I made a box and am having major trouble finding the correct height of the neck .i could easily give up and make a slide instrument only but i want a fretted 4 string . I've made it before but with a different box or cigarbox .
I think the problem is the thickness of the lid . The only way I can get the fretboard 1/4 " above the lid also makes the headstock break angle weird ...too steep . I haven't cut it yet but I'm concerned it will be a disaster . What the heck can I do ? ....what am I not thinking or doing right here ? I'll load some pics in just a little bit ...I really need the help ...very frustrated to say the least . I think I built the internal bracing wrong somehow or I'm forgetting some crucial step!
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Hi, my computer is down so can't show photos, saves a thousand words. I'm surprised that no body else has chimed in there are plenty of photo poster folks on here. And as Brian Q often suggests there info on here somewhere, you may have to search a little bit.
I'm sure I put a video on here somewhere showing the major points of simple cigars box assembly, and explanations why.
Taff,
The neck without the fretboard needs to sit 1/4 inch above the length of the box but be notched out for the lid (since the lid is 1/4 high )
can't figure it out ....if it was flush with the top of the box I could just put a 1/4 fretboard on ....really confused ...
Ok I know now what's wrong....especially with such a deep box .... The regular neck needs to be notched out so it's flush with the top of the box ....problem sorta is the humbucker notch I need will weaken the neck ...this is a 3rd attempt ....once the neck is flush though a 1/4 piece could be used instead of the 1/2" ....I already have that humbucker cut out of the lid otherwise I'd just use a piezo or a different pickup ...the internal bracing somehow needs to match to the perfect height minus the notched neck ....too bad I used glue on the inside braces ..poor planning ....I usually would screw only unless totally sure ....this is an older project already ...yeah a thinner pickup would really help keep the strength of the neck ...I had one snap do to the poor design but now I know why ....uhhhh I like the paint though ...maybe I'll get it one day ...my arthritis is pretty bad.
That's an easy one. I don't think you're missing a step, it just looks like the notches for the neck were cut deeper than they needed to be? Add some wood to the support braces inside the box to raise the neck up to where you need it & cover up the gaps in the box ends with some thin decorative trim pieces? As long as your neck is secured tightly to the supports, the deeper notches in the sides of the box shouldn't affect anything? Here's an idea of the thin trim piece I was talking about:
Thank you . The lid is 1/4 high so it's really throwing me off ...
Would this be too shallow of a break angle if I glue this 1/4 board to the top of the headstock ? I would then somehow have to cut thin the bottom of the headstock ...not sure that's a good idea as the machine heads need to lay flat ? Uhhh
2 large pieces are glued in ...definitely a mistake in height etc...what a mess ...
Here some pics ...seems o can only post 1 pic at a time ?
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