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July 2010 Blog Posts (20)

Woody Guthrie

Hi, has anyone got any experience of playing woody guthrie material on CBG? ... Hard travelin, This Land is, etc. Any tips or video footage would be good.

Added by phillip smith on July 29, 2010 at 12:14pm — 4 Comments

Hey all, here is a handy guide to use to determine the spacing of the strings at the nut and the saddle/bridge. The width should be 1.5" for a 4 and 3 string CBG. Use the center and the two outside lines for a 3 string. The horizontal lines mean nothing except to provide a perpendicular guide to the strings. They are NOT fret marks.

Enjoy.

-WY

Bitmap file:…

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Added by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on July 28, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Rand Moore Cigar Box Ukulele Project 1, Part 3

Well, last time I messed up on the head/neck scarf joint. The two mating surfaces weren't 100% flat and so when I clamped one side down, the two pieces rolled a bit, and I didn't notice it until after the two pieces had dried that there was a big gap on the other side. (Sloppy wood working, I know. Well, I'm just a beginner at wood working. I also screwed up my 3-string head/neck assembly (my other on-going project) by using super (crazy) glue to glue on cut nails as frets. Lesson: …

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Added by Rand Moore on July 27, 2010 at 4:00pm — 3 Comments

A change in the build.

After doing some tapping on the top with and without the bridge support I broke it off. It dampened the sound from the box by a good 1/3. I'll wait to try it again when I make a box out of 1/8 ply.

Yes I started on a diddley bow but can't bring myself to make a one stringed instrument. I"m a coward...LOL Instead it'll be a 3 string meant to be played like a 2 stringer. The two lower strings will be close together for cording. Leaving the higher string free for slide use.

I… Continue

Added by Paul Stephen Eklund on July 25, 2010 at 5:08pm — 1 Comment

Got started and hit a snag...LOL

Finally started my first build. It'll be out of a 10 3/4 x 6 1/2 cigar box instead of a box I build myself. Be a 3 string fretless. Got me some bone to cut into the nut and bridge. Got everything going and then hit a snag. Even though it'll be fretless I'd still like to mark the frets. Went to 'fretfind-2D and printed out a 22 fret 24 scale fret board. Just to get a 23 fret 24.5 scale pic. It doesn't matter what I program the thing to give me. It always send me a 24.5 scale neck. LOL So I've… Continue

Added by Paul Stephen Eklund on July 25, 2010 at 10:21am — 4 Comments

Cigar Box Ukulele Project 1, Part 2

Back again. I have been building a concert sized cigar box uke, but I messed up gluing together the head and neck (the scarf joint), so I'm going to try to build it again in a day or two. One of the surfaces I glued was not completely flat and when I glued, then clamped the two pieces together onto my "work bench", both clamps were on one side and I failed to inspect the back side. Had I done, so, I'd have noticed the big gap that only got bigger when I clamped them tight. I didn't notice till… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on July 17, 2010 at 6:05pm — 2 Comments

Cigar Box Ukulele Project 1

I have found a couple sources for Cigar Boxes around my "summer home" in the SF Bay Area. I quickly made a one-stringer (diddly bow-like) CBG w/o frets, mainly to get the idea of how to attach the neck to the cigar box. Another goal was to make an instrument I could use to play around with a slider while using a chop stick to pound on the strings (a new style of playing), as well as picking while fretting with imaginary frets (also a new experience for me). Wish I knew more about how to… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on July 13, 2010 at 9:30pm — 1 Comment

3-String Headstock Design #1, Part 4

Added by Rand Moore on July 13, 2010 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Well, the first one is built and tuned...but that's all I can say. I think the neck is bowed slightly, so I can't play notes on it (does that make sense?). I'm not sure how to fix it... I'm already …

Well, the first one is built and tuned...but that's all I can say. I think the neck is bowed slightly, so I can't play notes on it (does that make sense?). I'm not sure how to fix it...

I'm already planning my next build. I have a small Cruzado box I was thinking about turning into a strummer, but I'm kind of leary about risking another failure! Still, I feel inspired by what I think it will look like. I guess if all I get out of it is wall art, I shouldn't complain.…

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Added by Stacey on July 13, 2010 at 2:33pm — 3 Comments

Tragic accident.

