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standard guitar neck on a cigar box, anyone done it,?

Posted by GARAGE HERMIT on July 30, 2010 at 4:30pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

hi, just signed up, and have quite a few question's,

cant play and never made a cbg, but i'm going to do both,

anyone grafted a standard guitar neck onto a cigar box, only asking as i've just bought a box (pic) and i have this old guitar i bought 20 years ago, it's called a "SATELLITE" , 24 1/2" from nut to bridge, thinking to use 3 or 4 string's, make a new nut and bridge, and use the jack, p/up etc, any thought's,

 

[IMG]http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/w124-2door/CIGAR%20BOX%20GUITARS/DSCF0072.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/w124-2door/CIGAR%20BOX%20GUITARS/DSCF0073.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/w124-2door/CIGAR%20BOX%20GUITARS/DSCF0075.jpg[/IMG]

 

 

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Replies

  • JUJU August 1, 2010 at 3:46pm
    i've made two bolt on six string CBG's one using a bought neck the other using a neck i made - i added a central spind down the middle of the box then just routed the neck pocket through the top of the box in-to the Spine (Oak Spine ) both worked fantastic and you also end up with a semi acoustic
    see links below the pictures may help
    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/montecristo-2

    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/build-3-montecristo-redneck-6?c...
  • Mister Scott July 31, 2010 at 5:06pm
    Thanks, Wes. I am determined to try the through-box method for a 6-stringer. Maybe with nylon strings...?
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates July 31, 2010 at 4:16pm
    Sure. Mind you that you have to plan EVERYTHING very well with the understanding that using this method or materials might not work as planned.

    Ok, so I use Adobe Illustrator for my CAD. You can use Google SketchUp {free} if you want. What I did was to understand what I had or will have: a box, Arturo F. King B box and a guitar neck. The scale and heel were VERY important. Since I am making a pocket style for the neck joint, I referred to my ES 335 clone to see if the engineering is possible. My design has about the same neck to body dimensions (depth and distance in) as well as about the same body depth. The ES 335s are arch top and arch back which does add to the thickness as opposed to the side bout.

    That said, I measured down to the 64th inch the interior and exterior dimensions of the box and put them in my drawing. I also measured the placements of the bridge and pickups from my ES 335 clone and placed them in the drawing as close to those locations.

    As originally planned, I wanted to use a solid interior of a single piece. That would work but I would face some challenges -- routing for the wiring. In hind sight, that would have been easy but at that time, ease of build ruled. I opted for a layered design using 3/8" plywood sheets where I could cut a single or a group of plys to form a solid body. I will have to glue them together and that [will] present structural issues, but If it fails, I can rework the design in a solid form. No problem.

    To ensure all the plywood parts register to one another, I clamped them all together, drilled four holes and put in 2d (I think ?) finishing nails as registration pins. I then squared off the edges with a band saw and drew the outlines of the cuts -- either on the top layer or any other layer that needed special cuts. I cut the special cut layer (the one for wiring channels) knowing that this layer will share cuts with the others. Then I pieced them all back, pinned, and cut the common cuts including the pickup areas and the neck pocket.

    The next challenge I face is to angle the neck back. I have to have the neck angled back as the bridge sits high. a 2 degree angle is necessary and so today, I cut a 2 degree wedge that I will insert into the pocket that will angle the neck back. All of the layers will be glued and clamped.

    Wish me luck. It sounds ok, but I still have reservations.

    -WY

    Scotty C. said:
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed

    Wes, can you go over what you did here? I'm piqued by your process...
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates July 31, 2010 at 4:02pm
    The box is almost double the thickness of the neck BUT where the pocket is, that part of the body _might_ be as thick as the neck [heel we are talking about].

    I REALLY did think solid, but the ease of doing it in layers where I could cut some layers to form channels and differing thicknesses make more sense [ at the time ].

    I guess I will see if my engineering is successful. I'm guessing I have a 65-75% chance if success. It is plywood you know :-( .

