Last week my daughter (8th grader) started working on a school science project to build a musical instrument. The instrument must play at least 7 notes and be made completely of household type items (i.e. not actual instrument parts). I started helping her come up with ideas and we set out to build a simple 4 string banjo. As we started to get the parts together, and did further research, the idea morphed into building a 3 or 4 string guitar. Then I stumbled across a link for cbgs. We went to a local cigar store and the owner gladly gave us a couple of wooden boxes.
Now, less than 1 week later, we have built our first one. It is a bit rough (compared to some of the works of art on this and other sites), but we have had a great time building it. Throughout the process I have read many posts on this site and would just like to say thanks to all of those who post and share plans, tips, secrets. I am posting a picture I took this morning. We still have a few finishing touches before it is 100% complete, but we put the strings on it tonight and played it for the first time. I have enjoyed playing around on this thing more than any instrument I have ever held in my hands.
Now I have a serious problem. It seems I have caught to cbg bug pretty bad. I have been driving all over town, stopping in Cigar shops and picking up boxes. I now have a total of 12 boxes for which I have paid a whopping $16 bucks. Three of them are destined to be amps (future project) but I plan to build two more guitars right away (one for me and the other for my daughter). I would like your opinions on which box to try next. Please see the below pic. The Cohiba box will be an electric, but I want to wait to build that after I build at least two more acoustics. I already have a nice 6ft piece of red oak for the neck. Thanks again to all.
Replies
I wood (pun intended) agree, with a small caveat I took my time with my first build, and it came out good.
I took my time with my second build and it came out great.
Then I got over-confident and rushed my third, which at the time was my favorite box. It looks cool, but is unplayable.
So, be patient with all your builds or they will wind up as a nice wall decoration. Also one more tip: If you're going electric, test your wiring and sound BEFORE you install anything into your box. It will save you from headaches later.
Welcome to the addiction!
Thanks for all of the replies.
Clockwork, I looked up Ashton boxes and found a few examples of CBGs made with them. They are beautiful. If I find one, I will definitely snap it up.
ED, Jef, Richard, this seems like a very logical course of action. To this end, my daughter and I went through the boxes and picked our favorites. Mine is the Cohiba and hers is the Olivia and they are both in flawless condition. We have set these aside for a later. Then looking through the rest, we decided that we like the group of Padrons next, the LFD Double Press next, and the group of Arturos least. Although I really do like the look of the LFD, I think the design of the box may make it difficult to work with as it has two doors and opens from either side, and also has a middle panel that I am just not sure what to do with. So we considered going with one of the Arturos, but just can't seem to get excited about a build with any of them. So we have decided to go with one of the Padrons next. I did notice that two of the Padrons seem to have a bit of a warp in them. I'm not really sure what to do about this.
Thanks again for all of the help. I am sure I will have tons of questions as I start my next build.
Man !!! Did u ever score on the boxes !!!!!Beautiful all ,,, I too ,have to agree with the rest ,, I started on bestest box first and have been beating up on myself ever since ,, U will definately have those " U big dummy " moments and if u can do that on ur least liked u better off
Lord have fun with them boxes ,, I just wish I could find some that good !!!!
Great story !!
I'm with ED, your building will improve exponentially, rank the boxes and start with the least promising. I never play my early builds these days, gave a bunch of em away. Tap on em with something and some will stand out as louder than others
recommends diddy bows and strummers for little kids. A strumstick particularly is a great way to open their minds and ears
One note on that thin arturo fuente though (I have one just like it): the lid has the appearance of wood, but it's actually just pressboard covered with a sheet of veneer. The lid is also pretty thick, so I'm not sure what kind of tone you'd get out of it. I actually decided to put the neck through the back of the box instead of the front, because the back sounds a lot better. The operation was a bit more complex, and I don't know if it even worked yet, but you may want to keep it in mind.
But what do I know?
So this is my opinion, and I reserve the right to be 100% wrong on this. I'd pick the box you like least and use that one next. I started with an all-wood punch box that I really, really liked a lot. I made a couple mistakes on the build and now I don't even pick that one up anymore. It will hang on the wall as deco, I suppose. I thought I had it figured out for the 2nd build and used my second (and last) all wood punch box and ya know, I discovered a couple more mistakes to make. Now on my third build I got some of the neckery figgered out, but I have to use a hardboard punch box because my woodies are consumed on my learning exercises.
It's not like I can't find more all-wood boxes, but I started like you with a group of boxes and went right for the jewels. Should have spent more time with their less attractive cousins before diving in to the honey.
Enjoy your time and your builds with your kids. I'm working on a couple Diddley Bows for my daughters (5 and 3). They like playing around with the slide on my 3-string.