Fretboard overhangs

Posted by Scott Godwin on May 1, 2018 at 5:43am

I'm working on my building my second CBG. The first one was fretless, with a simple one piece neck, but on this one I want to add a fretboard.

I like the idea of having the fretboard extend over the top of the cigar box by an inch or two. Not that I ever play anything beyond the 19th fret (or even the 12th fret for that matter). I just like the look.

I've seen plenty of other cigar box guitars with overhanging fretboards like this so it can obviously work. What I'm wondering is if I need to be careful to leave space between the overhanging portion of the fretboard and the top of the box so that the box doesn't buzz against the fretboard. Alternatively, I guess the end of the fretboard could be glued down onto the top of the box, but this would make it pretty much impossible to ever open the box again to change things.

What are people's thoughts/experiences?

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Replies

  • Order99 May 4, 2018 at 8:51pm

     I tend to make the neck slightly canted backwards, not as extreme as a Mandolin but close, maybe 3% back or so. As a result, the bottom of my fretboard hangs out over a full inch of empty space-but I insert tiny slices of wood beneath , glue to secure and sand it even.

     I tend to use the bottoms of boxes and use the tops for the back of the instrument (more boxes these days have masonite lids but wooden bottoms) and screw  the backs shut for easy access/bracing/installation of hardware etc. Never had a buzz so far...

  • MadGomer May 2, 2018 at 6:49am
    When I have the fretboard overhanging the lid, I have the fretboard, lid, and neck all tightly sandwiched with screws and/or nails to eliminate any chance for buzz (haven't ever tried it with clearance to know if my concern is warranted). I play around with the neck slot in the box so I can still open the lid if necessary, and may add a bit of trim around the neck there to help hide any gaps in the neck slot with the box closed but not required.
  • gary sheldon May 1, 2018 at 11:36am

    I always overhang the fretboard over the box.  I leave a small space under the fretboard (between fretboard and box top).  The overhanging fretboard can make things tricky when you want to open the box.  One solution is to have the opening part of the box on the bottom.  It can even be screwed down.

    Another thing I do is to use hide glue when fastening the fretboard.  The fretboard can then be removed for

    repairs/alterations.  This can also be problematic if your instrument gets damp.  

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