My first build is complete and just wanted to share a pic or two. I enjoyed the process building in my kitchen, living room backyard, wherever I could find a place in my small apartment. I found it to be fun sourcing parts from around the country and even the world. I had a book (and this site) to give me ideas but still had to solve numerous puzzles for my customized guitar. I call my 4 fret-less the "Skullinator" and now am teaching myself how to play slide. What a blast. I'm going to use what I learned and some of the extra pieces I picked up along the way to make a bass guitar for the studio.
What a great web site this is.
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Well done Jeff,
What a first build. Kudos. Friggin' sweet! I am almost finished mine. Like yourself its been mostly a kitchen, back garden build. Have a 2 yr old running around, so can only really do anything when she goes for snooze hahahahahaha.
I am using 'Gittyman's CBG Manual'. Its from the States, so hard to find alternatives for some things here in Ireland. I am also a lefty, so a bit of adjustment but not much. Never did anything 'woodwork' wise so this has been an eyeopener. A good few mistakes made, but hey, guess that's the fun in making one of these badboys. Mine is an electric, fretless 3 string.... although I attempted to inlay 15 fret markers. That was fun....not! Used matchsticks. As I am using Ash for the neck, which is quite light, I tried to stain the matchsticks...Of course that went to pot, cause naturally I had to sand them down to be flush with the neck! Oh the joys hahahahahahaha
Anywho,
Congrats on a deadly build. Like yourself, I cannot play the bloody thing but really looking forward to hearing how it sounds and learning how to play it.
Funny story and good times. I over cut the holes, got paint on the strings and have a few cracks in the box that I glued and puttied. I finally got rid of the damn humming noise when plugged into the amp/pedal. I did that by grounding it to the strings. Seems to be a common problem. I finally got some new strings on Tuesday and when I hooked them up I found out I had to re-drill the holes I put in the tail piece.
Look forward to seeing your build. You gotta send me a note when you put it up. Do you have a YT channel?
I'm building a Bass next so that should produce some new challenges but I got some stuff on order. Its fun to get creative. I'm not a wood worker either but I did buy a $20.00 dremel tool before I built it.
Video shows some steps along the way. Cigar Box can be heard at abo...
Pretty cool looking... any chances of a sound sample?
I'm working on that. I'll post a YouTube link and thanks for checking it out. I'm hooked on this stuff now
forgot the pics
CBG 1 SKULLINATOR (1).JPG
CBG 1 SKULLINATOR FINISHED.jpg
CBG 1 SKULLINATOR TUNING.jpg
Dang sight better than my first build. I was seeing if I could actually build one for under $20. Nailed it!
First CBG.jpg
That's cool. I like the tuning peg on top. I've never seen that before. When I first thought about building I was thinking about making one to sell. After building I couldn't part with one.