Hey all, found this site and have been reading through a whole lot of things.
Bought a cigar box today at the cigar shop, and its a cute one, its very small compared to most CBs.
I am making a 4 string, and plan to tune to mandolin tuning (GDAE) just because I play mandolin exclusively and it will make it that much easier to play for myself.
Question is: what strings do i use for this tuning? I plan on going ball end, but which strings would I use? Would I just tune it up to where I want?
I used a solid neck (you can see in the pics) of red oak from Lowes and its 2ft long. Not sure what im going to use for a fret board, maybe just draw them on?
My neck is secured to the CB with a screw, which i probably shouldnt have done yet, but oh well.
I dont know what to do for holes either.. I would LOVE to have F-holes (to match my mandolin) but that would be really difficult... It took me forever to cut the holes for the neck in the CB, (i used a kitchen knife, hammer, and a small hand saw.. jigsaw was too difficult.... >.> ) any way, I think im just going to drill some circular holes on the top.. or would I even need to?
Bridge and nut.. dont know either, hopefully music store will help me out. :)
Sorry if this has all been answered before, Im sure it has, and there is a thread somewhere... Just looking for helpful advice and other's preferences.
Thanks!
Looks good!
As far as action goes, use a smaller ( thinner ) bolt to lower it at the nut end.
Sand down the pool cue some more.
I would like to see a side ( profile ) pic.
Sounds like you did a fine job on your box there. Good going! The best thing about all this is solving the problems -- which seem you did very successfully. go have a beer, wine or soda or whatever your vice is. Congrats!
BTW. Its oak. Its strong enough. Open D or Open G is a good start for tuning. I do Open D but hey... that's me, so.
Alright! I got this bad boy finished tonight! It turned out way better than expected and is incredibly awesome! (great! another hobby I have to keep! :D )
any way, ended up using a sink grate thing as the sound hole (which i saw on others and is the coolest thing ever) Made my own frets/fretboard by using aluminum wire I found in the garage and hot glued them on.
The scale length ended up being 43 cm. I pretty much winged the whole project so I wasnt going for anything specific.
The most expensive piece of the whole project were the tuners, got 6 for $20 from my music store, and have 2 left over for some diddly bows :)
Bridge/saddle was originally the same as the nut, but the action was too high, and the bolt would eventually cut into the box over time.. so i found half a piece of pool cue i had in the garage xD
Still have an issue with Action.. its ridiculously high, going to probably be a slider once I get one made (waiting on pops to finish off a bottle of wine)
I might take out the frets and glue a fretboard on it... or make a piece of wood that the strings goes through... or just keep a capo on it.. not sure!
Here it is!
you can tell by this pic how small it is,
Used the bottom 4 strings from guitar strings... not sure how to tune them.. afraid to mess with it too much :S not sure how strong it is yet!
As was said, there are several ways to tie the strings on the tail end. I use a method on all my builds that keeps costs down and is very quickly done and its CHEAP!
I add a small "tailpiece" on the end of the box that screws into the end of the tail itself.I then loop the ball end of the string thru ITSELF and slide it over the hold down screws I screw into the new tail piece end.Pictures on my page shows what I'm talking about when enlarged .
I use this method because I can use scraps left over,the sheet rock screws are cheap and it greatly helps keep costs down so I can continue to offer my product at a low cost for my customers.It works very well,every time.
What scale length are you planning (distance between nut and bridge)? You should be able to get away with using cheap acoustic guitar strings, for instacne the A, D, B, and E strings on a guitar, with the A and B tuned down a step. Unless the scale length is a lot shorter than the traditional 24 - 25 inch guitar, you will be playing in the "octave mandolin" range with these strings.
About soundholes: the box might not even need them, depending on size and tightly it closes. On smaller boxes, I have taken to putting mine on the side, to leave as much of the soundboard as possible free to vibrate.
I have been using scrap oak for nuts, and a variety of found objects for the "saddle" of the bridge, either resting directly on the face of the box or with a bit of the cedar liners which come in many boxes. A machine screw is a good shortcut for the nut, too, as you don't have to worry about cutting grooves
For frets: some folks have reported success using flat toothpicks. Regular fretwire requires a fair amount of filing after you tap it into the slots and cut to length: that is my least favorite task in any build.
