I have been asked to build a 3 string strumstick type for a little girl
I got my stuff together and realized that I don't know any little girls
Would my typical 25" or 24.5" scale be a problem for a little one's arms and fingers
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Yes some boxes the fret board will be even with the top
For those you can add another 1/4 inch piece, maybe alternating between two different types of wood
The boxes I have used the 1/4 in on top of the 1/2 were Oliva's and it left me enough over the top to work with, maybe 1/8 of an inch or so
I am making one tomorrow that 1/4" would set the fretboard even with the top and am using a piece of 1/2 for the fret board glued on top of the bottom 1/2
I need the extra height because I want to use a 1911 grip as the bridge and it makes the neck just ever so slightly thicker than a normal piece of 1x2
I'm also doing it because I am out of stock and have promised myself that I would not buy anymore till I could recycle GCB sales
Also I rarely used power tools even when I used the 1x2s when I first started
I used a chip and file method I learned from Mojo, but it is time consuming
I a have a couple that were chiseled out and then filed flat
I consider my present use of a table saw to be cheating, but I needed 10 made in a hurry
ken farmer said:
Thanks Stan (& Diane), I'm looking to organize a free workshop for teenagers in my town to build their own CBGs and I'd like to have them using hand-tools rather than power-tools for about a half-dozen reasons. So, they'll hopefully be using coping saws, miter boxes, backsaws, spokeshaves, planes, etc. So, this sounds like a good idea - though I've got to balance against the time taken for glue to cure.When you do it this way it sounds like the fret board is flush with the surface of the box top. For the 24.5" scale length, I think I'd like to have it on top of the box top instead. But that should just require an additional 1/4" strip on top of the others.
Please let me know if I've misinterpreted you, otherwise thanks.
stan bryars said:
Instead of using a piece of 1x2 and then cutting out the slot in the neck for the box top to fit in I'm using a piece of 1/2 x 2 running that through the box and then gluing a piece of 1/4 x2 fret board to that, another piece under the head stock and then taking a piece of the little pieces of wood that come in the box and gluing it to the tail piece so that it is flat with the box top, on some of my builds On others I'm now just using a table saw to cut the stick flat from the tail to where the box top sits and then gluing the piece of wood on the tail pieceI like it better when the fretboard is fairly high sand the tail is flush with the box
I find it easier to fit a bridge that way with he material I like to use
Diane had posted something about that on the Yahoo group awhile back
Works great for a power tooless build
ken farmer said:
Stan,
What slot & method are you referring to here? stan bryars said:
Diane, I'm also using your building method of using 1/2 x 2" with a 1/4" fretboard for the most part Adds to the cost of building a little but speeds up the process eliminating the need to cut the slot for the box
I was thinking about using a miter box to that piece out in triangular sections. I'll give that a test. The way I normally do it today is to laminate one 1x2 on top of another, and have the top piece only go a short distance into the box, but get screwed into from above. The bottom piece goes all the way across and gets screwed into from the other side. That also eliminates any cutting.
I've been giving that some thought lately, since I"ll be building with 30 6th graders next year. I am also considering doing a stick-on-box like member Bonehead does.
I'll look forward to hearing more from you about how this goes.
I made one CBG with the neck above the box - and it sounds very good and was very easy to build. The only downside is that playing it is a little weird, specially if you're a finger-picker since it's hard to get your thumb up there.
For a flap-top box, I cut away the portion of the neck that runs through the box so the neck is flush with the surface of the flap top. I also cut away a bit more in the center of the neck portion that is inside the box so it can ring. A wood screw at the neck end and the tail end through the flap top hold the neck tight to the flap lid.
Then I add the fingerboard on top of that so that it is raised up above the surface of the flap top. You'll only need a small bridge then, I use a piece of very small trim cut with a miter saw -- it usually is just about right.
With hand tools, it will be a bear to cut that away -- I use a band saw. But you might be able to get around that by using 1/2" stock, one for the neck and one for the fingerboard, and have small supports inside the box so that the lid rests on those at either end.
I've been giving that some thought lately, since I"ll be building with 30 6th graders next year. I am also considering doing a stick-on-box like member Bonehead does.
I'm looking to organize a free workshop for teenagers in my town to build their own CBGs and I'd like to have them using hand-tools rather than power-tools for about a half-dozen reasons. So, they'll hopefully be using coping saws, miter boxes, backsaws, spokeshaves, planes, etc. So, this sounds like a good idea - though I've got to balance against the time taken for glue to cure.
When you do it this way it sounds like the fret board is flush with the surface of the box top. For the 24.5" scale length, I think I'd like to have it on top of the box top instead. But that should just require an additional 1/4" strip on top of the others.
