Hey guys I'm looking to make a six string CBG but I know absolutely nothing about how to do it. I want to make it fretted as well. Now I have toyed with the idea of taking a guitar and tearing it apart and while that sounds good with most electric you have a big pick up right smack in the middle and i would like to avoid that. So how can I get the result I want without the big fat ugly pick up messing up my cigar logo?

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  • Thanks a lot guys I'll look into that.
  • Sorry that this is a little late, but you could use a piezo disc in the bridge, or you could look at bluesboy jag's guitars. He sinks a number of bolts through the top of the guitar and winds the pickup by hand underneath the box top. It makes for a very interesting and clean look, though i'd imagine that it would take a few hours of work.
  • Hi Nate,

    People tend to use either tent grommets or ferrules - there is a link to a recent post on this
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/sound-port

    Or I have found curtain grommets to work well (I am in the UK so not sure the best place to find them in the USA)
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/tent-ferrules-and-inlays...

    I also made some resonator type covers by glueing some wire mesh behind a curtain grommet - if you look at the pictures on my page you will see what I mean.

    Nice looking guitar you have made.

    Regards,
    David
  • Wow! Nice job!
  • I got it built! I don't know how to play and I am missing two strings but I will get them and at least my brother can use it to entertain me while I am smoking some cigars. I am curious I see some cool sound holes in this guitar on you tube from John McNair https://www.youtube.com/user/johnmcnair#p/u/8/PgVHPBTJ8II and am curious where to get the chrome holes? any ideas?

    IMG_9254.jpg

    IMG_9257.jpg

    IMG_9256.jpg

  • Hi Nate,

    The group Smokehouse guitars is worth checking out - there is a series of tutorials on how to build a fretted CBG
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/smokehouseguitars/forum
    and a specific posting regarding internal bracing for a six string CBG
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/smokehouseguitars/forum/topics/...
  • You could move the pup as far towards the neck or the bridge as possible. If you're using the neck off of a prefab guitar then the scale length is probably going to have your bridge as far at the edge of the box as possible. There should still be a couple of inches to squeeze in a bridge pup before the logo. Or you could try it under the lid, depending on how much string clearance you have. It'll cut down on the output a bunch but may work. Or you could use a piezo under the bridge instead of an electro-mag pup. Good luck!
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