Dear friends...I am going to build my first CBG and I have been looking into purchasing a neck. I have the boxes that I want to use. I have no idea how the necks attach to the body. Can anyone give me any advise on how I should proceed?
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I have a few necks I do not want............PM request sent........Mungo Park.
Hi Aaron,
By "purchased neck", I assume you mean a pre-built 6-string guitar neck. If so, then most of these purchased necks end up being bolted on. So, when searching Cigar Box Nation (CBN) for discussions on attaching necks, use search words like "bolt-on", "neck", and "attachment".
It is possible to extend a purchased neck to make in a "neck through" or a "neck almost through" attachment. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, search CBN. You should understand these 3 different neck attachment methods.
It is also possible that you have purchased a neck that is designed for CBG applications. If this is the case, the neck might already be long enough to do a neck-through or neck-almost-through. [Also note that many people spell "through" as "thru", so using "thru" as a keyword to search on may also help.]
There is a variety of different ways to bolt-on a neck, depending on the type of fastener you want to use. In most cases, the box will need to be re-enforced, especially on the side that will receive the neck. So pay close attention to how other people re-enforce their cigar boxes when adding a bolt on neck. A poorly constructed bolt-on neck will tend to bow upward when you go to tune the strings for the first time. This usually can be resolved by using a heel in your neck. Fortunately, most 6-strring necks will already have a heel. So just make sure you fasten the heel to the box in addition to the base of the neck. Two or three attachment points should be enough. If using simple wood screws, make sure they are fairly large and long. Use pre-drilled holes about 1 drill size less than the width of the wood screw's shaft.
It pays to spend some time researching how to do you build, so plan a couple weeks worth of research time. I like to draw up the plans so I'm sure I've thought out all the possible stumbling points on paper before I get around to implementing them in wood. Good luck with your project.
-Rand.
Thank you for the tips. I am enjoying my research and looking forward to gathering some parts. I want to build a 3 string CBG and I am learning quite a lot about them.