first off: i was reading around on this site and i heard alot of talk about scale length. what is scale length? and how do i tell what is the right scale length for my cbg?
next:i see that alot of people seem to make their own necks or use banjo necks. if i were to make my own what type of lumber would be desired? also if somone would like to get in touch with me and explain the process of building a neck it would make me an extremely happy man.
last: i see that most of these guitars are either three or four strings. is there any reason for that?
p.s. i know that the coolest thing about these guitars is that there are no rules, you just do what you wanna do with them. it's truely an art. i know there is not a list of set things i should do, however i need this community's knowledge and some one to help me in the right direction. thank you for your time and help
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This video might be helpful:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/a-cigar-box-guitar-builders
Here you can find my instructional CD 4 for 3 string CBG:
http://shop.ebay.com/njmikeb/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&a...
Enjoy, Keni Lee
Making a neck is pretty easey,......here is the jerryrig quick and dirty way. Got to home depot, buy a decent length of oak....I would say, a good, 4 feet long....99cents a foot, you have a bit of room for error, plus you need room for tuning pegs and what not. The oak is a 1 1/2 inches wide...standard 3 string width...if you want a four string, you will have to find wider I would say rip it down on a table saw. I beleive 36 inches is the secret number for cbg lenth, but I could be wrong on that, I just tend to make my necks either fall right in the middle of my box, or past it for string room. Right next to where you find this oak at home depot, you will find a shelf unit that has a ton of different size peices of wood. There is a bin that holds thin peices of 1 1/2 inch wide oak, perfect for cbg fret boards Buy it...only around 3 bucks. So far, you have spent 9 bucks just because of me, but trust me, you do it like this, and you are golden. Get your box, cut in center for neck. Now, make sure your neck is flush with the lid of the box, when I mean flush, as if there is no height difference between your neck and your box. Just a nice flat surface....now, add your fret board right above where your neck goes into your box, right on top....and glue it. This gives you the perfect clearence....if you look at real guitars, they are all made like this, the fret baords over lap the body, and the strings hit the fret board...so now, you don't have a ton of distance between your strings and fret board. Now, if you want a bunch of clearence? Then leave off your oak fret board, completley up to you, remember, there is no rules to all of this. Now, you can rasp the back of your neck or plane or sand down the edges so they are not so sharp when you are playing.
Now, find someting for your nut and bridge, eye bolt tuners are really cheap and I have just built my licenes plate box guitar with eye bolt tuners and they are working pretty well......side not, they don't work well with really thin string, so watch out using the low thin e string in a set of strings,....this last time I started with the 3 string and used it and two other strings I had extra laying around. If you are not brave enough for eye bolt tuners yet, no big deal, just get real tuners....
3 string? 4 string? It's up to you.....I prefer 3 string, I relaly don't know what most do with that extra string. 3 string is more of a tradition thing though.....I know this is a lot to take in, I hope this all helps.
1) Take a piece of wood.
2) Cut/shave/chisel/hack/whittle/carve/sand off any parts that don't look like a neck.
The wood depends on what you have available to ya. Lowe's/Home Depot usually sell some hardwoods in the popular 1x2 dimensions, as well as some softwoods. I like maple, if I can find it, but oak I've found more often and find it just as suitable. Some folks (like myself a few times) have used pine to good effect as well. If you want to make larger necks, you may have to improvise...
And the way you remove excess neck material also depends on what you have available to ya. There's a whole bunch of tools that'll do the job... but if you're interested, check out this video: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HWT8MxkjAs&feature=channel" It might be overkill for CBGs, but it is really quite informative (as are all the vids in that series).
Finally, speaking from my own experience, 3 and 4 strings are common because they lend themselves really well into the readily available 1x2's dimensions. More strings means you'll need a wider neck, and less means you'll have to thin it.
Plus (and this is the important part here), they are really fun to play!
Check this article for some useful info -
http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol21/?pg=78&pm=2&u1=friend
As three strings are all you need to play a chord (root, 3rd and 5th notes) many cigar box guitars are made with just 3 strings, so you can play solo and chord stuff easily, especially if you tune it to an open chord and use a slide. 4 strings allows you do add some variation, or double up a note as a drone (like a dulcimer), or tune it like a tenor banjo or mandolin.
Making a neck can be a simple as using a stick of wood or even a broom handle, with minimal shaping and cutting, just enough to let you put some machineheads (tuning pegs) on it and fit it into the box. There are plenty of ideas on here..have look at some of the photos for a few ways of doing it. Making a 3 string is simple, and as it puts lets tension on the neck, the choice and size if timber is less critical..hardwood is better than softwood generally and I usually salvage scraps from furniture..oak, beech, maple etc, but I have used decent pieces of hemlock with hardwood fretboards to good effect.