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3 String CBG -- How to Fret ??? (strumstick or guitar?) Please help - Want to Build !!

Posted by James Boutilier on May 7, 2011 at 8:01pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

First- Hey !!  New member here from Eastern Canada.

Thanks for this site - it's Incredible !

I'm James.

 

A couple quick things about me so you can appreciate my question a bit more.

 

1. Never built an instrument.

2. Can pretty much figure out how to build things in metal or wood.

3. Suck at playing strings (my bro was the gifted one.)

4. Play a little harmonica and going to learn concertina.

5. Figured 3 Strings I might be able to do.

6. I don't read music, but going to learn a little for concertina.

*7. Just got a 3-String Strummer (strumstick, Stick Dulcimer) and LOVE IT !!  I can play it by ear, and simple tab.

8. I love bluegrass, Mountain Music, Gospel, Irish Gigs, Scottish Punk (kind of Dirty Blues with bagpipes, set to an airy/jiggy kind of thing........)  Never considered basic Dirty Blue guitar because I could not play a 6 string... heck, even a uke screwed me.

9. I wanted to build my own (see #1,2,3) strumstick.

but

10. I SAW THESE CBG !!!!  So much room for creative design and expression !  NOW I WANT TO BUILD THESE INSTEAD (and solves my thin wood problems).

 

PROBLEM / QUESTION:

 

I like the Fool-Proof Fret Layout of the simple 3-String Strumsticks.

I see 3-String CBG BUT they have MANY MORE frets and much smaller spacing than the strummer.

 

1. Are the 3-String CBG fretboards DIFFERENT from the fret layout of the DAD Strumsticks?

There's a lot of TAB for them using regular 3-string Dulcimer.

--Or are the CBG (or can they be) made the same ?

 

2. Would slide still be workable if using the strumstick / stick dulcimer style fretting ?

 

PLEASE HELP REMOVE THIS CONFUSION.

I REALLY WANT TO BUILD !!!!

 

Many thanks for any time and effort.

 

Please remember although you are talking to an adult, you are talking to something with building ability, but NOT MUCH concept in music -- if you say, Oh, you need a CGA board at 25 scale...... I'm just not gonna get your meaning.

 

Talk to me like an idiot , hahaha.... and I'll be able to build it.

 

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Replies

  • James Boutilier May 8, 2011 at 5:22pm

    Hey Don,  actually, I mainly didnt like the uke, and I did not explore what others were starting to do with them when I stopped.  IT was before a lot of net stuff started popping up with other instrument music and forms really crossing onto other instruments.  And... I dont like the sound of nylon strings, at all.

     

    So, with the strummer forms, although I did expect a little more easy (which I am finding), it was more that I enjoyed the sound, and the versatility of what's being done on them got me wanting to play.

     

    CBG "strummer style" which as you suggest is what I will start my build as, not only has that appeal, but I love the "fopund object" art form it's becoming.  I already have a design I want for my brother.

     

    I LOVE making things with my hands.  And now, I believe I have an instrument form to express that love, both in making and playing.

     

    The fact there is an amazing website like this with horribly helpful folks, well, it seals the deal !

     

    jim

  • Don Thompson May 8, 2011 at 4:38pm

    And I strongly suggest staying with a diatonic scale(dulcimer) not chromatic(has all the notes, many of them wrong notes to play)

    http://www.strumstick.com/html_pages/Chord%20Diagram%20page.htm

    until you have mastered strumming, fingerpicking and the basic understanding of what makes a chord. Walk before you run. Make a long scale tuned DAd, just as many CBGs are tuned and you can learn without the frustration of playing WRONG notes. Build two, one diatonic the other chromatic. Read what McNally says about starting out slow with the strumstik to learn guitar, he knows what he is talking about and he puts it in a very understandable format as he taught guitar and knows how difficult it is. You say you quit the ukulele, do you think that one less string will suddenly make it easier?

    Don

  • Sharecropper May 8, 2011 at 3:19pm
     Hi , James......talk to you like an idiot ......?  At last a chance to use my native language . ha!    ? # 1.  CBG fretboards and dulcimer fretboards are the same but different . If you were to take a dulcimer and guitar the same scale and put them side by side the dulcimer's frets would line up perfectly with some of the guitar's frets....It's just that the guitar includes all the notes(frets) ! Once you figure where your dulcimers(or strumstick) frets are located on the guitar you can figure out how to play the CBG using a dulcimer tab book , if they are tuned the same .     ? # 2    A slide of course will work with no frets at all....but it's nice to know where the frets would be , so fretless CBG's often have the frets draw on . Keeping in mind you can play slide with out frets at all you could mark where the "missing" frets are on your strumstick . You would need to measure your strumstick from nut to bridge to get its scale then go to one of the many fret scale sites and get that scale for guitar !       I strongly suggest going with all the frets on a guitar since your already doing well with your strumsick.          Hope I'm talkin your language !!!!!!!!!
  • Don Thompson May 8, 2011 at 11:45am

    http://www.stewmac.com/fretcalc.html

    I prefer a longer 26 inch scale(660 mm), but recommend using mm measurements, simplfies layout. There is a drop down menu under instruments, click on dulcimer. There are a number of other fret position calculators out there however the Stew Mac I like because it calculates bridge setback to allow for intonation correction.

    Lots if great info on the McNally site.   http://www.strumstick.com/

    Don

  • Ryan Rose May 7, 2011 at 8:30pm
    I've seen plenty of CBGs that have dulcimer fretting. In fact - and I'm sure someone will be along to correct me on this - a good many of the dulcimers I see here are, to me, indistinguishable from CBGs, except for the fretting. (Not including lap dulcimers, of course.)
    As for the slide, yes, it will work. The notes are in the instrument. The slide is just another way of getting them out. Whether it sounds good depends on the player.
    Oh, and welcome to the Nation!
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