let a potential buyer take it home for a week.  He brought it back the next day, saying "I hate it, No sound."

Eventually, I took it apart to try to diagnose the problem.  The box was very nice, Manogany looking.  The top very nice too.  I took a real close look at the sound hole cut and I began to suspect that the top had a top and bottom veneer and between them was MDF.  If you don't know, MDF is Medium Density Fibreboard.  It is used in home interior trim, Base boards, window trim, etc.  It appears not to be a fine conductor of sound.

Anyway, the cigar box is called Lost City.  I replaced the top with some thin birch ply and it sounds good now,

Gary

 

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