A while ago NightOwl put up a two part tutorial on how to play Amazing Grace and I learned it on a 3 string. This guitar is a 3 string with an additional bass string, one octave lower than the lowest of the three normal strings. You can easily adapt any three string piece to work with the extra bass string. If anyone wants to see the amp settings there is a picture in the first (oldest) of the comments.

I'm afraid that the video is a bit over exposed. The camera was set to manual and I shot quite a bit. This was taken from later in the recording and the light levels must have risen a bit.

Because there is a lot of interest in NightOwl's excellent tutorials here are the links:
Amazing Grace cbg tutorial Part 1
and
Amazing Grace cbg tutorial Part 2

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Comment by Jamie MacBlues on February 2, 2012 at 10:07am

Nice one John, Nice tone too, Just gettin around ta looking at videos, as been pretty busy with a few other things. Thanks for droppin in on my channel. Love this version of yours, ma man, Jamie

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on January 24, 2012 at 1:48pm

Hi Frank.

A quick rundown of the difference that spring to mind other than the obvious visual ones.

This instrument has a 26.5" scale length. Most of the Lowebows you see seem to be about 30".

Probably the most important difference that applies to how it is played is that the neck tubes run below the level of the lid. A Lowebow has the dowels cut where it goes into the box and the top edge of the dowels is above the level of the lid. You can cut into these tubes or they will loose all their strength. That would make it fold up under the string tension (fine for traveling, but useless once you get there and want to play it). Why this is significant is that the stings are a long way above the neck so that you can't press them against the neck for fingering. This makes it pretty much a slide only instrument for most people. This is not the case with the Lowebow.

The Lowebow uses magnetic pickups and this has piezo pickups, one in each bridge.

A Lowebow has two output sockets. One for the three guitar stings and another for the bass string. This allows you to use two amps and control the tone independently. Mine only has one output and everything goes to one amp.

I think those are the most important points. I hope that helps a bit. If you have any other questions just get back to me.

All the best.

John

Comment by Frank Thomas on January 23, 2012 at 4:17pm

Thank you John. I would be grateful for anything you could share. Yes, a Lowebow style CBG or maybe more appropriately, bow, is what I want to build. I'd love to hear what the similarities and differences are between your instrument and the Lowebow are.

I'll tell you what drew me to your instrument. The way you treated the headstock and the mounting of the tuning machines. That was first rate and I think you demonstrated a different approach to this kind of instrument. I respect the roots of these intruments and the repurposing of common items to make the components. But what I saw with your aluminum bow I think is a very serious and purposeful approach with a beautiful result.

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on January 23, 2012 at 10:01am

Hi Frank.

Thanks for the comment. Sounds like you want to build an instrument similar to a Lowebow. There are some significant differences between this and the Lowebow, but some similarities also. I will send a message with what little I know and hope that it helps you.

All the best.

John

Comment by Frank Thomas on January 21, 2012 at 2:47pm

Beautiful cover of a classic John. I am preparing to build a variation of the guitar you are playing in this video. I am looking for a sound similar to Blackriver Blues and Pat MacDonalds. Can you point me to any links or offer any direction towards building a CBG to that end. Thank you.

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on January 8, 2012 at 10:10am

Hi Ellwood.

Thanks. I really appreciate the comment.

All the best.

John

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on January 8, 2012 at 7:26am

Thanks Paul.

You have the job. Looks like that plan is coming together nicely.

Comment by Paul 'PapaHogg' Smith on January 8, 2012 at 3:44am
The video! But General Paul has a nice sound to it so if you need a right hand man then let's talk money! :)
Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on January 8, 2012 at 3:14am

Hi Paul, Charlotte and Roberto.

Many thanks for leaving the comments.

Paul. Do you mean the video or my idea of becoming dictator?

All the best.

John

Comment by Roberto Diana on January 7, 2012 at 11:24pm

Beautiful!!! :D

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