Please let me know if I've misinterpreted you, otherwise thanks.
I'm looking to organize a free workshop for teenagers in my town to build their own CBGs and I'd like to have them using hand-tools rather than power-tools for about a half-dozen reasons. So, they'll hopefully be using coping saws, miter boxes, backsaws, spokeshaves, planes, etc. So, this sounds like a good idea - though I've got to balance against the time taken for glue to cure.
When you do it this way it sounds like the fret board is flush with the surface of the box top. For the 24.5" scale length, I think I'd like to have it on top of the box top instead. But that should just require an additional 1/4" strip on top of the others.
Please let me know if I've misinterpreted you, otherwise thanks.
stan bryars said:
Instead of using a piece of 1x2 and then cutting out the slot in the neck for the box top to fit in I'm using a piece of 1/2 x 2 running that through the box and then gluing a piece of 1/4 x2 fret board to that, another piece under the head stock and then taking a piece of the little pieces of wood that come in the box and gluing it to the tail piece so that it is flat with the box top, on some of my builds
On others I'm now just using a table saw to cut the stick flat from the tail to where the box top sits and then gluing the piece of wood on the tail piece
I like it better when the fretboard is fairly high sand the tail is flush with the box
I find it easier to fit a bridge that way with he material I like to use
Diane had posted something about that on the Yahoo group awhile back
Works great for a power tooless build
ken farmer said:
Stan,
What slot & method are you referring to here?
stan bryars said:
Diane, I'm also using your building method of using 1/2 x 2" with a 1/4" fretboard for the most part Adds to the cost of building a little but speeds up the process eliminating the need to cut the slot for the box
Thanks for the link
That one is exactly what i was looking for
Claude said:
Hi Stan, Thanks for posting this, it helps me out also. By the way, a real good fret calculator is at Stew-Mac ('spensive stuff for stringed instruments, the fret calc is free! yahoo) here's the url: http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator and it does several types of instruments including Dulcimer. You did a great job and that little ladies face is a testament to what a nice thing you did, way to go! (I have no financial or other interst in Stew-Mac, just knew about the Fret Calc and have used it).
stan bryars said:
Some thing have to be done to be understood
I could not fully understand how a 23 inch stick would be too long for a 9 year old, much less a grown woman Then I built one on that scale
It's not the length of the stick but the spacing of the frets
I am a 6 foot tall man with fairly normal sized hands and this is now my preferred length
Diane in Chicago said:
Yes. I have the hands of a child, and I prefer to play 15" and 17". Even 19" is pushing it for me.
Instead of using a piece of 1x2 and then cutting out the slot in the neck for the box top to fit in
I'm using a piece of 1/2 x 2 running that through the box and then gluing a piece of 1/4 x2 fret board to that, another piece under the head stock and then taking a piece of the little pieces of wood that come in the box and gluing it to the tail piece so that it is flat with the box top, on some of my builds
On others I'm now just using a table saw to cut the stick flat from the tail to where the box top sits and then gluing the piece of wood on the tail piece
I like it better when the fretboard is fairly high sand the tail is flush with the box
I find it easier to fit a bridge that way with he material I like to use
Diane had posted something about that on the Yahoo group awhile back
Works great for a power tooless build
ken farmer said:
Stan,
What slot & method are you referring to here?
stan bryars said:
Diane, I'm also using your building method of using 1/2 x 2" with a 1/4" fretboard for the most part Adds to the cost of building a little but speeds up the process eliminating the need to cut the slot for the box
Diane, I'm also using your building method of using 1/2 x 2" with a 1/4" fretboard for the most part Adds to the cost of building a little but speeds up the process eliminating the need to cut the slot for the box
Wow, that is a great thing! Please post pictures of the instruments when you're done.
Claude said:
Thank you very much Diane, I too am making some of these 3 string diatonic cigar box, you can't play a wrong note, instruments. Mine are for some children with autisim, music therapy is important, but playing music is pure gold for them, and this is success. Your comments about the scale help me GREATLY! You're great, thanks. Palo
Diane in Chicago said:
Yes. I have the hands of a child, and I prefer to play 15" and 17". Even 19" is pushing it for me.
Hi Stan,
Thanks for posting this, it helps me out also. By the way, a real good fret calculator is at Stew-Mac ('spensive stuff for stringed instruments, the fret calc is free! yahoo) here's the url: http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator and it does several types of instruments including Dulcimer. You did a great job and that little ladies face is a testament to what a nice thing you did, way to go! (I have no financial or other interst in Stew-Mac, just knew about the Fret Calc and have used it).
stan bryars said:
Some thing have to be done to be understood
I could not fully understand how a 23 inch stick would be too long for a 9 year old, much less a grown woman
Then I built one on that scale
It's not the length of the stick but the spacing of the frets
I am a 6 foot tall man with fairly normal sized hands and this is now my preferred length
Diane in Chicago said:
Yes. I have the hands of a child, and I prefer to play 15" and 17". Even 19" is pushing it for me.
