CBG's 037 - 040

CBG's 37 - 40

037 was a house warming gift for my Brother-in-Law. I used a Penfold's Tawny Port Box and added a ply top and a larger sound hole than I normally would use. Same measurements again (635 mm or 25 inch scale length), 18 frets, telecaster style bridge, 3 strings and a piezo pickup. I have also started using 12 mm think timber for the neck (I have to glue an inlay onto the headstock as the headstock needs to be a minimum 15 mm to accommodate the tuning pegs) + the 7 or 8 mm fretboard to bring it up to about 20 mm thickness for the neck. It feels a bit more like a regular guitar neck to hold but I am not sure if it is better or not as a CBG is a little different to a guitar. It has a nice sound (not as loud as I thought it would be) and it looks pretty impressive next to his wine selection.

038, 039 and 040 are almost identical in design and construction as I wanted to experiment to see if a sound hole makes any difference...my view is that it seems to make no difference at all. Most of the sound comes from the box anyway so the holes are not really required. Cosmetically they do look good (e.g. Shane Speal's f holes look great and add character to his builds) but from an acoustic point of view, I don't think I am going to bother too much more with them in the future.

Anyway, same measurements again (635 mm or 25 inch scale length), 18 frets, rosewood floating  bridge, 3 strings and a piezo pickup (tuned to AEA). I used 12 mm think timber for the neck + the 8 mm thickness fretboard to bring the necks up to about 20 mm thickness. In the past my neck thickness has been about 26 mm. Even though I have made a few of this design I still enjoy making them and I am always impressed with how good they do sound. The new piezo pickups that I am using might help as well...not as tiny sounding.

Finally, you can contact me now directly at: frankscigarboxguitars@gmail.com

Also, I have just started to post up some sounds of some of the latest CBG's that I have made at soundcloud.com

https://soundcloud.com/frankscigarboxguitars/cbg-34

https://soundcloud.com/frankscigarboxguitars/cbg-38

Till next time, keep building and keep playing even if it is just for yourself.

CGB's # 034 - 036

CBG # 34

I ventured off into another direction with this guitar by using a resonator cone from Republic Guitars (I have been using other resonator cones from Mike Lowe in the US). This 6 1/4 " standard ukulele cone works well with the La Aroma cigar box. I also used a Klangbox "Original Flatpup" pickup and it sounds mighty nice. I am really impressed with these pickups...no volume control, just straight into the jack. They have a sweet warm sound but drive the amp a little, and they begin to break up very nicely.

The CBG has a 635 mm scale length, Tassie Oak neck and fretboard and this time it is a 4 string tuned G D G B. I like 4 strings as they give a little more harmonic variation in one's playing.

 CBG # 35

For this CBG I used a Cohiba box (very nice boxes), another Flatpup pickup and a 3 string telecaster type bridge. The neck is recycled Silky Oak with a Rosewood fret board. It has a 635 mm scale length, 18 frets and 3 strings tuned to D A D. This CBG sounds nice and swampy when played with a lot of reverb and growls when you crank the amp.

CBG # 36
I used another La Aroma box (they are a great size and easy to work with) and the same cone for the CBG. I also used again the same Klangbox "Original Flatpup" pickup as I love their sound. You can buy them from Elmar (www.original-flatpup.com) in Austria but he only takes orders every so often. I bought 4 (2 x 3 string and 2 x 4 string pickups) from him and I still have 1 x 3 string left that I am keeping for a rainy day:).

Once again, no volume control, just straight into the jack.  635 mm scale length, Tassie Oak neck and fretboard and this time I tuned the 4 strings  D A D F#. I didn't put a sound hole in this one as I didn't notice much of a difference when I did on CBG # 34. I have read on the Net that sound holes on CBG's are not really required as they are more cosmetic so I might try a few with and without to see what does work. I will keep the design almost identical on the next 3 builds.

The above 3 guitars took a little while longer to make than others so I might keep it a bit more simple for the next few guitars that I am going to make. I have a few other cigar boxes that I might try out.

Till next time, keep playing and making. Cheers!

CBG's 028 - 033

028 was another Punch box. 18 frets, 635 mm scale length, piezo pickup and Tassie Oak neck and fretboard.

029 was the last of my perdomo boxes. 18 frets, 635 mm scale length, piezo pickup and tassie oak neck and fretboard. 

030 was a Romeo and Juliette brown coloured box. As stated earlier, the sides and top are made out of MDF  and the bottom is timbered ply. Not sure why but I really like these boxes. It has a nice and warm sound and sounds good either clean or distorted. 

031 was another resonator (cone from Mike Lowe of the US) CBG. It has a Camphor Laurel body (milled from our back yard about 8 – 9 years ago), Tassie Oak neck and printed markers on the fret board. This guitar sounds great either as an acoustic or an electric CBG (a single coil pickup) and I have really enjoyed making these. A different cone was used and the sound is a cross between a dobro and a banjo.

032 was another resonator CBG(cone from Mike Lowe of the US) . It has a Camphor Laurel body, Tassie Oak neck and printed markers on the fret board. This guitar sounds great either as an acoustic or an electric CBG (a single coil pickup) and I have really enjoyed making these. A different cone was used and the sound is a little more bluesy.

033 was a labour of love that I had to do. I have refined my original PT (the first guitar I ever made) by using only the box and part of the neck. Firstly I took off all the paper and painted the box with some rockabilly type flames, I then added a new headstock which I set at a slight angle and dowelled the headstock to the neck. I placed a rosewood inlay on the new headstock and used a new piezo. It has a Tassie Oak neck but no actual fretboard as I inserted the frets straight on to the neck (I started from 001 onwards glueing the fretboard onto the neck to make it stronger...this CBG seems fine as I have had it now for 2 years.)

I made the action a little higher so to play more slide and I am very impressed with how this one sounds. Not sure if it is the new piezo or the lack of paper on the box or even both...anyway, she plays and sounds great.

Finally, I have ordered a few more Perdomo, Cohiba, La Aroma and  other boxes from the US. I am trying some Klangbox pickups (they sound mighty nice) from Austria. A little cheaper than the Bob Harrison pickups...I will do some with the Bob Harrison pickups one day though. I also have now 2 x small dobro type resonator cones that I am currently working on to put in the La Aroma boxes so keep your eyes open for the new stuff over the next month or two.

Cheers all!