Build # 2 is ready to play.

Not done, but ready to play. Sorry about the paucity of pics.

I built this one with a 20" scale length so the lower frets would be closer together, make it easier to play with my little stubby fingers.

I also built the fingerboard up higher than the face of the box so there would be room for a higher bridge and nut and still leave some space in the action. I put a rod piezo in the back of the bridge so the extra space is handy.

It's a pretty thing but I'm not too excited with how it plays or sounds, acoustic only so far. (I have the piezo rod in the bridge but I don't have the works wired up for it.) It sounds kinda like a banjo. This fancy box has a thick top and I think that's what causes that.

I put a brass bridge on it. I'm not too excited with it.

It buzzes when I play it, especially the low D (tuned D-A-d) if I pick it very hard, I think the brass bridge may be doing that. I think I'll get some bone and make a bone bridge for it after I get home from my reunion with my Viet Nam combat outfit next week.

It needs a little refining anyway. The edges of the frets are a little rough and tend to be grabby, and need some very fine filing. And of course, like I said, I need to wire up the electric guts for it. I haven't done any fret markers either, don't know for sure what I'm going to do about that yet.

I've started build #3, a cat food bowl reso, and picked out the box for build 4.

Reason for the buzzing is yer string slots are too wide. They need to be just a very wee smidgen wider than the diameter of each string. That goes for at the nut as well. You could rout out the backside of the top to thin it out to improve the acoustic response. Your action at the body frets still looks pretty high for fingerstyle, from the pics, ïbut OK for slide. You could also try another tuning or heavier strings, see if that helps. It's a beautiful build, so far. Bone bridge will help some, and you could try compensating it by twisting the bridge a little so that the thick string end is closer to the tail, the thin string end slightly closer to the headstock. Why not some burgundy red paint dots for fret markers? Or maybe black or gold colored screws?

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Comments

The Phrygian Kid July 21, 2013 at 1:14am

If you want a warmer tone I'd actually suggest go the other way, a hardwood bridge will have a lot less top end sizzle than bone or metal.

Next time pitch your neck some and everything will come together easier for you ;)
Ron "Oily" Sprague July 20, 2013 at 11:20pm

Reason for the buzzing is yer string slots are too wide. They need to be just a very wee smidgen wider than the diameter of each string. That goes for at the nut as well. You could rout out the backside of the top to thin it out to improve the acoustic response. Your action at the body frets still looks pretty high for fingerstyle, from the pics, ïbut OK for slide. You could also try another tuning or heavier strings, see if that helps. It's a beautiful build, so far. Bone bridge will help some, and you could try compensating it by twisting the bridge a little so that the thick string end is closer to the tail, the thin string end slightly closer to the headstock. Why not some burgundy red paint dots for fret markers? Or maybe black or gold colored screws?

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