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Question!!!!!!!

Posted by Christopher Call on February 28, 2010 at 2:40pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion
Ok, so I got the action down to about where I want it using a smaller bolt for the nut and replacing the bridge with an eye bolt! I also made a makeshift string tree to add tension for the new nut height. Here is my issue/question! First, I tuned to open G, but the strings feel a tad bit loose. also the eye bold moves up and down when I strum or pick a string. I can get rid of the issues by tuning up a step, but do not want to! Do you think a set of acoustic strings will help tighten things up and keep the bridge in place better?

Share your thoughts on this with me please!

PS I am having a blast playing it despite its issues!!!!!!!!

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Replies

  • Christopher Call March 1, 2010 at 1:08pm
    I am quickly finding this out. I do have a background in repairing and in some cases building solid body guitars. I tried to unlearn all I knew in that field to build this one. The next build will have more tech thought into it.

    That all said, my CBG still plays and sounds good. I just need to tweak it to get what I want.

    You folks are rock stars in my book, thanks a ton for all the help and advice.

    I will try a few things to see if it helps, then if it is still goofy, I will take some detailed images of the issues.

    THANKS AGAIN FOLKS!

    Keni Lee Burgess said:
    Building acoustically and producing a good sounding instrument is far more difficult than building a plank and slapping a pick up on it. Not to be little electric guitars, but they are far more electronics than having to build the correct sound wave developing chambers needed to produce rich full acoustic sound. Tinyguitars has an amazing ability to build acoustically. Enjoy
  • Wichita Sam March 1, 2010 at 10:31am
    maybe a pic looking down the neck from the tail, plus some side shots of the headstock and body/bridge and neck attachment points.... easier to diagnose if we can see....
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates March 1, 2010 at 8:58am
    on that note, I have talked with a few lately that put a sight 2deg back angle on the neck. I don't normally because I put a fretboard on and that add ~1/4" to the string height, but if you wanted to experiment with this, you could 1) add material to the bottom of the neck where its inside the box and 2) cut the top of the neck at a 2 deg angle again where its inside of the neck. Sounds weird but that would reinforce the neck so as not to bend inside the box with less material and allow for the back bend. I will post a 3d rendering on my page.

    NOE: I have NOT tried this but the engineering should be sound.

    -WY

    Wichita Sam said:
    Probably has to do with neck angle... if for some reason your neck has a slight positive neck angle, your typical 1/4 eye bolt is going to look like it is huge.... This doesnt happen much with neck thru designs, but can if you have a wierd forward bend/bow in the neck... with a more typical flat neck, or even a slight negative neck angle, a fairly fat eye bolt can work great....

    Christopher Call said:
    Thanks all! I ended up going back to the old bridge, lowering it of course! I think I am going to pick up some acoustic strings tomorrow!

    Just a side note, I have no clue how some folks use eye bolts for a bridge, I think that was half my issue. Oh well!
  • Keni Lee Burgess March 1, 2010 at 2:53am
    Scale length and string gauge are a commomly overlooked essential consideration. If the neck is set right and the nut and bridge are cut correctly, the action will be the right height. If you do not have a truss rod installed and your neck is bending under pressure, there are two major problems. String height increases and intonation is off.
    The correct string tension is what is necessary mainly to vibrate the box. Too loose or too tight is no good. Light strings do not create as much energy as heavier strings. Building acoustically and producing a good sounding instrument is far more difficult than building a plank and slapping a pick up on it. Not to be little electric guitars, but they are far more electronics than having to build the correct sound wave developing chambers needed to produce rich full acoustic sound. Tinyguitars has an amazing ability to build acoustically. Enjoy
  • Wichita Sam March 1, 2010 at 12:50am
    Probably has to do with neck angle... if for some reason your neck has a slight positive neck angle, your typical 1/4 eye bolt is going to look like it is huge.... This doesnt happen much with neck thru designs, but can if you have a wierd forward bend/bow in the neck... with a more typical flat neck, or even a slight negative neck angle, a fairly fat eye bolt can work great....

    Christopher Call said:
    Thanks all! I ended up going back to the old bridge, lowering it of course! I think I am going to pick up some acoustic strings tomorrow!

    Just a side note, I have no clue how some folks use eye bolts for a bridge, I think that was half my issue. Oh well!
  • Christopher Call February 28, 2010 at 5:49pm
    Thanks all! I ended up going back to the old bridge, lowering it of course! I think I am going to pick up some acoustic strings tomorrow!

    Just a side note, I have no clue how some folks use eye bolts for a bridge, I think that was half my issue. Oh well!
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates February 28, 2010 at 5:06pm
    Got a WalMart near you? This is a BAD suggestion but go by there and pick up a set of stings from the kids toy section where the kids guitars are. At least they will be acoustic. ~$5. Best suggestion is to go get some good strings. www.juststrings.com has good deals or I use Ernie Ball Earthwood lights. I love the deep tones it makes. I don't care for Martin strings but that's totally my opinion.

    -WY
  • Wichita Sam February 28, 2010 at 4:02pm
    how many string is this CBG? If you are using the 5-4-3 or lighter, just move up one in the set....

    Or, if you're using 10's or 9's move up to 12's....

    Finaly, what scale length.... a moving bridge is a bad thing... strings way too loose...

    the best,

    Sam
  • Diane in Chicago February 28, 2010 at 3:09pm
    If you know what you want to tune to, and you know your scale length, you can choose the perfect strings with this:

    http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm


    I used to guess and fool about, but with this you get the optimal string gauge for the note you are looking to have.
  • Christopher Call February 28, 2010 at 3:02pm
    Ya, right now I have on the second, third, and forth string from a 10 gauge electric set. It's all I had laying around right now!

    Wes Yates said:
    Are you using electric strings?!?!? Use light or Med Ga (11 or 12 ga strings) acoustic if the guitar is acoustic. Provides more volume and yes, will feel tighter.

    -WY
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