Thank you very much Diane, I too am making some of these 3 string diatonic cigar box, you can't play a wrong note, instruments. Mine are for some children with autisim, music therapy is important, but playing music is pure gold for them, and this is success. Your comments about the scale help me GREATLY! You're great, thanks. Palo
Diane in Chicago said:
Yes. I have the hands of a child, and I prefer to play 15" and 17". Even 19" is pushing it for me.
Replies
For those you can add another 1/4 inch piece, maybe alternating between two different types of wood
The boxes I have used the 1/4 in on top of the 1/2 were Oliva's and it left me enough over the top to work with, maybe 1/8 of an inch or so
The Olive reso in the middle and the Oliva on the left were done using this method
The only cutting I had to do was to the box and cutting the fret board to size
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/gguitr-007?context=user
I am making one tomorrow that 1/4" would set the fretboard even with the top and am using a piece of 1/2 for the fret board glued on top of the bottom 1/2
I need the extra height because I want to use a 1911 grip as the bridge and it makes the neck just ever so slightly thicker than a normal piece of 1x2
I'm also doing it because I am out of stock and have promised myself that I would not buy anymore till I could recycle GCB sales
Also I rarely used power tools even when I used the 1x2s when I first started
I used a chip and file method I learned from Mojo, but it is time consuming
I a have a couple that were chiseled out and then filed flat
I consider my present use of a table saw to be cheating, but I needed 10 made in a hurry
ken farmer said:
I was thinking about using a miter box to that piece out in triangular sections. I'll give that a test. The way I normally do it today is to laminate one 1x2 on top of another, and have the top piece only go a short distance into the box, but get screwed into from above. The bottom piece goes all the way across and gets screwed into from the other side. That also eliminates any cutting.
I've been giving that some thought lately, since I"ll be building with 30 6th graders next year. I am also considering doing a stick-on-box like member Bonehead does.
I'll look forward to hearing more from you about how this goes.
I made one CBG with the neck above the box - and it sounds very good and was very easy to build. The only downside is that playing it is a little weird, specially if you're a finger-picker since it's hard to get your thumb up there.
Then I add the fingerboard on top of that so that it is raised up above the surface of the flap top. You'll only need a small bridge then, I use a piece of very small trim cut with a miter saw -- it usually is just about right.
With hand tools, it will be a bear to cut that away -- I use a band saw. But you might be able to get around that by using 1/2" stock, one for the neck and one for the fingerboard, and have small supports inside the box so that the lid rests on those at either end.
I've been giving that some thought lately, since I"ll be building with 30 6th graders next year. I am also considering doing a stick-on-box like member Bonehead does.
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/production2-1?context=user
ken farmer said:
I'm looking to organize a free workshop for teenagers in my town to build their own CBGs and I'd like to have them using hand-tools rather than power-tools for about a half-dozen reasons. So, they'll hopefully be using coping saws, miter boxes, backsaws, spokeshaves, planes, etc. So, this sounds like a good idea - though I've got to balance against the time taken for glue to cure.
When you do it this way it sounds like the fret board is flush with the surface of the box top. For the 24.5" scale length, I think I'd like to have it on top of the box top instead. But that should just require an additional 1/4" strip on top of the others.
Please let me know if I've misinterpreted you, otherwise thanks.
stan bryars said:
That one is exactly what i was looking for
Claude said:
I'm using a piece of 1/2 x 2 running that through the box and then gluing a piece of 1/4 x2 fret board to that, another piece under the head stock and then taking a piece of the little pieces of wood that come in the box and gluing it to the tail piece so that it is flat with the box top, on some of my builds
On others I'm now just using a table saw to cut the stick flat from the tail to where the box top sits and then gluing the piece of wood on the tail piece
I like it better when the fretboard is fairly high sand the tail is flush with the box
I find it easier to fit a bridge that way with he material I like to use
Diane had posted something about that on the Yahoo group awhile back
Works great for a power tooless build
ken farmer said:
What slot & method are you referring to here?
stan bryars said:
Claude said:
Thanks for posting this, it helps me out also. By the way, a real good fret calculator is at Stew-Mac ('spensive stuff for stringed instruments, the fret calc is free! yahoo) here's the url: http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator and it does several types of instruments including Dulcimer. You did a great job and that little ladies face is a testament to what a nice thing you did, way to go! (I have no financial or other interst in Stew-Mac, just knew about the Fret Calc and have used it).
stan bryars said:
Diane in Chicago said:
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