Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fish-O on June 27, 2013 at 5:01am

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 27, 2013 at 5:05am

id go  with   #3  , 4 and 5   strings   .from  an   9's   or  10s  pack.    if adding  mag  pickup   use  electric  guitar strings  (steel)  ..  

if you are  going    piezo    or  acoustic    ..  med   acoustic ,   #3,4,5  . 

as   for tuning  ..  nothing  beats this simple method .  in  simplicity  anyway  ;-)

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/knotlennys-3string-cbg-101

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fish-O on June 27, 2013 at 5:06am

Thanks for reply!

forgot to add...its a four string. Important bit of info huh?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 27, 2013 at 5:12am

lol   ..    yup  ..  and  im  the  wrong  guy  to  ask  fo  4  string  tuning  ..   i  get lost   in  it  . try   it  all,   and    end  up    ripping  off  a string  ;-)

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on June 27, 2013 at 5:57am

You can use the 4-3-2-1 and tune it to D-G-B-e, just like the bottom 4 strings on a 6 string. That way the chords won't change on you.

Or you can use the top 4 and go with 6-5-4-3.

When you say you are going to add electronics later, it will make a difference whether or not you add a piezo pickup or a magnetic pickup. If you use a mag pup, then you will want to use electric guitar strings. For a piezo, it won't matter.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on June 27, 2013 at 7:04am

You could also drop the heaviest and lightest strings and tune something like A D F# A or G D G B, adjusting up or down if that's to tight or loose...  who the blue heck are them there masters? 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on June 27, 2013 at 9:25am

.032w, .024w, .018p, .013p, tune it D G B D..away you go...instant Muddy Waters & Keef Richards sounds.

By the way, it's not much help referring to strings as no. 3, 4, 5 etc from a set..as gauges vary so much - for example, the 3rd or G string can be as light as .015 or as heavy as. 026 depending what set you look at - that's a huge variation. It's much better to get to grips with the actual gauge sizes (measured in thousands of an inch). As regards "masters" of cigarbox guitar making, I don't know if there are many around...if any. It's a hit and miss craft at best, not an exact science, and that's the joy of it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 27, 2013 at 11:11pm

The Ikea Reso!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fish-O on June 28, 2013 at 1:40am

Thanks for the advice...I'll report back my results.
Yup Ron...started collecting boxes and wood...had in mind a resonator of sorts...the girl conned me into an ikea outing...ugggh! I thought....So I made the best of it. Ended up walking out with this two piece soap dish for 6 bucks..top turned upside down on the drip tray and held together with the u-bolt / bridge.
Actually found a few cheap things there...guitar part shopping def. made the trip a bit more tolerable.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 28, 2013 at 8:07am

Yep...everything at Ikea look like git parts now...even the checkout butcher block counter tops;-)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David L. on June 28, 2013 at 3:14am

Nice looking reso!

I must admit I look for bits to make guitars with when I go to Ikea - I guess if they realised they would be tapping into this potential market and selling flat packed box guitars (and they would come in 3 colors - natural pine, beech and dark oak). Though to be honest any shops I go into I look in terms of what I can use for a CBG. All Part of the addiction I guess.

I am in no way a master and once you have played around a while you will find what works best for you and the reso.

For myself for my 4 string I went with DGBe because;

It is easy to find many songs already in chord or tab format on the www ( eg http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/) which are easy to play by just cutting the 2 strings you have dropped from the tab.

If you want to try slide playing it is easy to retune the strings to open G tuning DGBd (only the small e is drop tuned to a d). This site shows some of the chords http://www.alanhorvath.com/Gchart.php

I could stick to 4 strings from a balanced set of 6 strings for a regular guitar and not be concerned about what note a particular string could be tuned to. (I started using electric 9s but now prefer electric 10s).

But mine was not a reso and you might find the sound from the Bass strings more appealing in which case I would try EADG from a set of 6. (DGDG for open G tuning from the link above - this way for open tuning the strings are dropped tuned and no string is too tight putting less stress on the CBG).

Regards,
David

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fish-O on July 10, 2013 at 9:29am

So I tried the lower set EADG
And just didn't like the sound.
(EJ16's) I guess the low vib doesn't do much for a small box.
The highs on the other hand seem well suited and the guit has a nice little sound. I'm no guitar playing master...hack mostly. Had some pal guitar slingers check it out and they seemed pretty stoked about its playability.
I do feel like I could get more acoustic sound out of it though.
I'll need to bone up on how to do that.
Thanks for the advice.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page