OK, so I'm new to this game and have been doing a lot of googling and reading to find what I need, track down parts and such like. But the one question on my mind is does it really matter too much what size box I use?
Are there any unworkable limits on dimensions at all, for example how thin is too thin, etc.?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
Replies
An early attempt but it worked,
Hi Jeff. you have hit the nail on the head in regards to home made guitars! there are no rules. Use whatever you want and make it as big or small as you like. Like most people in the uk,I have found getting hold of "cigar boxes" is not always that easy, so as the other posts here have stated, use any old box or indeed make your own. The only limits are to the length of the neck outside of the box in regards to scale length to the bridge. in other words the shorter the length of the box, the longer the neck length outside of the box. So if you consider an average acoustic guitar neck is joined to the body at the 12th or 14th fret, if your box is smaller then you may have to have the neck joining at the 15th to 17th fret. I have a great fun 3 string which joins the body at the 22nd fret! so there really are no fixed rules.
This picture below is of my latest build which I made completely from scratch including the box. In fact its not really a box at all in the way that a cigar box opens as it is a sealed box like a hollow body guitar would be.
Have fun, Alan.
Thanks guys for the great information. Really useful stuff.
Sounds like I don't need to get hung up over using a real cigar box.
If box building is a topic of interest, check put my discussion group on CBN: Home Made Resonator Boxes 101, v.2.0
I live in China, and all the cigar boxes I've used here, I packed in from the States. More often than not, I build my own boxes. I like small instruments, so my boxes are seldom larger than a cigar box. I've tried making even smaller boxes, but they tend not to be so loud. So, there's definitely a tradeoff there. I find the boxes I build sound consistently better than cigar boxes, but I have also discovered that by simply replacing the top of a cigar box with 2mm plywood veneer, that I can get better results rivaling my home-made boxes. On my "paddle box" dulcimers, I have buildt "slim line" instruments where the sound box is just 1" deep. They don't sound as loud as my deeper boxes, so I'd recommend at least 2 inches deep unless you plan to add a pickup. As for width, I am a "lazy" player and like to brace the finger tips of my picking hand over the lower edge of the sound box as this allows me to hold the instrument and steady my hand as I pick using a thumb pick on (of all places) my thumb. For this reason I think a box that is about 6 inches wide make them easier to hold. However, a guitar strap can solve this problem as well. As for length of the box, this depends a lot on the scale length you are looking for and how much of your fretboard you want to overlap the the box. My boxes tend to be around 9" long with the bridge placed 2/3s of the way across the sound box (or 3" above the tail piece). So, about six inches of the scale length are over the box, but since I typically use about an octave and a half worth of frets, I don't bother with extending the fretboard over the sound board, rather I end the fretboard where the neck joins the sound box. So, for me a 9" x 6" x 2" box is a pretty good size, especially since the 2" depth of the box corresponds well with the 5cm wood I can buy at the local lumber suppliers. It comes as 5cm x 0.5cm in lengths of 2 (or 2.2) meters. I typically build 3-stringer instruments, so I buy 3cm x 0.5cm wood for the fretboards. I do have problems finding suitably wide wood for 4- and 5- string instruments, and sometimes have to resort to trimming 5cm wide wood using hand saws and files. The wood I use is either sapelle or cherry wood, and whatever 2mm thick (and half-way decent looking) plywood veneer I can find (usually buy scraps) at the local wood supplier's shop.
-Rand.
I live in Saudi Arabia, where access to cigar boxes is strictly limited to my few cigar smoking friends who buy in bulk. So I make my own boxes from cast-off scraps of 3/16" lauan plywood available from our theater group scenery projects, stiffened with internal battens of 3/4" pine along the inside corners and edges. The tops, bottoms and sides are all made from this thin, tonally interesting plywood; it's also called "Philippine mahogany," though not a true mahogany. My necks are made from two pieces of 3/4" 5-ply lauan plywood, laminated together; this makes them structurally strong, easily shaped with rasp and belt sander, and they have decent tone. My boxes are typically 12 1/2" x 10 1/2" x 3 1/2". This is a comfortable size for setting on your leg or lap, and still having some strumming arm support, and contributes to a deeper tone than the semi-standard 9 x 7 x 2" or 6 x 8 x 1 1/2" "cedar" boxes. Being in the UK, and if you decide to make your own boxes, I would try to find Baltic birch plywood at a local DIY or lumber supplier, which should be cheaper than any cedar, sapele (a mahogany family member), maple or spruce. Baltic birch plywood is used in amp cabinets, and was also used extensively on Harmony guitars in the 50's -70's, to show how a decent sounding, playable instrument could be made from cheap materials. I'd use 1/4" Baltic birch ply for sides, and 2-3mm BB ply for backs and tops.
The smallest box I've used is 81/2" x 61/2"x 11/2" with a scale length of 527mm. Larger boxes are better acoustically but most builders seem to electrify them anyway.
The best acoustic CBG's I've built have home made boxes, this one is 131/2" x 9" x 21/4" made from 3.6mm ply. Use solid timber and they sound even better
Yup, seconded. Or just buy a plain wooden box and replace the lid with a nice tonewood like this: