1

(17 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

I built a 4-string resonator cigar-box guitar; quite nice actually.  Keep it in open G mostly... I can sing in G. 
I put a piezo pickup in it and the little guy can sound downright nasty played through an amp.

However, I wanted a full-sized resonator and had no money for such things... So I converted a cheap (very cheap) steel-string into a resonator.
Used the same principals as with the cigar-box guitar after seeing a video of one of these on YouTube.
Cut a big hole in the top, mounted an aluminum "warming oven" bottom into slots cut into the back braces... Cut a small hole in that and added a "bisquit" bridge and made a tailpiece and a cover out of old serving trays from Goodwill.
Got about 60 bucks into this puppy.  Piezo mounted on the bottom of the bridge.... Actually sounds pretty decent!
Mostly doing delta-style blues with the thing.

2

(15 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

Welcome to the cigar-box guitar community.  Head on over to THE source for all things cigar-box, Cigar Box Nation :



And check out what our members have been up to.

I've been building for a few years now; in addition to guitars I've made a banjo, a uke, a mandola... My main axe is a resonator guitar using the lid from a girl-scout cooking set for the resonator.

A replacement bridge from Stew-Mac is under 20 bucks.  However, it requires quite a bit of hand work to position, glue, re-ream the bridge-pin holes, fit the saddle....
This would normally be at least a couple of hours work at shop rates...
I would think you'd be looking at a minimum of a hundred bucks or so.

Bridges don't normally break, though they often pull away from the guitar on older instruments.  How did you manage to break it?

4

(15 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Barre chords seem to be a major stumbling block to most beginners.    First, make sure that your guitar does not need an action adjustment.
Many guitars are delivered with a rather high action, the manufacturer figuring that experienced players will make adjustments to suit them.
This leaves many inexperienced players with sore fingers because they have no idea how to have the action adjusted.

Secondly, analyze what's going wrong.  finger a simple major chord, and play each string separately.  See which ones are sounding properly and which ones are not....Adjust accordingly.
Also, don't place your barre-ing finger right on top of the fret.  Think of it like a capo.

First... If you are having trouble with barre chords near the nut, it's likely the nut that needs adjusting rather than the saddle.
Both need to be optimized.     
Best thing to do is to take the instrument to a qualified repairman; an "action job" should not be too expensive.   
Lots cheaper than the "just buy a new guitar" advice...

If you are determined to do the work yourself, PLEASE go to the excellent Frets.com page to see what's involved:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html#Musician

Check the "Instrument Setup" section.

6

(6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I'm a cigar-box guitar builder, and a tool we've found to be very useful for nut slots is a torch-tip tool.   Available at most any hardware store for a few bucks, it has a whole bunch of little round files in graduated sizes for cleaning out welding torches.
They just happen to cover the range of string sizes quite handily as well.

Lots cheaper than a set of dedicated files.

7

(3 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I build and play cigar-box instruments, I'm kind of surrounded by them as I type....

For information, plans, lessons, videos, or anything else on the subject, visit:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

The ultimate source for all things cigar box....

They are great fun to build and to play.  My current favorite axe is a resonator 4-string with a piezo pickup; sounds great either acoustically or through an amp.

8

(12 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I use nothing but bone for nuts and saddles on my cigar-box creations.  One of the advantages of bone is that it's very hard, so that the string will not "bind" in a bone nut as you're tuning.
I hacksaw out the rough shape (I use pet store doggie bones) and then do the final shaping with my Dremel and a sanding wheel.

9

(2 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

ou could always look for one of those old Coral electric sitars....

Indian music is very complex and has a long tradition of both classical and folk styles.  To some degree, it's used in a religious context, as a sort of meditation. 
When Ravi Shankar came over and started playing some of the big festivals, everyone was knocked out. 
Our local folkie shop usually has a sitar or two on the wall...

Check out the link to Cigar Box Nation.  We have all sorts of videos and sound links up, and you can judge for yourself.   Of course, it ain't gonna be a Guild or a Martin...

If you're interested in the wide variety of cigar-box instruments, check out the definitive site:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

Cigar Box Nation.   Videos, audio recording, building tips, etc, etc.

The very nature of these critters is individual and quirky, so everyone has their own approach.  I've seen resonator guitars made using commercial cones and covers (usually the ones made for resonator mandolins or ukuleles) to all sorts of improvised items.
I built mine using the aluminum top for a Girl-Scout cooking set as the resonator.

Some of the guys do have plans up for building "basic" instruments.

12

(17 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

I don't have a Dobro or National, but I do have a resonator cigar-box guitar.  This is quite a popular "build" with the cigar-box guys.
Thing is a four-string model tuned to open "G", with a piezo pickup and a volume control.
Turned out quite nice!
I'm becoming more and more handy with the slide, and I'm presently learning Johnny Winter's "Dallas" and the associated licks.

13

(16 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

Time for the old 12-string joke...."You spend half your time tuning, and the other half playing out of tune..."

Properly-built 12-strings don't need to be de-tuned; as the guys note it's to reduce string tension on the neck.   
I really do like the sound a good 12 produces; sort of instant orchestration.  Some guys get into all sorts of weird tunings with the things, and some even ignore the idea of playing each pair of strings as if it were one...They play all the strings individually! 

