Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Cigarbox Style Bass Build etc.
- Thread starter Will_White
- Start date
Thanks 
I stopped by the cigar shop after work today to get cigars for my friend whose fiance is 9 months pregnant and happened to glance over at the boxes so after some inspection I bought three, two for standard CBGs, one for my soon to be wife (3days) and one for another friend, the last one for me for a baritone/bass CBG tuned an octave down from the standard CBG, I'll probably get started on those after the honeymoon.
I stopped by the cigar shop after work today to get cigars for my friend whose fiance is 9 months pregnant and happened to glance over at the boxes so after some inspection I bought three, two for standard CBGs, one for my soon to be wife (3days) and one for another friend, the last one for me for a baritone/bass CBG tuned an octave down from the standard CBG, I'll probably get started on those after the honeymoon.
I added an etc. to the title so here goes, I'm doing 3 resonator CBGs the top two are going to be standard 3 string CBGs and the bottom one is going to be a baritone 3 string guitar tuned an octave below the other two. I'm using the same resonator for all of them, a pet food bowl. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the sound holes on the standard CBGs, but for the baritone I'm using a pair of F-holes
Last edited:
Hey Will, I just made this CBG with a dog bowl resonator and it is plenty loud without sound holes. (edit - I mean when played unplugged)
View media item 8169I still need to lower the nut and fasten the bridge.
View media item 8169I still need to lower the nut and fasten the bridge.
Hopkins
Commercial User
You posted a picture, now you have to post a sound clip. I gotta hear that thing
I second this.
That's sweet, I'm thinking one won't have sound holes, I'm hoping the soundholes will warm up the baritone a little and help with projection. The more I think about it I think about it I might have to build 4 so I have a standard and a baritone for myself. Have you built other CBGs before? I'm wondering how much of a volume difference there will be between using a standard construction and the resonator construction.
Last edited:
This is my first CBG, so I have nothing for comparison.
I need suggestions for software to make sound clips. I tried a couple of shareware video and sound capture packages, but neither worked properly. You can PM me to avoid hijacking Will's thread.
Warning - the more I play they bass, the more I forget the guitar, so expect beginner quality chops.
I need suggestions for software to make sound clips. I tried a couple of shareware video and sound capture packages, but neither worked properly. You can PM me to avoid hijacking Will's thread.
Warning - the more I play they bass, the more I forget the guitar, so expect beginner quality chops.
If you have a smartphone the internal mic gives a decent representation of guitar frequencies usually, and you can just upload the file in your post, I use recforge on a galaxy s5. It works ok for bass, I used the stock mic and with the stock camera app on my ROUS demo. A Soundclip or video would be much appreciated.
Anyway, honeymoons over so I bought the neck wood tonight and spent some time laying stuff out. Since I don't have a good way to cut a scarf joint and I don't have a good way to cut a one piece fender style neck out of a larger piece I'm thinking of using thinner pieces glued front to back like this:
Would that work? Could I make it so the overlap was smaller? That's not the wood I'm planning on using just some scrap. This is what I'm planning to use,
Red oak 1x2s I found a quarter sawn piece and two others that were totally straight, I still have to get some 1/2" thick x1.5 pieces for the headstock and some 1/4x1.5 for where the main beam attaches to the box top. I also decided, well my wife decided (she didn't like the one I had planned to use for her's and my friend won't like the box I was planning to use for my wife's), that I'm building 4 of them, one standard CBG and three reso's I'll have to get another box but their cheap.
I layed out the bridge position and nut position and something I wasn't expecting happened even with three differant scale lengths, going from the edge of the box to the nut all of them are in pretty much the same spot.
I also decided on what I'm doing for the electronics on them. On Mine just a single passive magnetic pickup wth a single switch to select on, tone cap engaged, and off. My wife gets a pair of piezos under the bridge with a simple buffer and passive volume tone post buffer, My friend's will be standard passive magnetic pickup with passive volume and tone.
Last edited:
My wife had to get something from the pet store so I picked up some resonators
I saw a really big dog dish that might work for a resonator bass, had a good low tap tone also. I glued up two of the necks tonight as well.
The neck for the baritone resonator, and the neck for the standard non-reso CBG. I haven't decided how I'm going to do the headstocks so I left them long.
I saw a really big dog dish that might work for a resonator bass, had a good low tap tone also. I glued up two of the necks tonight as well.
The neck for the baritone resonator, and the neck for the standard non-reso CBG. I haven't decided how I'm going to do the headstocks so I left them long.
I finally got BandiCam working on my home built PC, but it doesn't have a microphone yet. I'll get one soon.
For the cell Idea, I'll check on an app for a BlackBerry Z30.
One way or the other, I'll get sound clips of the cbg both acoustic and electrified.
Got the headstocks glued on, nut and bridge made for both of them, got the tail piece attached on the baritone, the other one is going to just have holes drilled for the strings to go through, cut the hope for the resonator in the top for the baritone, and now their sitting in clamps waiting fit the glue to dry to attach the main beam to the lids. I ordered the tuners on Friday so they'll be here Tuesday and they'll be done I might run down to guitar center to get some strings while my balanced sets come from bass strings online/ guitar strings online. Oh And something interesting happened when I went the store to get the wood for the bridges, nuts, and headstocks, I was going to buy some copper tubing to make some slides and it was cheaper to buy ten feet then it was to buy 5 feet, which sucks because I can't transport 10 feet of it.
Last edited:
Quite a projects(s) there- quick progress, too.
You're just up the coast from BSO- I'm all the way in SE Fla and usually get strings from BSO 2 days (at most 3 days) after ordering: I don't know how Jason does it!
You should get your strings quicker than a trip to GC and back.
These are very interesting.
I tossed around an idea for a 3 string EUB, but I think I need a beefier neck for the width I was looking at for the length and rigidity. Shelved for now...
I haven't really spent much time on them, everything is already to size since I'm just using standard sized lumber. I've only used a router twice on this build, for notching out the beam in bodies so it doesn't touch the top or the resonator. I've been tossing around the idea of an acoustic bass, from my research it seems like 1.5" is a good size for a truss rod less design, I'm probably going to use a 3/4" board with either a 1/4" or 3/8" fretboard with a trussrod, but I like a good beefy neck. As for the strings, it depends on if they get here before I finish them, and if I can wait to hear them, patience isn't exactly my strong suit as you can see
Last edited:
Unexpectedly the tuners came in today, I'm not sure if I can wait for the strings to come from @SLaPiNFuNK
Good news and bad news. good news I have the tuners installed, and soundholes cut on the baritone, bad news the glue joint at the headstock failed, definately a failure of the glue, not the wood, probably because it was so cold the night I glued it, it's sitting inside clamped up again.
Good news the baritones neck is holding the tension of two strings, bad news it sounds terrible with flats and the tuning machines can't handle bass strings.
I marked out the position markers for playing with a slide using fretfind and a 29" scale. The tuners are junk, I replaced the one that failed in an attempt to get an idea of what it's going to sound like and then the high G tuner failed, I think it has to do with the stiffness of the core, at any rate I bought some new bass tuners from Amazon and I'll get those thursday, I'll get the headstock off tomorrow probably and glue another on so I have room for the larger tuners and I'll also lower the nut and bridge a little.
