Hi folks
Despite having built 7 guitars, I've never made one with nylon strings like a classical. So, this is exactly the guitar I'm starting to plan. But I'm wondering if there are any pit falls that I might be facing with a nylon stringed guitar?
As you can see from the photo, it's based on a large 3 bottle wine box, which I'm hoping might make a nice enough sound, and I'm intending to use a classical guitar bridge with a rod piezo. I'm a little bit worried that I might not get the bridge in the right place, so I'm thinking of slotting bolt holes in the lid to allow for adjustment. I was hoping not to use traditional classical tuners, as that would need a wider head to accommodate the two wide slots. Are there any single tuners like the run of the mill acoustic types that would work with nylon strings?
I'm not planning on bracing the lid, as the classical bridge will not be pushing down, and the nylon strings won't be as highly tensioned. Is this a mistake? Will it still lift the lid upwards?
Has anyone made anything similar? If so, what problems might I come across? Any advice would be gladly accepted, before I make a pig's ear of it.
Cheers folks
Replies
This is a nylon strung four string with piezo disc, nice bright sound even unamplified
Looks very smart, I love the headstock. I made a guitar out of one of those boxes, and it sounds ace.
I have hade Uke's and they do work, I think top thickness is even more important with nygut strings. Using a long bridge is a good idea. Let the top ring. good luck
Hi Vinylhed,
I've just done a classical CBG - I wanted something quiet to play without bothering the rest of the family. Also I picked up a "silent guitar" amp (for headphones)/preamp that I wanted to try out.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Belcat-HS-1000F-Preamp-EQ-For-Aria-Silent...
For tuners I just went with a classical 3x3 set off ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370676067254?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...
You can get single classical tuners http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360624818530?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...
I used hinges top and bottom to help brace it - initially I was going to go with a similar bridge to you with a block under it to screw it down to (plus glue) but in the end opted for a floating bridge and used a cheap hardtail minus saddles as a tailpiece (wood would have looked nicer but I tried chopping down a classical bridge to just leave the tie bar plus long slides and it couldn't cope with the tension of 6 strings in it's hacked state).
I did also find some cheap string sets
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171013142730?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...
or ball ended
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171013129940?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...
Thank for going to so much trouble with your reply, David. That's a cool looking guitar. I always fancied making one from a cutlery canteen
It's been very useful reading your post and looking at your photos. Good to see you using the tuners that way, I wasn't sure that was possible. I used a similar tailpiece solution on my first tin guitar, with the tailpiece screwed into the end of the through neck. Like this:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/marmite-biscuit-tin-guitar-3?co...
Cheers!
I love it: stepped down headstock, zero fret, string trees, hardtail, floating bridge. But with nylon strings. A Johann Sebastian Box!
Is this a 6-stringer? I'd guess so, judging from the bridge and saddle width. Love the wine box. What scale length? Judging from the CD cases, I'd say 25"...How thick is the wine box top? I'd do a quick string up with a nail where one of your machine head posts will go;, and another on the tail end of the box, to test resonance; I think your bridge may be set too far back. You could get away with a 22" scale that way, without changing the neck length (which is gorgeous wood by the way; like the half-moon curve). The adjustable bolt slot sliding bridge idea is intriguing. You could do standard 3-on-a-plate classical machine heads, by routing or multiple-hole-drilling-and-chiseling a single slotted headstock, then offsetting the plates on either side, so that you have the same thing as an oud or lute. That would work better much with a scarfed headstock than a stepped down one. Single tuners could be done exactly the same way.
Thanks Ron,
Yep I'm planning for it to be a 6-stringer. I was looking at it being about 25" scale length, as I read somewhere that the longer the scale the louder the volume. I know the bridge was placed a little too far towards the bottom of the box, but for me there is always aesthetic versus function battle. I like your idea of rigging up a test string, I'll have a go at that tonight. I like the idea of having offset tuners, I'll give that some thought.
Cheers man.
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