This is one of my next projects based on the Pentatonic Plus Scale
after seeing Del Puckett's video of one he had made and played watching Dels videos gives you a lot of inspiration.
My project guitar is being made from salvaged parts the fret wire was taken from a old stratocaster neck the box however is new the piezo pot and input jack are taken from one of my other projects.
If anybody is interested in buying one of my guitars please email my @ bricktorubber .
My
plans for making guitars next year is to make one/two per month the
biggest problem for me is the storage of the finished guitars. I have
given thought to towing a trailer and using it has a small workshop I
suppose it all depends on how far i want to take making the guitars
doing it has a hobby is good enough for me at the moment, I have no
intention of selling them on E-bay at the moment just at the car boots and in shop window displays
for now .
Well last month was busy for me and went very fast, I'm so enjoying making these Cigar Box Guitars but finding its taking all my time and along with the video editing I have no time for learning how to play them so I'm only going to be making one a month from now on.
Doing three all at once is not that difficult keeping the videos in order is a nightmare as im prone to forgetting to video parts and keep the sequence flowing, also with all the dust floating around I'm living in a mess day after day and that's not my style also the storing of them until sold is a bit of an issue for me.
The Darker nights play a role in this as well even though the lighting in the van is good my eyes are not so the nights will be for playing and learning come to think of it I have not played the mouth-organ for about 2 months now.
The car-boots have also come to a end for this year I managed to get rid of a lot of items i had been carrying about with me and had not seen the light of day for a few years the space gained will come in handy for storing some wood for the next few guitars.
Below is a video of how I mark and fit the dot markers to my guitars this is how I do it and
not how it should be done if your making a guitar you do it your way.
Its all about whats works for you having the correct tools helps but
they are by no means necessary I have only the most basic of tools at the moment a few sharp chisels a coping saw and now a dremel type machine which is a god send and a good set of wire cutters they are all making things a little easier. I will be picking up the cigar box for guitar No 2 the Dutch Barge its still being worked on and Dave at CIRCLE OF FIVE In Bude is doing some unique work with the sound hole covers for me which you will see in my next video.
Please if you do watch my Videos add a few comments and let me know if they are helpful.
Video Marking and Placing of the dot markers.
Video Fretting the Fingerboard.
Please remember all the work in my videos are me doing it my way and by no means intended to tell you this is the correct way.
If you have limited tools and work space you do have to adapt to suit.
I now have the boxes back for guitars 2 and 3 and the hardware to finish them both the next stage will be to fit the pickups and the tail piece to both .
Below is a very short Video of me checking the the boxes fit the necks correctly before I do any more work on them .
Dutch Barge Video 1A
Dutch Video Part 2
These Guitars are now finished and are for sale to subscribers of this Blog and my you tube channel for the frist week The Price will be £300. each.
Email me @. bricktorubber@gmail.com
Well September went really well for me I made my first full Cigar Box Guitar and it turned out superb.
Had A few days meeting up with some friends and had a mini holiday within a holiday.
This month I will be starting my next project another cigar box guitar I have all the parts ready so no hanging around for the postman I also have a few new tools to make thing a little easier for me.
With three new chisels, a small wood saw rasp and a few fine files in my toolbox.
Another new toy
After watching Chris using one of these boss eband audio players with built in guitar effects along with pre loaded backing tracks I just had to get one this is the JS 8 the newer model is the JS 10 costs just under £300.00 I got this older model for a lot less than that.
Some Videos From My Visit To Silver Sands And Kennack sands along with Cris playing guitar.
Video 1 Kennack Sands
Video 2 Silver Sands Campsite.
Videos from my meeting with Chris and Trica.
Going to start on my next guitar shortly I have had some artwork done to the box this was worked on by Dave at Circle of Five Gift Shop Click on this link to Visit the shop. The Best Shop In BUDE .
Dave likes to get the job right and will help you if you not sure about something
Picture of the top of my next project for Sea Breeze Blues Guitars.
My Next Project
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Just waiting on some comments on what I should do (ie) do I put sound holes on, and a floating bridge. now before I start on the box
The Guitar is starting to take shape now I had one or two problems with getting the neck to sit right
it was caused by the bridge support that I glued to the underside of the top.
The support was 2mm deeper on one side than the other, and here am I taking bits off
the neck trying to level it out I ended up taking the support that
I built into the neck off completely.
That added about two hours of unnecessary work but its a learning curve,I have decided to put a lipstick pickup inside the box
instead of on top and have cut the grove out of the neck and hot glued it into place.
To test the pickup I placed the guitar upside down on to another one and
give the strings a strum with some success I got quite a good volume from
it but I won't be one hundred per cent sure until the guitar is up and running.
Thinking about it, its working the same way a pizeo works if I get any of the problems
that are normally associated with the fitting of a pizeo pickup its back to the drawing board.
Part 5
While I was out in the sunshine sanding the neck of the Guitar on one of the picnic benches
I thought I would nip back to the van and make a brew.
I went to open the back door and found it locked for some reason it locked itself and both other doors
were locked.
Without my phone or van keys I was Stuck borrowing keys from anybody that stopped in the lay bay
without any success, I went for a walk to a nearby house asking if I could borrow some tools and -
a set of ladders.
using the tools I had to hand did not help me so plan two was to get on the roof and see if I could feed
a pole with a hook on one end through the shower room skylight and open the window .
After about an hour I did manage to get the window open, setting up the ladders to make a ramp up to-
the window.I would get in head first,getting myself almost in I then realised that I would not
be able to pick myself up off the floor.
So backing myself back out I went back to the house and explained the the lady, name of Claire
That I could not get through the the window without injury to myself Claire said let me take a look
with you she then said it beats doing the ironing.Watching this lady backing up a ladder
sending one leg through the shower room window then folding herself in half and disappearing
was some how Strange.
Anyway a big thank you to this lady for helping me and turning something stressful into fun.
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8 Finished
My next project is going to be a 2 string guitar which i am starting this weekend the box is a 1980 Gran Panatela box which is quite small but should look nice .
Had a really good weekend at a friends 70th birthday party at a local campsite his family were amazing and fun to be with the live band played nothing but 60/70s rock and roll all night .
this kept the swing of the party at full tilt right to the end. Free food was on offer this was not the normal type of buffet you would expect,it was top quality made by the head chef of the restaurant attached to the campsite.
Thanks to Ian and Sheila, Donna & Neil and the rest of the family for making me welcome I enjoyed
being in your company.
The Build on my 2 string cigar box guitar is starting to take shape now the neck is made from an old left over piece of floor boarding the type that's slots together, along with a small cigar box proper job from the 80s.
It has two new black tuning pegs with covered gearing and the strings are being fed into two rolled pins that are set at 45degs which pass though the tail piece lastly a piezo pickup with volume control.
If the Piezo sounds awful I will replace it with a single coil pickup
As you should be able to see in the video I did change the Piezo for a single coil pick up and it does sound much better.
2 string and 1 string Diddley bow.
I am
now in the process of making three fretted cigar box guitars which will
be for sale on this blog and my youtube channel Brick To Rubber for a fortnight and only offered to my
subscribers each will come with a video of the guitar being made and
will be personalised for the buyer.
Part one Video
Start of the first of my builds this one has a Romany Caravan theme on the front of the box
Building these cigar box guitars is fun but I must say its starting to run costly wanting to put the best parts into the build for me is important. As i do want to pass on to the customer the best possible components, also for me knowing that I have done my best at this early stage in my guitar making venture. Things will get better the more I make and the better the tools that I will be buying to make the end results much more polished and professional looking but importantly keeping that home made look and feeling to the guitar.
