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Leaving the top free to resonate?

Posted by pi_r_squared on August 7, 2010 at 8:19am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion
On my first build I secured the neck to the top, for simplicity, and so I could still open the bottom (back) of the box without de-stringing it (to work on the electronics).

On the next one, I was going to try to leave the top (front) of the box "free" to resonate.  It seems this could help, but it also complicates the build.

In the opinion of those of you more experienced than I, would this make any appreciable difference in the sound? or am I chasing my tail here?


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Replies

  • Wild Rover August 7, 2010 at 9:10pm
    I recessed the neck of my guitar to give the lid max resonation. The only "electrics" I have in mine is a piezo, the wire and the jack it's connected to, so I'm not too concerned with having to open it any time soon. I'll tell you what, mine rings like a church bell on Sunday. The sustain I get is amazing. Take a look at my pics on my page and you can see the type of box I used. Good luck.
  • Paul Stephen Eklund August 7, 2010 at 12:47pm
    I still haven't made my first CBG yet but I did try an experiment. I'm using the bottom of the cigar box as the front of the build. The neck wont touch to the front. I made a support to go under the bridge, tapped the box with it in place. Really took away from the acoustics of the box. Got rid of the support. So now nothing but the bridge will touch the front of the build.
  • pi_r_squared August 7, 2010 at 9:32am
    That previous discussion is a sort of "best of both worlds" thing. You can still get it open without de-stringing, but leaves most of the top free.

    I really wanted to try John's magnetic-pickup-under-the-lid thing. If I do that, securing the neck to the bottom might give me a lot more room for the pickup.

    John, also, with regard to the tent grommets *face-palm*....uh huh.....now It's obvious....I stared at them trying to figure out what they were.

    I got a couple Pedromo Lot 23 boxes. Really nice boxes, integrated hinges (but this also means you can't remove the lid), and the rounded edges may make it tough to work with. The reason I grabbed them, when closed, there is an opening along the hinged edge, about 1/4" by the length of the box. I'm curious to see if this will work as a sound hole.
  • John Drake August 7, 2010 at 9:16am
    Check previous discussions here
  • Outhouse Instruments August 7, 2010 at 8:28am
    Leave the top free to resonate. Better sound in my opinion.
    Better acoustic ( obviously ) but also look at it like this.
    The piezo is usually glued to the bottom of the lid. A free to vibrate lid equals more vibes to the piezo equals more sound.


    Matt

    btw- doing this .. you might also surprise yourself on how good these an be acoustically.
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