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Introduce Yourself!

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We wanna know who you are! Where ya from? What'cha buildin'? This is a place for new members to introduce themselves and old 'uns to show 'em around. I'm Shane & I run the Nation. I'm glad you're here. Come on in and tune up!

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Better late than never...

Started by Crazed Fandango yesterday. 0 Replies 0 Likes

After joining this forum in 2014, I finally have my 1st CBG which my wife bought for me at the weekend (a 4 string from Frethound Custom Guitars). I was never going to get around to building one.Now…Continue

Tags: string, 4

My 1st CGB

Started by Mi Rankin. Last reply by Ian Jan 16. 2 Replies 0 Likes

Just finished my 1st freeless acoustic CBG, based on the #Glenn Watt design. 31inch neck, 25inch scale, 42/32/24 gauge strings. Sycamore neck and a 200mm x 180mm x 45mm box made from 7mm ply. Neck…Continue

Hi, y'all.

Started by HazelFyrebird. Last reply by Ian Nov 14, 2023. 1 Reply 0 Likes

Hi, I'm HazelFyrebird, and I'm a wannabe luthier (I feel like I'm standing up at a Builder's Anonymous meeting...) in Virginia. I'm a bit of a lurker, as I've been reading and reading for a while,…Continue

I Am Blaming All of You with YouTube Channels.

Started by William Bannier. Last reply by William Bannier Sep 25, 2023. 3 Replies 1 Like

This is not so much of a reintroduction as a rebirth so to speak. I joined Cigar Box Nation many, many years ago when I initially developed an interest in more "primitive" instruments, CBGs, mountain…Continue

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Comment by the anonymous pick on April 20, 2020 at 1:16pm: wELCOME to the addiction , Toby and John ;-)

Comment by John Chewter on April 20, 2020 at 1:13pm: Hi, I am John and I do Blues [Hello John, welcome to the meeting]. I am looking not only to build some Reso guitars/mandolins but to hopefully make improvements in keeping with the spirit of the originals. To incorporate even 'state of the art' recycled stuff. I have a physics background and am intrigued.

Comment by Toby Brewer on April 20, 2020 at 6:07am: Hello from the sunny (...) South of England. I'm brand new to the website and first acquired a cigar box ukulele for Christmas and then a 3 string CBG in February so I'm fairly new aka just a tad rusty on these great little instruments. I used to have regular 6 string guitar lessons and I'm attempting to be able to play both with all of this newfound time on my hands but I confess I'm a bit crap on 6 but I prefer 3. Hopefully you're all keeping well in these strange times and I'm glad that I've introduced myself to an interesting bunch of people.

Comment by Paul Craig on April 9, 2020 at 9:53am: Karloshi: always consider the scale length, where your going to put the bridge location on the box, headstock length and if you need extra on the bottom end to mount the string ends.

Skip: you can find things around the house for building guitars - old metal cans for gas,paint thinner or other will make great canjo resonators - wood from broken chairs, old scrap pieces or whatever isn't nailed down. ;)

Comment by skip kern on April 9, 2020 at 7:26am: Thanks: i have started to collect some boxes and hope to get more: its tough to get around right now due to this lock down: with a lot of stores closed or doing curb side there's limited chance to scrounge around the store and antique shops: sk

Comment by Karloshi on April 8, 2020 at 3:07am: Hi all. New to cigar box building. Hope to learn a thing or 2 from all you guys on here.

Quick question regarding scale size for the neck. Other than the length increase of decrease what would be the other potential differences this would make to the guitar?

Comment by Paul Craig on April 7, 2020 at 7:25am: Welcome Skip. I'm also a retired welder and metal fabricator. Looking forward to seeing some of your builds.

Comment by skip kern on April 6, 2020 at 8:36am: GREETINGS TO ALL FROM NORWALK, CT. my name is skip kern: Hope this in the right place: Just joined up and am happy to be here: I have had an interest in cigar box guitars for some time and decided to get one and start playing: I can already envision my first build: As a life long guitar player i have played many guitars, but this box is wild: I am a retired welder: I do traditional blacksmithing and build hot rods: My club is the Chariots Car Club of Norwalk, Ct.: What goes better together then hot rods and blues: Thanks for having me: sk

Comment by Paul Craig on March 31, 2020 at 6:51am: Good job on that CBG and welcome to all the newbies.

Building guitars is fun and can be an obsession. May you never quit!

;)

Comment by Tony Turley on March 31, 2020 at 6:45am: Greetings everyone. I just signed up on CBN this afternoon. I'm a long time guitar player who picked up the ukulele a couple of years ago. Also a long time woodworker, to date I've built 2 guitars and 3 ukes. I am currently building two CBUs, a tenor based on a large Avo box, and another fully DIY tenor cigar box-like with a Red Oak trapezoidal body and Sitka spruce top. Here's a pic of the Avo box before I glued it shut. I added typical tenor uke braces, tone bars, bridge plate, and tail & heel blocks. I made a real effort to keep the inside work as clean as possible. I'm just fussy about stuff like that. The glue is curing on the lid right now, and later this afternoon I'll start fitting the neck, which is an Amazon cheapie I picked up a year or so ago. The DIY trapezoidal model is not quite so far along, but I hope to have both completed soon. I have some other wood I've been preparing for yet another cigar box type instrument.

Tony