Here's my first CBG (but by no means my last!):A BIG thank you to everyone who has posted information and tips. I never would have attempted this, much less have been so successful, without all the help so generously provided here. Rather than saying the next one will be even better, I just hope the next one is as good. Maybe it was beginner's luck but I am just amazed at how good and loud the sound from this thing is. And the fun of playing it just can't be described! To anyone sitting on the fence about building a CBG--Just DO IT!
As payback for all the help I got, here are few specifics for my build that I haven't seen discussed too much.
The neck is 1x2 oak with a 1/4x2 alder laminated fretboard from Home Depot. This allowed me to avoid having to recess the oak to go under the lid, saving both some work and strength of the through neck. I removed a small amount of wood from the top of the neck with a belt sander where it passes under the lid so it wouldn't damp the resonance. I left about 1//2" full thickness to support the two edges of the lid.
My big find was this picture hanger to use as the tailpiece found at Ace Hardware:The picture hanger is screwed through the box and into the end of the neck. I glued the neck to the box and screwed on the tailpiece to clamp it. This avoided the need to cut a second notch in the box. I also glued the neck into the notch at the other end of the box at the same time.
Here is a closeup of the Fender style headstock:The tuners are from C B Gitty. These are the right side tuners with the tuning knobs flipped to the left side. As C B Gitty points out, that does not provide 3 more left side tuners because the mounting plates are still mirror images of one another. The step down from the 1/4" fretboard provides the necessary downward pressure on the nut. If I was doing this over I would leave a bit more space between the nut and the nearest tuner because the angle was steep enough to make it a bit hard to wind on the lowest string. The tuners could be closer together so that the furthest tuner could stay where it is.
The "frets" are drawn on with a Sharpie. The finish is mineral oil (the laxitive). I chose that because I had it and because it is quick and easy to apply and cleanup. I use mineral oil to refinish our kitchen butcher block so I know it stands up as a finish.
Once again, thank you to everyone for the help you've given me. Hope I can help someone else get into this too fun adventure!
Tags:
Excellent work! Looks WAY better than my first. =)
Nice work, great things in store. Good, clear description too.
PRH
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