After viewing a couple of hundred pics of CBG builds I see that anything and everything has been built. Very inspiring.
So is it ok to use the ideas of other builders when building?
kentr
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Hi, I have built a whole range of guitars over many years, and like nearly every other builder of acoustic guitars, I started by using the X braced style top that CF Martin invented in the 1800's. I still use it, but many others have moved on and developed much more complex arrangements.
Sometimes builders will all come up with the same idea, who knows who was the first. Many years ago, I started using bolt-on necks, instead of a dovetail. I did not make a big deal of it as I thought I was the only one, and that I should be doing a proper joint, tenon, or dovetail. But I felt better about the idea when I saw Taylor guitars were doing it also. Who knows who was first?
Taff
Hi Taff,
It has been banjos that I've been building, and have tried out nearly anything to use for the pot. But finally I needed to admit that it takes the expensive parts to get the
expensive sound. - I don't really enjoy that kind of sound much anymore, even though I still keep one of those around.
One of the things that appeals to me about the CBGs is the better bang for the buck, the creativity, and the possibilities. An art form that can make music.
As I built, tinkered, repaired, and studied over the years , one thing that kept on showing up is how the builders had cut corners, found ways to build cheap,
That's OK, and many cannot afford to buy a vintage, high end anything. If you're building an instrument at home, some of those cost cutting ideas can help.
I just watched the vid of your hubcap guitar. I'll be searching for a hubcap. A big one with a spot in the middle for a biscut bridge.
Kinda looks like a banjo, but with a different sound and two octaves.
kentr
Kent, That is a excellent question. I find others builds inspiring and they often jump start my creativity, but typically I put my own twist on features in builds that catch my attention. Sometimes I'm curious as to how others have implemented something I want to try out. Ultimately, we all come up with our own approaches and style based on our tools, abilities, and preferences. That is part of the fun.
Actually Kent, there's not one builder who doesn't borrow from the next, which is totally fine. That's how we learn & in turn develop our building style? It becomes something else when one claims it as their own? So really it's true that you can't not copy something else even if you tried. Browsing through the Pics is surely the best way to get your creative juices flowing 👍🏽
Hi,
i can understand how using an idea seen here in the pics for your own use and build is not the same as using that same idea on a mass produced CBG
to sell to the public.
Since I not planing on selling any, i wont worry about having someone elses idea show up on one I build.
kentr
Inspiration is what makes evolution possible in musical instruments, but there's a fine line to stealing. It's usually when you start trying to mass produce other's designs for profit, that's when it's not? Simply put, lots of builders like to copy things others have done in the past because they know that it works?
Hi again, Kent,for one thing, this site is about sharing. Sharing what works and what does not, sharing what one has built and what will be built next. I think that the sharing of ideas furthers our quest for a better instrument. The sort of content has diminished over recent years.
I do not see it as a bad thing to use others' ideas, if it is shared. I have been building guitars since the mid-1970s. I have used the ideas of many, many fine builders, but never copied their instruments entirely, their ideas are an addition to my own. Often, I have used the ideas of others and found that they do not work for me, and file them away for a later time.
I could share a build process with you, and you would follow it faithfully, however, your guitar would sound and look different from mine. You may even add something I did not think of.
Often someone has said to me that's a good Idea, can I steal it? I don't mind, but it's nice to be asked.
Cheers Taff
It is impossible to not.