Hi all,
I'm starting my second build and and it will be an electric (CBGitty magnetic pickup). Curious if the notch in the neck (in the cigar box) is required if it will be electric. Thinking that the magnetic pickup will pick up the vibration of the strings. What is the purpose of the notch if I'm not concerned about acoustic sound. Same with sound holes...are they required? Am I right-out-of-er? Thanks.
Replies
It depends on which notch you mean. some notch out the neck the same thickness of the lid so the box will sit flush with the neck. ( Otherwise you get a little step there ) which aint bad for a slider but can cause issues with fretted guitars and action height. ps ... (sometimes you can accomplish this just by adding a fretboard the same thickness or thicker than the lid.)
some notch just to inlay the pickup .
if you mean the space that some people notch out between the neck and the lid so the lid can vibrate freely and resonate more acoustically , then ,in your case no . it is not needed. it is actually debated even just acoustically to carve a space or glue or screw the neck right to the box. Some folks swear by each way . some say a space resos better , some say a solid bond makes the whole guitar vibrate as one better.
i have seen people that have tried both ways , and most cant tell the difference , or prefer the solid bond a bit better .
personally i think the space is usually pointless , but alot of variables can come into play . ie: wood type , thickness , age . etc.. all could produce different results .
but you . mag pup, . pure electric ,. skip that space imho .
Hey, thanks for getting back to me. That's kindof what I figured. I play bass guitar and The fack that I'm using a magnetic PUP got me thinking. I know I will have to notch for the pickup but the rest I was curious about. Thanks again. On with the build!
Shane has a short video somewhere-here-abouts where he recommends gluing on some more wood to the sides of the neck where you are going to notch for the mag pickup, so the neck doesn't get too weakened.
Thanks, I'll take a look for that. It sounds familiar.
yer welcome . as for the sound holes . if you don't care about unplugged volume . then you don't need em . the difference they make is mostly over powered by the pickup , and actually in some (rare) cases can sound worse or cause feedback when used with a pickup .