Listen to some Leo Kottke to see what the instrument is capable of.

14

(11 replies, posted in Acoustic)

This must be fairly common; I have the Intellitouch PT2 and it has trouble with the bass strings on both my regular guitars and some of my cigar-box instruments.

I've found it helps to completely damp all the strings, and then only pluck the string lightly.

Of course, some of us go the cheezy route with good effect....I usually play my cigar-box resonator guitar (about 25 bucks total plus a couple weeks of labor) through my Danelectro "Honeytone" amp.  (about 20 bucks).

Sounds good to me....

All depends what you're after.

Having done the "two mics" bit for years back in folkie days, It's easy to see where folks like the convenience of simply plugging in a guitar with on-board electrics.

You don't see a whole lot of professionals using anything else, though they do tend to use high-end systems with both piezo and microphone on-board.

If you're really picky about the sound, and you have a really good set of mics and a really good amp... Then likely you'll get the nicest reproduction that way.

But will your audience care?

To my ear, a decent axe run through a decent system sounds just fine regardless of how you run the amplification.

I believe it was Merle Travis who said,  "You're going to have to amplify. Doesn't make much difference which side of the strings the pickup is."

17

(15 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Such injuries are very common and have sidelined many professional musicians.    Almost always they are over-use injuries; your case of playing four hours daily is certainly too much for you at this point.
The old medic here would recommend the standard first try treatment course of R.I.C.E.

That's Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

First, (painful though it is to quit for a while) quit doing what you're doing.  Give yourself several days at least of no playing at all.    Second, use ice compresses to reduce inflammation and swelling.   (a good non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen or naproxen will help as well) Keep the hurting part elevated.
A week or so of this should dramatically improve things.   If not, it's a trip to the doc....

Then, try scaling back.  Practice an hour a day, or altenate your strumming with some finger-picking or scale work.

Remember, Croce was playing pretty much straight rhythm chords on these cuts.  It was his sideman, Maury Muehleisen, who was doing all the cool licks.

19

(10 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Good advice from mekidsmom.   I just down-scaled from a dreadnaught to an "O" sized instrument (Yamaha APX-500) because of shoulder problems.
It hurt to wrap my arm around that big dreadnaught for more than a few minutes, and I didn't want to play standing up all the time.

The small-bodied Yamaha is just fine and has good electrics if I need more volume.    There were a good half-dozen smaller guitars at Guitar Center; I really liked the Dean I looked at but it was out of my price range.

20

(13 replies, posted in Acoustic)

GSE is probably closest...  I read an extensive history of the guitar a few years ago, tracing it's roots from primitive gourd-banjos and similar instruments made by tribal musicians up through the present day.
The earliest "guitar"-shaped instruments, as we think of them today, are likely from the vihuela family, which in turn descended from the slightly earlier "guitarra latina".
We're talking 15th and 16 centuries here.     
The shape is both practical and visually pleasing.   There is a nice balance between treble and bass tones with most designs, and it's easy to hold and play as well.
It's interesting to note that tradition likely acts as a brake on more radical developments; I imagine that the standard flat-top steel-string guitar is still the most-sold, and it's existed pretty much in this form for well over 100 years.
When I started playing back in the 70s, it was pretty hard to find an acoustic guitar with a cutaway....

21

(20 replies, posted in Acoustic)

In the string-band context, a bass-heavy guitar was often preferred; the guitar taking the place of the bass for the most part.   I remember going to a fiddle contest once and one band had a guitar picker with an old rosewood Martin that just "cut through" like crazy.  You could hear that thumping boom over the other instruments.

Great for live playing.   However, drove a lot of recording engineers nuts back then.   A lot of players preferred the more-balanced instruments for recording.

22

(20 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Back when I started playing in the mid-70s, there were two camps for acoustic guitars.  You had the Martin players, and the Guild players.   They both ferociously defended their views....   Often to the point of silliness.

A good friend of ours always played a big jumbo Guild.    I didn't care for it; I thought it was too strong in the bass

23

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Our ancestors lavished decoration on their instruments; pick up any book on the history of the guitar and you'll see all sorts of things that have been tried over the many years of development.
However, there's a very strong "traditional" element amongst musicians...I remember reading about the furor created when the first picker showed up at the Grand Old Opry with an electric....
Not to mention Bob Dylan...

I would imagine the single most popular type of acoustic sold is a very standard dreadnaught steel string with very little in the way of ornamentation.

There's a certain amount of function too; a lot of weird shaping and such can make the instrument difficult to build and possibly affect tone.

I've gone through dozens of different picks over the years, including a brief fling with genuine tortoishell... (expensive!).    Presently, I use the .88 mm Dunlop nylon jobs.   They last a long time, are readily available, and sound good for the type of picking I do.

When I was working on jazzy leads and such, I did like the little, thick Dunlop jazz picks.

25

(13 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I just bought one of the Yamaha APX 500s.  I sold my dreadnaught as it was causing me shoulder pain; I wanted a smaller-bodied instrument.

So far, pretty impressive.  This one has the built-in tuner and 4-band EQ as well, and I like the external battery port.  (my dreadnaught involved reaching in through the soundhole to swap batteries).

For a small guitar, it has a nice, balanced acoustic sound and works well amped as well.