Hi Mark. You've got some great instruments there. Lots to inspire others, particularly people like me who are new to this.

thanks for the blog feed back man !looks like we have the same tatses out side the box, have some stuff by all the guys you listed exept gun club ,checked um out on the tube ,love um ! thanks.had tickets to see the black keys in notts two weeks ago but could not go gutted!ps i to have a soft spot for the old pork pie hat gang.

Thank you Mark for your detailed comment. Being a big resonator guitar fan, mainly for reasons of volume and the unique resophonic sound created, I personally think this would offer a unique old time gramophone record tone. Even if it needs a boost from a piezo, the tone might be worth it. It certainly would not be easy to create one that actually functioned effectively. I think one of the main problems might be the difference bewtween a violin attack and a guitar attack. A violin bow drawn across the strings transmits a steady stream of vibrational energy. A guitar receives quick sharp strikes. Strumming might be possible. This very difference might be the killer. I understand your point of the basic aim of CBG. I'm a big fan of the pursuit of those who strive to build a quality simple instrument too. Resonator guitars are definitely in the shadow of standard guitars too. I thought I would put it out there for interest. There are many builders out there experimenting with different resonator cones. I always encourage builders to try to take their paper dreams into the physical world. Who knows what may come to light. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy.

Yes, I saw them in Coventry (Taylor John's House) a few months back. A really small venue, and great intimate atmosphere....they are great...love their version of Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'em up Style"

Hey Mark.

Thanks for the add dude. Sweet instruments you have made. Have you tried combining two of the LM386 circuits? It can make some absolutely outerworldly sounds. :)

Write you later,
K

cool, yeah everyone's great on here helping each other out!!...I'll let you know how it turns out : -)

ok thanks SO much for taking the time to help....these newbie questions must be a pain!! Anyway I'm all set to go now when my pot turns up : -) Yeah I won't worry about grounding as yet then, I'll just wire it up and see what happens : -)

thanks for the info. I think i might venture out from the stain/sealant method.

brilliant..your little drawings make more sense to me than those shematics!!!...just to check, is that with the shaft of the vol pot up and facing the top? Do you need also need to solder a few strands of the ground wires to the back of the vol pot??

ok, thanks a LOT for your help...I'll give it a try with two and see how it sounds : -) Have ordered a vol pot to try too. One more newbie question...on your pic I can't quite see which wires go to which lugs on the vol pot from the piezos and the jack?? Could you describe it, or draw a little pic??? or direct me to somewhere that has one...have had a search on here but can't find anything, though I'm sure it must have been covered before!!

ah thanks!...did you got much more volume using 2??

Hey mark i was looking at your wood stain experiment pics. What wax did you use? Any polishing type? I liked the results shown.

I think I'll test my amp for current through the cord, if there is some then that would solve the question don't you think? After all what is a pick up other than copper around a magnet. I figure that small amount of current, if it is there, is inducing a field around the steel. I bet if some one had a pre amp in their guitar it would really boost the signal.

You get your current via the amp I suspect. Push a curret through copper coil surrounded by a steel casing and you get a magnet right? You should try this, when I slap a magnet to it while plugged in you get a very audible click from the contact. Beats me how it is actually working but it works.

hey mark , inoticed you had mentioned that you check your solder work with a multimeter as you "go" .

how do i do this ?

i would definatly start this technique , but i cnt figure out how to do it !

thanks , petey .

Nice builds Mark......Keep up the good work. I just got videos up right now, not many good shots of my actual guitar Im using though.

Mark... you are absolutely correct in what you are saying. You obviously have given this much thought and study.
Refined instruments require awareness of all the various relationships you mention.. in fact, i can see you know more about it all than i do.

I am a novice builder, novice woodworker and novice musician.
I have only built a dozen or so instruments to date... simple,and rustic... made for learners and meditators... and so the proportions i speak of ARE very broad.

I do, however, use them as my starting points.
the logic behind it is simple...
i start with one of geometry's Invariant Proportions---
six radii can be inscribed within the circumference of a circle.
in Logic a circle is the symbol of an universe....
the instrument is the universe.
My rough analysis of all the various cordaphones i had to hand pointed me in that direction.

I have read of several people who did everything 'right', yet thought their build sounded like crap...
when i 'eye-balled' photos of their instruments where there were photos, i noticed that they seemed not to even take 'broad' proportions into account---sort of 'slap a standard scale neck on a pretty box' building style...
thing is, that works ok sometimes, too...

what i stated was a BIG simplification, undeniably so...
but, at my level of craftmanship, ENCOURAGING sympathetic vibrations is helpful to my purposes.

i would consider myself fortunate to reach your levels of refinement in my builds...

thanks for your response, Mark...... zandi z.

is a response to Mark aka Junk Box Instruments.


Mark wanted to know more about what i said about proportions... and do i measure or eyeball it ?

I do measure, but eye-balling is ok, too.


My basic premises are these:

'the box' is an amplifier.

'the stick', with hardware, is The Machine.


Why Proportions ?

the most efficient way to get the Box and/or Stick to resonate or 'amplify,' is to 'feed' them 'vibrating lengths' to which they might be most sympathetic....

this minimizes the energy needed to 'push' them to getting them to vibrate and to keep them vibrating.


The Box:

the length of the box is my Basic Unit... i generally round that out to an average between the inside length of box and outside length.


my Scale Length is a WHOLE NUMBER multiple of the Basic Unit.


eg: if BU is 8 inches, Scale Lengths would be 1,2,3,4,5,etc, times as long as the box...... 8 inches, 16 inches, 24 inches,32 inches, and 40 inches, etc.


The Stick:

i choose, or calculate a Scale Length...


i divide that Scale Length value by 4 to get a Stick Unit.

eg: 16 inch Scale Length = 4 inch Stick Unit.


Total Stick Length is equal to 6 Stick Units.

1 Stick Unit is headstock.

4 Stick Units from nut to bridge...(Scale Length).

1 Stick Unit from bridge to tail end.


The Result:

Scale Length is both proportional to the Box and proportional to the Stick .

the possibility of resonance is enhanced;

the possibility of dampening is reduced.


.....resonance is the most efficient way to transfer energy.



To Finish:

a person could place the center of the box directly under the bridge.

i prefer to mount the box so that the bridge sits from 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down the length of the box towards the tail....


i use movable bridges...

experimenting is a great part of this adventure...

i measured LOTS of instruments to see what their proportions were... then, i experimented lots.


thanks for asking, Mark...........zandi z.


Tags: proportions, resonance

Hi Mark thanks for the input mate i just read your message cheers

i know years gone by there were loads of little valve amps (battery powered) and you can still buy them from ebay ect but they go for silly money i would much rather have a crack at building my own all be it from a kit as i have never built a Amp in my life - but know what basic electrical components are and do ..well in a fashion lol! - i'm sure i could follow a drawing
what started me off on this was a video i saw on youtube a while since it showed a miniture valve amp rated at 1watt and boy did it sound fantastic the guy plugged it into a 12" speaker cab and it rocked
can't remember what the bloody amp was called but there available to buy but you guessed it Expensive i seem to thing it was around the £250-£300 mark - this amp i speak of fitted in the guys palm and was powered from a mains wall adaptor so i'm guessing it's pretty low voltage and as you mentioned a sealed lead acid battery may just do the trick - all i need to do now is find the Video and try and find out if theres any plans out ther for it - i'll keep you posted mate

cheers
juju.