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Comment by Thomas (Doc) on April 15, 2011 at 9:54pm

Not ashamed of mine either Rand. Just have not taken photos of all begining builds ,at the begining (when the cut up and start agains happen).  I will add this one, at least it looks kind of cool.

From before I began to learn... lol

Comment by Rand Moore on April 15, 2011 at 1:55pm

Let me see...

 cock-up (kkp)

 n. Chiefly British Slang 

 A blunder; a mess.

Oh. Well, I'm not ashamed of showing off or discussing my building blunders in public. I figure I can learn from opening them up for discussion and finding fixes which I can then either retro fit into the instrument, or know to do on my next build. And, if I make these blunders, its a sure bet other novice and intermediate level builders will make the same blunders if not forewarned.

You've done nine builds and I have 11 (not counting canjos), so we are probably at a fairly similar level. I consider myself an intermediate level builder (just so) . I'm a better builder than a player. My playing is more like picking out melodies to tunes like Waltzing Matilda, Old Joe Clark and The Big Rock Candy Mountain (and a bunch more children's songs). But I enjoy it never the less. I also like to "noodle around" (making up tunes as I go, few of which I'll ever be able to remember how to play again). The reason I like diatonic fretboards is they are a lot easier to find your way than chromatic, and it's also easier to find the pentatonic scale which I enjoy noodling with.

So far, all my builds are for myself. All my builds are prototypes, and I like to keep them around so I can remember how I did things. I was thinking of designing/building a special CBG or similar instrument for my local market, but that will require more study and interaction with Chinese musicians to see what they might be interested in. There seems to be some interest in a standard CBG when I show them my instruments, but not enough to trigger a buying frenzy (or even a single offer). I may have better luck focusing on the expat community.

-Rand.

Comment by Thomas (Doc) on April 15, 2011 at 9:19am

Rand,  I should put up pics of my complete cockups, that is if I had any :)

I feel after nine builds, i'm starting to get the feel of whats right. I go by feel since I am not a guitar player. The main reason I have not strung my latest builds yet ( made some crazy dumb mistakes in that department so far).

To me if it feels good to the muso he/she will love to play it. even if they have to alter the action to suit themselves.

Comment by Rand Moore on April 15, 2011 at 4:48am

Thanks guys.

It's not that great, but I guess it's okay for a first time build using this body design. If you look closely, you should see some problems, like the two sides of the sound box are not very symmetrical, and the strings cutting through the wooden tail piece. I will most likely have to replace that tail piece. We'll see how she holds up. Right now she plays quite well, and holds a tune longer, so maybe the tail piece has stabilized. Next time I'll try to build some kind of jig to see if I can build the box more symmetrical. Each build is a new learning experience. I'll be writing up my experiences building this instrument over the next few days and that write-up will appear in the CBN discussion group "Home Made Resonator Boxes 101". Thanks again.

-Rand.

 

 

Comment by Michael A Grubaugh on April 14, 2011 at 10:07pm

This is sweet I love it!!

Comment by Rand Moore on April 14, 2011 at 5:32pm

Thanks, Thomas.

Nothing as fine as the wood work you do. I have rather limited access to quality building materials here in China, so I have to do with the best with what I can find. My secret with ply is to tun it over and use the back side instead of the front side. A little sanding and a few coats of polyurethane and it looks pretty good. The grain of this plywood is at right angles to the neck because when I buy the stuff (and carry it home on the bus), I need to get them to cut the big sheets to smaller, more manageable size. Since my first home-made box was just 8" square, I had them cut the big sheet into strips 8 inches wide. Next time maybe I'll have them cut it down to 12 or 16 inches.

-Rand.

Comment by Thomas (Doc) on April 14, 2011 at 4:58pm

Love the form and the grain on the ply looks like the sea to me. it must feel nice.