First build

Posted by londonbackpackr on January 11, 2014 at 8:04am

I'm slowly get all the piece together to build my first CBG.

So far I have the box and a piece of 1x2 popular for the neck, 1/4 socket, piezo and volume pot; I am still waiting for machine tuners from ebay.

I have to say that I have no woodworking experience and don't even play guitar lol.

Today I've started by cutting the slots on the box, going with a straight through neck and this is where I may have encounter a problem.

I have allowed 4in (10cm) for the head stock and am going with a 23 1/2 in (59cm) scale; I think I read that the bridge should be roughly 2/3 the way into the box, so on my 10 1/2 (27cm) box that is about  7 in (27cm).

This then give my about 15in (38cm) of playable neck (nut to where the neck disappears into the box).

Do these measurement sound right or have I got it all wrong.

Thanks

George 

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Replies

  • The Capo Kid February 12, 2014 at 8:12am

     Have you cut the neck yet ? , I'd fit the neck to the box  , place your bridge where you want it  , then measure your scale , the scale length you want from the bridge to the nut  , then allow for the headstock length then cut  to length that way you know your right .

  • Coventry Halfpenny guitars February 9, 2014 at 4:34pm

    Good job lovin the art work is it hand painted or tranfer printed.a la T shirt printing

     

  • londonbackpackr February 8, 2014 at 1:23pm

    Finally finished my first build :-)

    A few mistakes and problems but it is in tune and I can play slide on it.

    Learnt a lot about how things work and am looking forward to making the next one.

     

    Heisenberg.jpg

    • londonbackpackr > londonbackpackr February 16, 2014 at 12:49pm

      Are guitar machine heads all the same?

      I bought six from ebay 3R 3L and have had two fail on me, by fail I mean that the worm has been chewed up by the cog and now won't tighten the strings they just keep jumping.

      I know it could be that they are cheap but just need to know if I putting them on correctly

    • ChickenboneJohn > londonbackpackr February 20, 2014 at 6:56am

      Some of those cheap (Chinese) machineheads are absolute garbage. I've tried several sources for my "make and play" workshop guitars and now I'm very wary of the cheap stuff - some is spot on (and comes from China) and I've used hundreds of sets of them, others are a royal pain. When  I've got 20 or 30 people in a class making guitars I can't afford to have any mechanical failures, and I did have one problem batch which taught me a lesson about choosing components. Some of the really nasty ones don't take to being used the wrong way round as regards the string tension acting in reverse as often happens with a 2 + 1 headstock, and when there's so much slop in the gears they don't engage properly and skip when tightened...nightmare!! My usual supplier is out of stock and rather than risk buying a batch of unknown and untested quality, I might revert to buying a batch of basic but high quality Van Gent ones from Holland simply because they are solid and reliable.  Spend a bit more money and you can save a load of grief.

      As for all machine heads being the same..well you can pay as little as £2.75 for a set or well over £100 for a set...yes there's a lot of difference!!

    • mark68 > londonbackpackr February 9, 2014 at 4:51pm

      Ahhh just looked at the pic...........awsome. was thinking of something similar too. Love it.

    • Malcolm Wright > londonbackpackr February 9, 2014 at 5:19am

      Nice one fella. Certainly looks better than my first effort! Every build from here on in will be better than the last, I can't believe how rough some of my early builds look but hey, they play and I love 'em!

    • Richey Kay > londonbackpackr February 8, 2014 at 3:31pm
      Haha awesome man! in the words of Tuco Salamanca; tight!tight!tight!
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