Hi, I  am making my first guitar box out of local timber, 250 x 200, and wondering what depth it should be as a starting point?  Our acoustic guitar is 110mm deep, by comparison.


The local hardwood  timber for the neck is 40 x 19 ( +/-1mm), but I  can plane that to a different dimension if necessary.

Do you recommend a rebate on the top and bottom of the box for the 5mm thick base and lid to fit in? Might look neat, but takes up space inside the box.

Nothing is set in concrete, will to have a go as long as it sounds nice and looks nice :)

Views: 1132

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Hi JillB, I like your style, you sound like my son, the person I made the video for, and the makings of a CBG in parts as a teaser to get him interested. He built the one I sent him and was so overcome with the challenges of "doing it better" he only built four CBGs before he turned his hand to making acoustic guitars. He now has a fully set up woodshop, and he also inherited half my collection of textbooks.
Try this, it should satisfy you till tomorrow. Haha 

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/. Should get you started. Oh, and keep in mind that depending on the timber used for the top, 5mm might be as thick as you may want to go. Enjoy, Taff

Thanks for this link, Taff, I  am in my 7rth heaven  with the page on Guitar Acoustics. All from my old alma mater too where I studied Electrical Engineering all those years ago (50+). Small world.

I used to do a bit of travelling wave study  for damping of vibration on power lines.This brought back memories. The worst case was a steady gentle breeze that really got the vibrations going, so we had to determine where to put the dog-bone style dampers on the conductors.

I  am still thinking where the best theoretical location of a bridge would be, and hopefully I can find some relevant info on this discourse of travelling waves and standing waves etc.

We are all looking forward to your video :)

Thanks again, Taff

Hi, seems like I/we are moving away from the KISS principle of Cigar

Box Guitar building and I don't think for a moment that this is all that important to get a sound out of a small box, an instrument made of found materials. But it's an interesting subject. JillB talking of sound and small boxes, check out the work of Carleen Hutchins.
Cheers Taff

Nice and timely reality check there for me, thanks Taff

Hi jillB,
Quote
hi Brian, what do you think is a good position for a bridge please? How do you find it?

Hi JillB, what I would try is to build the box, top back, and neck fitted [can be temporary] string up and with a movable bridge start at one end, tail, and move towards the centre whilst strumming. I would do this with no bracing under the top and a soundhole installed. This will indicate the most responsive area. The thickness/responsiveness of the top and back also contribute to the output.

Then you will have to select a scale length that incorporates that position for the box.

Did you check out Carleen Hutchins's work?

Cheers Taff

"Did you check out Carleen Hutchins's work?"

Since the links I found on this website pertaining to her no longer pointed to info about her, here are some more:

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/arts/music/09hutchins.html

https://acousticstoday.org/historical-biographies-in-acoustics-carl...

Biography

https://www.amazon.com/American-Luthier-Carleen-Hutchins-Science/dp...

Pretty amazing woman!  I can see CBG tops being sprinkled with glitter & vibration tested.  :)

Hi Carl,

Quote: I can see CBG tops being sprinkled with glitter & vibration tested. :)

Haha, possibly no need for that carl. I know you jest. But some members have commented on the method of "tapping" in order to judge the response of their tops..albeit on dog bowls and the like when assessing suitability for a Reso build. I wonder who does it to judge wood top quality.

I use the glitter and frequency generator method to tune my acoustic guitars during the build, but mainly tapping gives me feedback that I can better understand, but I don't do that on a CBG.

I use brass filings instead of glitter.
Cheers Taff

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you Poorness ! for loving it ! appreciated!"
12 hours ago
Southern Ray replied to Timothy Hunter's discussion just came accross this pickup idea on youtube.
" Very interesting. Thank you Timothy!"
12 hours ago
Kent Thurston updated their profile
13 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Punch Project!

She now sports gold metal CBGitty knobs, speaker and an Artec 2.5 watt speaker. Finished this in…
13 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Project Punch!

Gonna finally get back on this long-delayed project that is more than half complete. (The matching…
14 hours ago
Poorness Studios liked A.D.EKER's video
16 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Rob (Uker) Porras
"Hope this helps?"
16 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"I appreciate the kind words Papa D! I have always loved the look of these cigar boxes. Glad to have…"
18 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
22 hours ago
A.D.EKER posted a video

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

The recorded History By Alan Lomax for the library of Congres of the Blues, from Mc Kinley Morganfield (Aka Muddy Waters) the in this take recorded Tribute ...
22 hours ago
Papa D commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"Beautiful..Nice work Doug.."
yesterday
Papa D commented on Papa D's photo
Thumbnail

american1 Sun Glo

"Thanx AGP & Doug..  4 more coming soon"
yesterday

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->