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Guitar build with electric pick ups

Posted by Peter Taylor on February 10, 2010 at 8:57am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I have built  a couple of cbg's now acoustic with piezo pick ups, through neck with cut outs.

Was thinking of going the next step and building one with a "humbucker" or some form of magnetic pick ups as in "normal" guitars.

Now do i make it semi acoustic with pick ups or make the 'box" more solid type with more bracing?

Does any one have pics of internals during build? And any building tips.whats best seal box? or leave it to close with latches? does this effect sound on these type of builds?

 

Thanks in advance for your comments

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Replies

  • Roger Martin February 13, 2010 at 11:17am
    DAMN SAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
    I learned a few things from you post ,,,,,,,, again,,,,,,,,,,
  • Tim February 12, 2010 at 9:50am
    i try to make mine as solid as possible i glue the neck to the top then a piece of wood on each side then rout for a pickup just like a standard solid body. yes it does sound diffent but it helps prevent feedback.
  • David L. February 11, 2010 at 6:00am
    Hi, I like to add both magnetic PUPs and piezo together and use a 3 way (1 mag pup plus piezos) or a 5 way (2 mag pups and piezos) as I like the tonal options this gives. I made a short video to answer a previous question as to the sound differences
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/comparing-cbg-pickups To wire up I find the Seymour Duncan schematics the easiest to follow - you just substitute a piezo for one of the magnetic pups. This and other diagrams are are linked here
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/cbgwiringelectronics/forum/topi... I cannot find the link but previously another member used a blend pot to link the magnetic and piezo pups to add more tonal control. inside of the box is here (it is a 35mm photoslide box because it is hard to find cigar boxes in the UK)

    To fix the lid down I use decorative hinges because even with 8 gauge electric strings the tension starts to bow the lid a bit and this way it is easy to open the lid later if needed.

    Regarding bracing the group smokehouse guitars has a section on it with regard to 6 string guitars http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/smokehouseguitars/forum/topics/... It also has a series of tutorials on how to build from scratch which are well worth a read through. I have yet to make a 3 or 4 string instrument yet so I don't know what bracing you need for these. Kind regards, David
  • jim February 11, 2010 at 2:30am
    CBGs with magpups can pickup the raw tone of the cigar box and the neck being used. Try turning the gain/primary volume up and the "regular" volume down a bit. You'll hear the tone of all components of your build.
  • Peter Taylor February 11, 2010 at 2:11am
    once again Sam, thanks for your genius..I live and learn here every day..
  • Wichita Sam February 10, 2010 at 11:50pm
    Chambered guitars (think Thinline Tele) and hollowbody electrics (think Gibson 335) sound unique and different from a solid body (such as a Strat or Tele or LP) .... but, all these have more in common in sound properties than peizo equiped acoustic guitars... (think Ovation acoustics, or any acoustic/electric guitar).

    This is true in CBGs.... a piezo equiped CBG will have a more acoustic sounding tone when amped, than a similarly build CBG that is equipped with a wound (elelctromagnetic) pickup. This is because of the difference in the way the different pickups work. A piezo pup works by transforming a actual vibration of the surface to which they are attached into a minute current that is amplified. So the acoustic sound of the vibrating top is picked up directly by the peizo and is then amplified. An electro/magnetic pup works by being "excited" by the changes in the magnetic field caused by the vibrating strings. This excitation produces a minute current that is then amplified. So..... the differences in an electro/magnetic pup equipped guitar is only influenced in minor ways by chamber/hollow/solid body design differences.... This differences have huuuuuuuge implications when the only pup is a piez0....

    What does all this mean to a CBG builder? know what sound you are after and design and build your CBG toward that sound. If you don't know, don't worrry about it all... just build, learn and build some more... I have 200 builds under my belt and I'm still exploring possibilites and learning with each build...

    hope this helped,
    the best,

    Wichita Sam

    Peter Taylor said:
    thanks for input,
    SAM,
    so what make a CBG sound different to a "normal" guitar if you make it solid or fully braced and run humbuckers etc? please excuse my ignorance as only new to all this musical qualitys of guitars etc.
    Can understand the acoustic of the "box" with a peizo pick up ok. So is it more about the Style for "full electrics set ups"?
  • Peter Taylor February 10, 2010 at 10:50pm
    thanks for input,
    SAM,
    so what make a CBG sound different to a "normal" guitar if you make it solid or fully braced and run humbuckers etc? please excuse my ignorance as only new to all this musical qualitys of guitars etc.
    Can understand the acoustic of the "box" with a peizo pick up ok. So is it more about the Style for "full electrics set ups"?
  • Wichita Sam February 10, 2010 at 10:34pm
    JMHO,

    Once you commit to such a heavy pup as a humbucker, you effectively kill the acoustic volume and tone of the top, therefore it really doesn't make much difference whether you float the top or make it as a solid body... I like access to the box insides and never glue top and bottom together....

    My early CBGs using wound pups were "open tops" I recessed the neck enough to accomodate the thickness of the pup. This required that I add extra thickness to the underside of the neck to strengthen the neck with the recessing is.

    I've moved on to "solid body" construction, were the top is essentially the "pick guard" with pups, pots and jack mounted on it. The box is filled with wood with routed recesses for pups, etc. and a pocket for neck attachment...

    hope this rambleing helps,,,
    the best,

    Wichita Sam
  • Skeesix February 10, 2010 at 12:50pm
    I brace all of my boxes, acoustic or not, for longevity of the project, more than sound. I usually use the bottom of the box for the soundboard, which leaves the lid in the back for easy opening. I use 4 little screws on the corners, to screw into the bracing to secure it. As long as it's secure, I don't see where it affects the sound.

    You can leave off sound holes, which may cause feedback at higher volumes (at least they do on regular guitars).

    Skeesix
  • c# merle February 10, 2010 at 12:49pm

This reply was deleted.