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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on August 17, 2012 at 4:06pm

Hi Kimmer,

You probably can get away without adding bracing, but I would probably go ahead and brace the tail end side of the box by adding another 1/4" thick board in parallel with the side. The 1/4" thick re-enforcement board can have a cut out for the tail-end of the neck to "nest" in. I would then use one or two wood screws to hold the neck in place by screwing in from the side, having the screws pierce the side of the box and the end of the neck. Then, I devise some kind of tail piece which would be similarly screwed into the side, piercing the neck. By having the tailpiece secured to the end of the neck, it removes the stress of the strings from the box, so it shouldn't put much stress on your antique cigar box. You will also want to fashion a "hollow" on the fretboard side of the neck where it goes through the box so that the neck does not contact the sound board. Most cigar boxes have sufficiently thick sound boards (lids) such that bracing will not be required. Again, I'm assuming you are building a 3- or 4-stringer and not a 12 string guitar (which would likely require more bracing as well as tension bar in the neck). Well, good luck with your project.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on August 17, 2012 at 5:46pm

Yes, pictures are even better. How about some pictures of your vintage boxes. Here's a couple of my oldest so far. Don't know the actual age of the box, but the $0.15 price should give some idea.

Attachments:

• 100_2954sm.jpg, 289 KB
• 100_3004sm.jpg, 153 KB

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Permalink Reply by Kimmer Olesak on August 28, 2012 at 2:33am

These are the next three boxes I want to work on.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Phillips on September 2, 2012 at 4:25pm

Great looking boxes. I've had no luck finding older ones in even half decent shape. Those will make some nice guitars.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on August 29, 2012 at 5:29pm

Great looking boxes. Neat bits of history there.

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