A club for beginners who are building for the first time and need some support from each other as well as experienced builders who are willing to teach newbies the ropes. Welcome!
320 Members

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Comments are closed.

Comments

  • Hi all!
    New here; looking to work on my first project. Not sure what I'm going for yet, but thought I'd intro myself and see if this group is active. Loads of great-looking builds on here! Makes me optimistic about what an absolute beginner like me might be able to build!
  • I have an old king Edwards cigar box that says 7 cents each on the inside of the lid I was sent a link for a video on here on how to make them  and now I need to make one well to start with any ways I have thought about making it electric but I’m not shire yet would it be best to make it acoustic sence it will be my first build 

  • 306617807?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024I finally finished my second build.. Light years better than my first with a much cleaner sound.. I went with a 24 & 3/4 scale length and again using Jarrah for the neck.. It's as hard as hell and completely tore up one saw blade cutting the fret slots.. I used ox bone for the nut and bridge and stuffed in a piezo pickup as well.. There are still a few niggling mistakes but I feel I am getting better at resolving them.. Unfortunately my playing ability is still garbage but when the neighbours are out and the volume is cranked up who cares :)  

  • 306518343?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024First build... mocked it up last night. Mistakes aplenty, but have not pitched the neck yet.

  • Hi all. Just joined the group and only joined the site about a week ago. First thing that has to be said is you all RAWK! So friendly and helpful around here, a true credit to the revolution. I had a read through some of your comments and saw folks adding images of their first builds. I'm on build three, owning four once this is done but this was my first ever build. Hope the picture shows.

    One string plank.

  • My first CBG.  How high should the strings be for a slider?  Pretty sure mine are way too high.  Thought I would have to make them high because my neck is the thickness of the back of the box, which is the front of the CBG because it is thinner than the cover.  Figured it'd make a better sound board.  

    I think the "F" holes are bigger than they should've been.

    Tuned to GDG.  The low G and D sound OK, the high G sounds really weak unless played right at the bridge.  Any fix to that?

    306438089?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    306438184?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    306439062?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

  • Here is my proof of graduation from the first-timers:

    https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10202604432742369

  • Ken, we could probably see easier if there was a picture attached.

  • I've just started making CBGs for about 6 months.  I'm 50 years old and thought it was time to come up with a new hobby.  Here is a picture of my first upright bass.  it stands about 6', the frets are wooden tooth picks, the markers are from a wooden dowel I found, and the cigar box is about 18'X5"X4".  The string is weed eater string.  As you can see at the top, the tuning key is an eyebolt, a washer, and two bolts holding it in place.

  • Glenn, 

     

    Nice video.  Thanks for joining the club of "takers and givers".  Groups like ours depend upon folks who are willing to share what they have learned with others.  No one has to (or can) know it all before starting to share.  If you have something that works, why not?  I'm in this crazy thing for 7 years and over 450 builds by now and I am still learning tricks and tips from folks who just began months ago.

     

    Bravo!!!

     

    Wichita Sam 

This reply was deleted.

beginner mistake

hi everyone, i made a big mistake and not sure how to fix it. i really hope im not the first one to do this but, i bought not one but two slide guitars . one 3 string and one 4 string. i did not know the action would be so high that you cant fret. both are well made nice guitars but i want to  be able to fret and slide. looking for ideas on how to lower the action. maybe install hardtail bridges ? any advice would be greatly  appreciated. thanks , r.j.

Read more…
1 Reply

Build 2!

I built a second CBG, finished Monday night - I can't every do anything simply so I went with a knockoff of a pic I saw on this site recently. It actually worked out really well! I didn't cut a sound hole but the resonance is so good I'm considering leaving it as is. I need to pull the strings off and add the fret location markers - I got so excited as I was closing in on finishing it that I forgot those. Also trying to decide if I want to stick a piezo pickup in it. Tried my hand at doing a…

Read more…
3 Replies

Can a box be too shallow?

I picked up two boxes for my first couple of attempts at CBG's; finished the first and I'm getting ready to start the second. The box I got is nice and long, but it's a bit shallow - only 2" deep. I feel like it'll be an interesting build but I'm wondering if that maybe isn't deep enough to get good resonance? I'm considering doing it as a neck-through, but ending inside the box rather than going all the way through at the bottom. Thoughts?

Read more…
3 Replies

First build, not-great results

Posted this on my blog but here goes again... Just finished first build; sadly, kinda disappointing results. During the build I wobbled between "just make the dang thing" and "this is going to be the most beautifulest ever!". So instead of just going for a straightforward, simple build to get used to it, I ended up messing around with a lot more stuff than I probably should have. Problems include buzzing on some of the strings; wonky fret height which is also creating buzz and bad notes on some…

Read more…
3 Replies