Welcome Brittani!
I would just go buy mando strings ... or maybe ... since you do play ... you might have a spare or used set you could put on. The reason? mando strings have a lot of tension, and they are designed to handle it.
Ball end, no problem, just drill holes thru the tail and let the ball stop it. If you want to use loop ends ... I drill the hole just like using ball end and then run a steel finishing nail thru the loops. Works very well.
Frets ... draw, burn whatever. But eventually you'll want to go to real frets of some type. Fretless just mutes a mando too much.
Holes ... 1/2" or 3/4" will be fine.
Bone nut. You can get by with wood.
Wooden bridge. Use leftover oak from the neck ( if there is any )
Matt
btw- It's really a "no rules" approach when building these things .. so anything you want is fine.
what are you going to use for a fretboard? It needs to be thick enough to clear the thickness of the top and the screw that you used to fix the neck to the box.
Replies
As far as action goes, use a smaller ( thinner ) bolt to lower it at the nut end.
Sand down the pool cue some more.
I would like to see a side ( profile ) pic.
This string gauge calculator will help you select your strings for GDAE. I tune that way as well for 4-stringers, and build mostly 15 - 19".
If your action is still too high, you can switch out your nut for something smaller. I use jumbo cotter pins, and they act more like a zero fret.
BTW. Its oak. Its strong enough. Open D or Open G is a good start for tuning. I do Open D but hey... that's me, so.
-WY
any way, ended up using a sink grate thing as the sound hole (which i saw on others and is the coolest thing ever) Made my own frets/fretboard by using aluminum wire I found in the garage and hot glued them on.
The scale length ended up being 43 cm. I pretty much winged the whole project so I wasnt going for anything specific.
The most expensive piece of the whole project were the tuners, got 6 for $20 from my music store, and have 2 left over for some diddly bows :)
Bridge/saddle was originally the same as the nut, but the action was too high, and the bolt would eventually cut into the box over time.. so i found half a piece of pool cue i had in the garage xD
Still have an issue with Action.. its ridiculously high, going to probably be a slider once I get one made (waiting on pops to finish off a bottle of wine)
I might take out the frets and glue a fretboard on it... or make a piece of wood that the strings goes through... or just keep a capo on it.. not sure!
Here it is!
you can tell by this pic how small it is,
Used the bottom 4 strings from guitar strings... not sure how to tune them.. afraid to mess with it too much :S not sure how strong it is yet!
I add a small "tailpiece" on the end of the box that screws into the end of the tail itself.I then loop the ball end of the string thru ITSELF and slide it over the hold down screws I screw into the new tail piece end.Pictures on my page shows what I'm talking about when enlarged .
I use this method because I can use scraps left over,the sheet rock screws are cheap and it greatly helps keep costs down so I can continue to offer my product at a low cost for my customers.It works very well,every time.
About soundholes: the box might not even need them, depending on size and tightly it closes. On smaller boxes, I have taken to putting mine on the side, to leave as much of the soundboard as possible free to vibrate.
I have been using scrap oak for nuts, and a variety of found objects for the "saddle" of the bridge, either resting directly on the face of the box or with a bit of the cedar liners which come in many boxes. A machine screw is a good shortcut for the nut, too, as you don't have to worry about cutting grooves
For frets: some folks have reported success using flat toothpicks. Regular fretwire requires a fair amount of filing after you tap it into the slots and cut to length: that is my least favorite task in any build.
I would just go buy mando strings ... or maybe ... since you do play ... you might have a spare or used set you could put on. The reason? mando strings have a lot of tension, and they are designed to handle it.
Ball end, no problem, just drill holes thru the tail and let the ball stop it. If you want to use loop ends ... I drill the hole just like using ball end and then run a steel finishing nail thru the loops. Works very well.
Frets ... draw, burn whatever. But eventually you'll want to go to real frets of some type. Fretless just mutes a mando too much.
Holes ... 1/2" or 3/4" will be fine.
Bone nut. You can get by with wood.
Wooden bridge. Use leftover oak from the neck ( if there is any )
Matt
btw- It's really a "no rules" approach when building these things .. so anything you want is fine.
give us progress reports... we'll try to help..
the best,
wichita Sam