    -WY

    Wichita Sam said:
    If the CBG is atleast as thick as the guitar the neck came off of, strength should not be a problem... I build mostly pocket necks now, but use solid hardwood for the fill. Also, I don't fill the whole box, just the width that the neck extends into the box. the neck is attached to a 3-4 inch wide block, that is glued to the box.


    Wes Yates said:
    Thanks Sam. I still have my concerns that it actually will work tho. My biggest fear is that the pocket area doesn't have enough support. I guess I will see. On my ES-335 clone, there isn't much more but that could be a diferent wood. Keep in mind all that this is sheets of 3/8" plywood cut like layers so that I have channels for wiring and the pickups. All of them will be glued together before assembly and that I still have the 1/4" top and bottoms as part of the body.

    So my biggest challenge is how to angle the neck back when all the wood is flat. Solution came to me in church! Make a 1-2 deg wedge/shim and put it in the pocket. Voila! And if I want to change the angle simply add or change the shim.

    NOTE: the nails are so that I could get the sheets aligned for cutting and gluing. They will be removed before assembly.

    -WY

    Wichita Sam said:
    good looking, clean approach to a "pocket" neck design....
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed:

  • Wichita Sam July 31, 2010 at 12:41pm
    If the CBG is atleast as thick as the guitar the neck came off of, strength should not be a problem... I build mostly pocket necks now, but use solid hardwood for the fill. Also, I don't fill the whole box, just the width that the neck extends into the box. the neck is attached to a 3-4 inch wide block, that is glued to the box.


    Wes Yates said:
    Thanks Sam. I still have my concerns that it actually will work tho. My biggest fear is that the pocket area doesn't have enough support. I guess I will see. On my ES-335 clone, there isn't much more but that could be a diferent wood. Keep in mind all that this is sheets of 3/8" plywood cut like layers so that I have channels for wiring and the pickups. All of them will be glued together before assembly and that I still have the 1/4" top and bottoms as part of the body.

    So my biggest challenge is how to angle the neck back when all the wood is flat. Solution came to me in church! Make a 1-2 deg wedge/shim and put it in the pocket. Voila! And if I want to change the angle simply add or change the shim.

    NOTE: the nails are so that I could get the sheets aligned for cutting and gluing. They will be removed before assembly.

    -WY

    Wichita Sam said:
    good looking, clean approach to a "pocket" neck design....
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed:

  • Mungo Park July 31, 2010 at 11:08am
    I would build a simple through neck, CBG to figure out how to do things and then go for a more complicated build like this. That way you will have a better understanding of how it goes. With this build you have to align the neck perfectly, just like in a regular electric or it will not work well. But hey just my 2 cents, don't give up on your dream it is just a longer route of getting their. Cheers Ron.
  • Mister Scott July 31, 2010 at 9:41am
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed

    Wes, can you go over what you did here? I'm piqued by your process...
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates July 31, 2010 at 9:40am
    Thanks Sam. I still have my concerns that it actually will work tho. My biggest fear is that the pocket area doesn't have enough support. I guess I will see. On my ES-335 clone, there isn't much more but that could be a diferent wood. Keep in mind all that this is sheets of 3/8" plywood cut like layers so that I have channels for wiring and the pickups. All of them will be glued together before assembly and that I still have the 1/4" top and bottoms as part of the body.

    So my biggest challenge is how to angle the neck back when all the wood is flat. Solution came to me in church! Make a 1-2 deg wedge/shim and put it in the pocket. Voila! And if I want to change the angle simply add or change the shim.

    NOTE: the nails are so that I could get the sheets aligned for cutting and gluing. They will be removed before assembly.

    -WY

    Wichita Sam said:
    good looking, clean approach to a "pocket" neck design....
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed:

  • Wichita Sam July 31, 2010 at 12:45am
    good looking, clean approach to a "pocket" neck design....
    Wes Yates said:
    Here's where I'm headed:


  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates July 30, 2010 at 11:36pm
    Here's where I'm headed:

This reply was deleted.