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First build

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 to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on January 11, 2014 at 2:11am

Hi George. the idea of the scale length is that its the distance between the nut and the bridge. The distance, in theory is 59cm - so your bridge is 59cm from your nut. by all means position the neck so the bridges 2/3 of the way along the box. This is best for the sound. have fun with it!

Permalink Reply by Coventry Halfpenny guitars on January 11, 2014 at 4:35am

Hi londonbackpackr

I make it more like 16 1/2" neck which 12 plenty.A 4" headstoci is also fine.If you are use a piezo pickup may i suggest a eq preamphttps://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/guitar-electronics/pre-amps/great-... it will help the sound.cheap and cheerfull on ebay.Good luck with your build shure wont be the last but dont forbet to play em

Permalink Reply by mark68 on January 11, 2014 at 5:09am

I have just finished my second cigarbox ukulele...my first was ok,but I was not 100% happy with the finished sound, I was almost put off building the second, but im so glad I did.....the sound was tremendous, its my main instrument..I would suggest u read , read, and download any plans u can find. I downloaded plans for tenor ukulele, but adjusted the body to fit the screwfix box I was using.... the next tip is enjoy,and prepare to learn ........

Permalink Reply by mark68 on January 11, 2014 at 5:10am

Under saddle pickups sound great too

Permalink Reply by londonbackpackr on February 8, 2014 at 7:23am

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.

Attachments:

Heisenberg.jpg, 885 KB

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on February 8, 2014 at 9:31am

Haha awesome man! in the words of Tuco Salamanca; tight!tight!tight!

Permalink Reply by Malcolm Wright on February 8, 2014 at 11:19pm

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!

Permalink Reply by mark68 on February 9, 2014 at 10:51am

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

Permalink Reply by londonbackpackr on February 16, 2014 at 6:49am

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

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on February 20, 2014 at 12:56am

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!!

Permalink Reply by Coventry Halfpenny guitars on February 9, 2014 at 10:34am

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

Permalink Reply by londonbackpackr on February 9, 2014 at 12:14pm

Its wood burned with a cheap wood burning tool