What is NUNU's? http://townmarket.homestead.com/

http://deuxbayousgallery.homestead.com//

I lost five guitars when a gallery that my guitars were in burned down this Sunday July 11,2010. NuNu's in Arnaudville Louisiana. It burned down Sunday with loads of art work and musical gear, P.A., Lighting, Kitchen, Bar.... It's all gone. The family owned establishment was family financed… Continue

Added by Albert J. Guilliot on July 12, 2010 at 1:39pm — 1 Comment

Hello Everyone

I'm Tim from Mc Henry Illinois. Ive been making 3 strings for about 4 months. Im on my 6th build now and its a 4 string! I've got a set of d'addario light accoustics in front of me n im not sure what strings to use for a 4 string... Do i go high or low?

Added by Catalyst on July 8, 2010 at 9:24am — No Comments

3-String Headstock Design #1, Part 3

This is part 3 of my 3-string headstock design and build project.

Well, now I have a block of wood about 5.5" long by 2.25" wide by 0.75" deep with which to build my headstock. It also has a 22 degree angle cut for where the head piece will mate with the neck. The headstock diagram I drew will soon be used to shape the headstock and to drill out the 3 holes for the tuning machines (tuners). Before starting this… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on July 6, 2010 at 7:00am — No Comments

CBG # 1

I put the strings on the guitar on Saturday, but found that the bolt I had planned on using for the nut doesn't work. So now I'm searching for an alternative. :(

My youngest son wants his own guitar now. I think I'm going to surprise him with the one I'm working on, since I'm already planning on a strummer for my next build. :)

My hubby is excited about this project of mine. He got out his old violin and has been practising every day. He told me that he's looking forward… Continue

Added by Stacey on July 5, 2010 at 3:27am — No Comments

3-String Headstock Design #1, Part 2

Once you have a board prepared for use as the headstock (as described in the previous post), you need to decide how you will be attaching it to the neck and how you will be installing the tuning machines (tuners).

Let's start by discussing how I plan to connect the headstock to the neck. As you may recall from the first post, my neck and neck stock both have a 22 degree cut (plus or minus a degree), revealing a sloped surface about 2 inches long. The question is how the… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on July 4, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Cigar box guitars on the Bone Collector on the Outdoor Channel

There is someone named Mark that was featured on Michael Waddell's "Bone Collector" show on the Outdoor Channel. Does anyone know who he is? Is he a member of CBN? On the show he built a CBG that was went to Iraq and came back with signatures of soldiers on it. It was awesome. Anyone have any information on this?

Added by Tim Norman on July 4, 2010 at 10:25am — No Comments

1st cbg

Finished my first cbg last week. Looks pretty good but sounds like crap. I had to restring it several times until I got it right. Any suggestions? Also, I can't play a guitar, would that have anything to do with it?

Added by William McCauley on July 4, 2010 at 9:10am — 1 Comment

Ben Prestage Live

Just noticed Ben Prestage is at The Green Parrot Friday & Sunt. July 9 & 11. Free live web cam.

www.greenparrot.com at 5:30. No connection but just noticed it on their calendar. Good bands every so often.

Bob

Added by Bob Holland on July 4, 2010 at 7:27am — No Comments

Headstock Design #1, for a 3-String Cookie Tin Canjo

I'm working my way up from "one string soda can on a stick" variety canjos to "3-string round cookie tin Banjo-Canjos," I finished a "

2-Stringer" a few days ago and have been playing and tweaking it, since. The instrument is tuned G-D, and the second string plays/sounds best as a drone. So, playing it is not much different than a one string canjo, but it sounds a lot better. Now I want to add another string, but that means a more complex headstock… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on July 4, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments

I have everything I need to start, just aint started....

Still reading thew articles both on this site and others. On everything from the pros and cons of an internal resonator, bridge placement, piezos, materials for nuts and bridges..and the list goes on. Yep you caught me. I’m a geek who likes to have all my ducks in a row before I start. LOL For me the challenge is the best part. I’d be no fun at all to just toss a stick of wood on a box and…

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Added by Paul Stephen Eklund on July 3, 2010 at 4:06pm — No Comments

You know the Blues

You know, the blues is something that's hard to get acquainted with. It's just like death. Now, I tell you about the blues. The blues dwells with you every day and everywhere. See, you can have the blues about that you're broke. You can have the blues about your girl is gone. The blues comes so many different ways until it's kind of hard to explain. But whenever you get a sad feeling, you can tell the whole round world you got nothing but the blues.…

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Added by Tracy Kennedy on July 3, 2010 at 6:59am — 3 Comments