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first try.

Posted by John Tustin on March 18, 2012 at 7:55am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Hi all,I've been looking through CBG and love the sound and look of some of your makes.I am going to try my first one (a 3 string)with a ceramic body(I do ceramics at local TAFE).Has anyone had anydealings with ceramic bodies? any advice would be appreciated.

 there will b shots of the construction as i go.Hope to have a jarrah neck(a heavy wood but lovely when varnished),with the body highly glazed to help with the sound.Thanks in advance for any help I may get. Take care.  John.T

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Replies

  • Randy S. Bretz March 22, 2012 at 6:37am

    Sorry but your not the first builder to make ceramic body guitars.....check this builder out...http://www.stoneinstruments.com/Strings_c2.htm

  • The Phrygian Kid March 22, 2012 at 6:09am
    Hey that looks great. Your lid shouldn't need screws the string tension will hold it down now worries. You just need a way to secure your neck down into the slots you've made there. You could lash it down around the bottom or perhaps glue it down. Great work
  • John Tustin March 22, 2012 at 5:20am

    Ahh see what you mean mate,well a change of plans then.Stretching a skin might be a problem but will look at it .The idea of a metal top sounds the go.Attaching it be the thing'it cannot be put on till the ceramics is finished being fired and the box walls will be too thin to screw into,also would like to be able to remove it if need to work on electrics inside.Thanks mate will have to get to the drawing board.You all take care.  John

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  • The Phrygian Kid March 20, 2012 at 12:24pm

    John hi.  What Keni and I are getting at is you could certainly make a guitar body from a ceramic bowl or box, no problem.. but we both doubt it will be very effective as a soundboard / top.  The most obvious solutions for a top are wood or rawhide, like a guitar or a banjo respectively.  Keni knows youre not talking drums, but understand a banjo is basically a drum with a guitar neck sticking out of it.  There are other options for a top, consider thin sheet steel like a cookie tin lid or synthetic materials like a sheet of plastic or other..

    what i was talking about was methods of tensioning a flexable top like hide or plastic over a stiff bowl.

    if you take a look at this build here this may help you picture what im talking about, the salad bowl component i used here could easily have been a clay bowl  http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/banjaroo-1?context=user  but you really want a top of something more resonant than ceramics imho

  • John Tustin March 20, 2012 at 8:21am

    Yea mate I'm in W.A(Toodyay)the Tafe is in Northam.I couldn't quite follow your last post.I hope to be making a 3 string guitar but with a ceramic body instead of wood or metal.I will be trying a drum later in the year,but the CBG first.See you are in melbourne.you take care.   John

  • The Phrygian Kid March 19, 2012 at 10:07am
    Tafe? You in AU?
    It can certainly be done in terms of a pot or bowl with a wood or rawhide top for sure. If u wanted to do hide like keni suggests you'd prolly return laces from a steel ring or hoop at the base. Good luck
  • Keni Lee Burgess March 18, 2012 at 11:00am

    This sounds like a great idea. I am assuming you are talking about a drum with a ceramic body replacing the wooden /metal - pot / hoop like on a banjo? http://www.fullcircledrums.com/

    You can make openings for the neck to pass through the ceramic body.

    I guess the real challenge will be how to attach the skin head to the ceramic body and how to fasten the neck to the ceramic body.

    Although this seems problematic, if you are able to work out the logistics, you might create a very interesting instrument with a unique tone.

    I look forward to seeing / hearing your discoveries.

    Enjoy your build, Keni Lee  

     

  • Bluesheart March 18, 2012 at 10:52am

    Welcome and I can't wait to see what you come up with. Not any other ceramic ones in here that I have ever seen. I guess the trick is going to be having the top be thin enough to vibrate well, but thick enough to be strong. Good luck!

  • MichaelS Country Boy Guitars March 18, 2012 at 10:23am

    Wow ceramic. Will it be strong enough for the string tension?  I wonder what ceramic will sound like compared to wood. Interesting.  I guess in your case CBG stands for 'Ceramic Bodied Guitar' .

  • Lonman March 18, 2012 at 9:37am

    oooh, sounds like a cool guitar. Welcome to the Nation.

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