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weed whacker strings

Posted by NoxTerran on March 23, 2010 at 12:21am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

ok guys check this, i know i am not the first to do this but i am still damned proud of it. got some weed whacker line today and strung up a couple of my CBBG's and in about 15 min total i had em holding a tune and playing. i am saying this because i wish to hand out a piece of advice with it, a plain ol peizo pickup inside the box wont cut it on a bass, what we discovered in about 15 min of work is to samwich the peizo between a block of wood, wedge shaped for the bridge, and the body of the guitar. before we did that it was so quiet i was getting more acousticly than i was through the amp, now though its loud as can be and the entire box doesnt become hyper sensative to touch and sound. all this was discovered in very little time experimenting we are still at the drawing board working out the details so as more trick and advice becomes available i'll share it but i hope this helps someone with their build and save a bit of money too.

 

enjoy

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Replies

  • Wichita Sam March 24, 2010 at 11:15am
    drop me a line about what you're trying to build, and I'll mail you some WW line to fit the experiment.... I "invested" in super heavy gauge line (3 sizes over 0.105 which is ususally as heavy as you can go.) I've gotten true low "E" using WW line and slack tuning on a 34" bass scale.... sounds like slap bass....

    the best,

    Wichita Sam

    NoxTerran said:
    actually i am always willing to experiment so if you are willing to come off it i would greatly appreciate it. problem is i dont know where you're located and am broke as a joke, ironically its what spawned the creation of our first CBG and the desire for string alternatives

    Wichita Sam said:
    You could certainly build a neck thru design on the box bottom with the neck under the bottom(now the new "top"). If you do that a piezo under the box will work fine (for volume, although I don't recommend it re: feedback)... The first WW CBG I ever sold was a simple setup built on the top, sold to a blues professional, and it got in his act every night.

    I love WW CBBs. If you ever want to experiment with heavier line (up to 0.155) let me know... I should still have some setting around...

    the best,

    Wichita (formerly WeedWacker) Sam

    Uncle Crows Music said:
    that is how we do it, Neck on box. we do it that way for ease of build and repair. it also allows us to open the box to modify on the fly and actually store things in the box, i know crow keeps his tuner, pick and slide inside of his guitar and takes them out to play, most neck through designs dont allow you to do that. oh well, personal preference i guess and i hope and pray i got alot of brilliance coming to me because i got too much chaos as it is.lol
  • NoxTerran March 24, 2010 at 9:10am
    actually i am always willing to experiment so if you are willing to come off it i would greatly appreciate it. problem is i dont know where you're located and am broke as a joke, ironically its what spawned the creation of our first CBG and the desire for string alternatives

    Wichita Sam said:
    You could certainly build a neck thru design on the box bottom with the neck under the bottom(now the new "top"). If you do that a piezo under the box will work fine (for volume, although I don't recommend it re: feedback)... The first WW CBG I ever sold was a simple setup built on the top, sold to a blues professional, and it got in his act every night.

    I love WW CBBs. If you ever want to experiment with heavier line (up to 0.155) let me know... I should still have some setting around...

    the best,

    Wichita (formerly WeedWacker) Sam

    Uncle Crows Music said:
    that is how we do it, Neck on box. we do it that way for ease of build and repair. it also allows us to open the box to modify on the fly and actually store things in the box, i know crow keeps his tuner, pick and slide inside of his guitar and takes them out to play, most neck through designs dont allow you to do that. oh well, personal preference i guess and i hope and pray i got alot of brilliance coming to me because i got too much chaos as it is.lol
  • Wichita Sam March 24, 2010 at 8:51am
    You could certainly build a neck thru design on the box bottom with the neck under the bottom(now the new "top"). If you do that a piezo under the box will work fine (for volume, although I don't recommend it re: feedback)... The first WW CBG I ever sold was a simple setup built on the top, sold to a blues professional, and it got in his act every night.

    I love WW CBBs. If you ever want to experiment with heavier line (up to 0.155) let me know... I should still have some setting around...

    the best,

    Wichita (formerly WeedWacker) Sam

    Uncle Crows Music said:
    that is how we do it, Neck on box. we do it that way for ease of build and repair. it also allows us to open the box to modify on the fly and actually store things in the box, i know crow keeps his tuner, pick and slide inside of his guitar and takes them out to play, most neck through designs dont allow you to do that. oh well, personal preference i guess and i hope and pray i got alot of brilliance coming to me because i got too much chaos as it is.lol
  • Uncle Crows Music March 23, 2010 at 11:08am
    that is how we do it, Neck on box. we do it that way for ease of build and repair. it also allows us to open the box to modify on the fly and actually store things in the box, i know crow keeps his tuner, pick and slide inside of his guitar and takes them out to play, most neck through designs dont allow you to do that. oh well, personal preference i guess and i hope and pray i got alot of brilliance coming to me because i got too much chaos as it is.lol
  • MichaelS Country Boy Guitars March 23, 2010 at 8:56am
    From the drawing it looks like the neck is on top of the box and not run thru it? If this is how your CBG is built this may deaden some of the sound getting to the piezo's inside the box. I tried the piezo inside a cardboard box with weedwacker strings and with it wedged under the bridge also, I found the same thing, the bridge wedge sounded much better. It was just a test piece so I just shoved the piezo under one side of my wood bridge with no covering on it, I think this is probably the best location for the piezo to end "extra" sounds. Expensive Acoustic guitars put them in the bridge, they must know something. Good test, thanks for sharing and reminding me of my own test. By the way I like your avatars message, I must have alot of brilliance coming to me 'cause there sure is plenty of chaos here. : )
  • NoxTerran March 23, 2010 at 7:34am
    here ya go, quick diagramm with paint, its a tab it of an exploded side view so once you line everything up, smoosh it all together

    quick diagram.bmp

  • NoxTerran March 23, 2010 at 7:23am
    yea no problem, i will whip up a quick drawing today until i can get a picture of it to post, and the kanji isnt actually a kanji, its an I-Ching, it means "Chaos- where brilliant dreams are born. before there can be brilliance there must be chaos, before a man can be brilliant he must first seem foolish to the crowd" it is my business logo for my computer business and it pretty well describes my life. i even have it tattooed on my left arm
  • Al Allen (Hangten) March 23, 2010 at 12:44am
    Nox, yeah, me too! I need a picture or drawing for clarity. Thanks for the info.
  • Claude March 23, 2010 at 12:37am
    First, I like your Avatar image, it's Kenji and a Chop. What does it say please? (Yes I do Kenji caligraphy) OK, I'm dumber than a stump, or so my firends would tell you. Can you post a picture of "samwich the peizo between a block of wood, wedge shaped for the bridge" I get the samwich part it's the wedge I'm struggling with. This is good info, thanks Nox.
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