Jigs & Tools

G'day all,

When I first began to get into this cbg thing, I quickly realised that there aren't any cigar boxes available in my part of the world, & they're too expensive on-line. That meant I had to make them. After my fist "proper" build, I realised

my first two guitars made this year

My very first cbg build is the neck on top instrument made with walnut top, quarter-sawn sycamore sides, cherry back and red oak neck.  I did have a couple of small revisions after this photo was made, I added a walnut fretboard and put a veneer on o

Piezo Placement

If this is not the appropriate place to ask this question, I apologize.  I'm preparing my first box for a resonator cone but am unsure as to where the piezo should be placed.  Is it placed on the cone itself or somewhere on the box?  Any advice will

Notes on Making Sound Boxes for Metal Resonator CBGs

Hi All...

For a long time I have wanted to build a resonator based string instrument, but I've put it off for a long time because of a poor success rate on prototype builds. I had lots of excuses. Chief among them was the difficulty of cutting an acc

The Boat Paddle Box -- The Traditional Stick Dulcimer Soundbox

Homemade Box Clamp

I made a box clamp out of 1" x 1.5" Spruce I ripped from a 2" x 4" on the tablesaw. The back piece is the length of the box. The 2 sides are 0.5" shorter than the sides of the box, plus 1" for the width of the back piece. The front piece is 4" longer

Where do people find solid wood stock for soundboards?

So I've seen a number of builds on the site with solid wood tops such as spruce and was wondering where people get that kind of lumber.  Buying thick stock, joining and planing?  Online site with soundboard material?  Just curious of people's sound b

How I made the box for Reuben's birthday guitar

Let me start by saying that I don't consider myself an expert in this subject, but I have made two very successful resonator boxes with simplest of tools and cheapest of materials. This particular box is made from 6mm ply for the sides, 3mm ply for

deltaresonatorcones.uk

Hi out there, does anyone know what has happened to Colin Oldham from delta resonator cones UK. I ordered a cone & cover plate from him in January 2014, payed via Paypal , I had a mail to say he had been in hospital, then nothing, by then it was too

Measuring wood ( and/or box) resonances - cheaply

I'll start off by saying that this may not be everyone's "cup of tea" and that some people might consider this "overthinking". To that I will simply say that one person's overthinking is another person's "understanding". 

Let's start with something w

Building your own box that opens? Anyone done this?

Was thinking about building my own box and one of the things I like about some of the cigar box builds I've seen is the ability to open the box when the strings are off.  Seems silly, but a nice option if you want to swap necks (screwed, not glued),

Box for three string reso

This is the design for a three string using a uke resonator cone and cover along with a photo of the finished result

My CATBRO Resonator

I realized I posted this in another discussion on piezos.  Sorry for that.

I am building a resonator guitar for my neighbour from a cedar box that had salmon in it (and a painting of a salmon), an old guitar neck and a cat food bowl.....hence the cat

Most useful power tool for CBG

I'm struggling with space vs buying up for yet another hobby vs common sense.

I currently have:

a router and table.  

a japanese hand saw.  

a drill press.  

a rotary saw

seems like making the neck, adequately,  requires more power tool than I cu

Placing the Resonator Cone

Alt. box material

Was reading a post here discussing paper mache(?) as a body material. Occurred to me that maybe cloth or paper Micarta might be something to play with. For how it's made, look up diy micarta on youtube. Used for knife handles. One could just make it

Problem with home-made box - warbling/distorting sound

Hi all,

I finished my first build with a home-made box a few weeks ago, and have been enjoying it immensely. I made the box from 1/8" spruce for the soundboard and 1/4" spruce for the back and sides, all solid wood.

I recently took the guitar over to

My New "Thin-Walled" Sound Box Design

Hi All.

Over the past few weeks I've been developing a new "thin walled" sound box design. My inspiration came from professionally-made instruments which usually have very thin sides (usually 1.2 to 1.5 mm thick). I usually make instruments with a 0.

Advice on first box build

Hi all, I've decided to have a go at building my own boxes as cigar boxes are so scarce in the UK and I've not been too happy with the tone on the basic plain craft boxes I've tried. I've found a supplier who does sheet wood in spruce and sapele and

My Build of a "Boat Paddle Box"

Inspired by Rand Moore's comprehensive write up on the "Boat Paddle Box, I have decided to take a crack at one myself.

Here is the start.  I am doing two at once.  The neck is oak with mahogany strips glued on for the sides.  I am going to cut a sc