Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Grandpa on June 18, 2016 at 2:02pm

Hi Richard. Many times I have grabbed up a lot of boxes at the cigar shop, enamored with the beautiful graphics, wood grain, whatever. get home and realize what you have found...a good lookin' box doesn't always make a good cbg. I have made some shallow boxes into electric guitars using piezos, or more usually single coil pickups. A more common solution I have used is to glue and screw two boxes together, one on top of the other, then cutting out a large square hole between the bottom/top glued surfaces to make a deeper box more suitable for acoustic work. Works well for me. I think it is more visually appealing if the two boxes are twins (two of the same box), but hey....it's cigar box guitar building. I especially like the large, square Fuente boxes for a double stack. Good size, length X width, but shallow. But the shops around here seem to have a lot of them, so I make one big box using two boxes. Maybe not helpful for the box you have in your photo, but perhaps in the future. For your pictured box, maybe a pickup would be a solution. Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on June 18, 2016 at 2:49pm

I made a ukulele from a small thin box, it is 1 1/2" outside height.  One of my favorites.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Wilkins on June 19, 2016 at 4:13am

Cool! I hadn't even thought along this line. Looks like the uke is strung like classical guitars. Lots to think about! I might have a uke build in my future. Great idea Kigar thanks!

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on June 18, 2016 at 4:39pm

add a  mag  pickup  and   make  it  moreso as an electric  . no  issue . 

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Permalink Reply by Richard Wilkins on June 19, 2016 at 4:15am

I'd love to use a mag pickup. Hesitant about bolt on type necks in these little boxes... I'll have to do some reading! Thanks for the idea!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Davis on June 18, 2016 at 5:11pm

As long as I can get a neck through the box, it really doesn't pose any problems.   I use neck material that is 3/4" high and add 1/4"material on top of the neck as a fret board. My most shallow box is, in my opinion, the best build to date--sounds great!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Wilkins on June 19, 2016 at 4:22am

Guess i've just been spooked by how badly my first (poplar) neck bowed after I dug into it to make room for a thick piezo pickup. Since that happened I've been thinking (perhaps prematurely) that all necks need to be beefed up with some kind of heel block or something. I've got some red oak that seems pretty sturdy so maybe I can run a 1x2 of red oak through the box without too much structural support.... I also have some thin 1/4" strips of red oak.... maybe gluing the 1/4" stuff to the 1x2 inside the box? thanks for the response, Eric!

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Permalink Reply by JL on June 20, 2016 at 4:00am

Shane has a hint on that, glue your cutoffs to the sides of the part of the neck inside the box, the extra width helps make up for the lost thickness dug out for the pickup.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Wilkins on June 20, 2016 at 3:04pm

ahhh! ok, i knew somebody did something to address the pickup cavity issue. Vaguely recall a youtube video by Shane. Thanks for the tip, JL

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 21, 2016 at 6:04am

Exactly what I do.. 1x2 maple neck, dado cut down to 1/2" thick, with a 1/4" heel piece that runs the length of the box, and extends 1-1/2 up the neck...

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on June 19, 2016 at 1:04am

I've also see where a builder made single string didley bows by running the end of a fancy pool cue through thin boxes, look cool and elegant. I was thinking about doing that with my thin, but really nice wood boxes,

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Permalink Reply by Richard Wilkins on June 19, 2016 at 4:22am

ok, gonna keep an eye out for pool cues at the flea market today!

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