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New from Upstate NY

A few years ago I went out to the back 40, cut down a maple tree, and 11 months later finished building an electric guitar. It was damn hard, especially since I didn't know the first thing about guitars, and my woodworking skills pretty much ended with working the sandpaper correctly.

After building it, I decided to learn how to play it, and a few years later I can entertain myself with what I can do. I thoroughly enjoy picking it up and playing, and try to do so every day.

The other day while "working" my day job, I stumbled upon this site and I was instantly intrigued. So that evening, I went to the local tobacco shop, bought an empty cigar box and started plugging away, using what I learned from building the full size and lurking around this site. Between real life and the savaging of parts and tools, it took almost a week, but I managed to make a playable instrument. I took it camping one weekend for a playability test and was absolutely hooked. While there, some little ankle-biter flung my nut into the river, but that's another story.

When I returned to civilization, I promptly made my own 3 pole pickup, which was terribly challenging, and then I put it in my prototype and promptly suffered a structural failure as I removed too much material from the neck (to make room for the pickup) and now the neck is no longer attached to the box. Oh bother, another lesson learned.

Not a big deal though as I believe I can re-enforce the box and bolt that sucker back on...somehow, or make a new neck, or a whole new guitar, or who knows what. All I know is that it's been a fun way to pass the time.

Looking forward to sharing some thoughts and ideas with the great folks on here.

Anyhow, here is the proof of concept...

(foot for scale)

(mangled fork tailpiece)

and the pickup...

(hard drive magnet... did weird things with center pole)

Internals of it as it is today...

(through-body string setup)

(problems)

Re-enforcing the neck joint area...

and buttoned up...

Feels very solid. Will string it up tonight and see how it works out.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brendan deVallance on July 30, 2014 at 7:30am

Let us have a look.

Permalink Reply by Rob Bennett on July 30, 2014 at 8:08am

I like thinking and collating ideas and parts for builds...its a good thing////looking forward to seeing your efforts

Permalink Reply by ReturnToSender on July 31, 2014 at 1:27am

pics added

Permalink Reply by BustdKnuklz on August 5, 2014 at 3:19am

well... did the re-engineering handle the string tension? how's the pickup sound?

Permalink Reply by ReturnToSender on August 5, 2014 at 3:30am

The "re-engineering" did the trick support wise, the joint is solid now, though I suspect the poplar neck is just going to bow over time, how much remains to be seen. I am very pleased with the pickup, though had I thought ahead a little further, I would have wound it wider instead of so tall, so I could have doubled the neck in the box instead of the mess that's there now. It's got 9K resistance with loads of output and a tone I thoroughly enjoy straight into an amp, which is unusual for me as I almost always send my stuff through a box to get the sound I want.

Permalink Reply by ReturnToSender on August 7, 2014 at 1:43am

Pardon my lack of skill, but I think it "sounds" really good.

fingered and fret-less straight into amp.

CBGrace Custom Wound Pickup

Permalink Reply by robert jones on August 5, 2014 at 3:29am

Have a look at Richey Kay's 3 part blog post on how he builds his necks, might give you some ideas.

Permalink Reply by ReturnToSender on August 5, 2014 at 3:56am

Thanks Robert, I'll check it out. This build got me feet wet so to speak and I have a much better understanding of whats going on in there now. It would have been fine as an acoustic, but then I put a piezo in the through part of the neck, then a single coil strat pickup, then a wal-wart pickup, and finally the custom made 3 pole that's in there now. Learned a ton and enjoyed every minute of it. The only problem now is putting it down.

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on August 5, 2014 at 4:19am

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profiles/blogs/how-i-make-my-necks

Have a look through this - the neck design is one that allows for pickups etc. without sacrificing strength. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Rob Bennett on August 5, 2014 at 7:22am

Well it looks right!

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