Wally you know I have heard that a lot but only after I learned why you dont.also Ken ,the same with the mixed up tuners,reminded me of friend years ago ,while we were still young ,who removed all the wires from his VW bug to do a tune up…
It’s an avg. $100 mass produced 3/4 ,student guitar ,known history of no rework ever done,so to my thinking,probaly very alike holes and tuners, after careful inspection,I put them back so holes were centered an they seemed right none were loose ,none were long or short looking at how they ended on the sides of the tuner box and just said a Hail Mary, even though I’m a Protestant ,it seemed to work!
I restrung all strings with low tension( not tuned) enough to keep bridge from falling and in its place even with the notches and original feet marks,then I retreived the sound post with a hook from makeup section of dollar general
(lord knows what it original use was ) but it was sharp enough to spear spruce ,then I made another tool that hooked into the end of the post like pincers on either side which it hung from like a pail handle,after i acertained the angles were correct I’m a woodworker so I’m pretty good eye for that,and after several try’s and three successes( my pail handle pincer tool would not release and kept pulling it out )so I lost patience and clipped it off after setting it again it became a sacrificial repair tool but only cost me $2.50.it is set about 3/32”behind the right foot of the bridge.
After I was done ,I tuned it up ,I did this all at the indoor rifle range while my rifle team guys shot their weekly match,I missed my match,but as promised my granddaughter s violin is back together with new strings ,a replaced sound post and got a good clean and wax,and me,I recieved a good education in violins and how to tune them OH,I recieved two violins from our friends who I was incidently helping to move at the same time as needing to get this done! A really busy day.it doesn’t get any better than that!
I want to all for you responses and I will probaly have it checked by a local instrument luthieryou guys are great
Hello all,
I started here a while back,when I jumped into making Cigarbox guitars,not a dulcimer ,but I do like it here. My question is 2or maybe threefold. I decided to change my granddaughters violin strings,I know it’s a different animal now! I took them all off then noted a rattle inside .I know what that is and why now, and will have either fix it( the post) or go to the music shop,he’s a real good guy. I also kind of mixed up the wood tuners,how do I straighten THAT out,easy or what? Well I guess this is how we learn,it would be nice to fix it by Thursday ,can any one help me with the tuners? I’ll put the strings on and take it to the shop tomorrow,I believe I could do it but not without the tools and can’t wait for delivery so I’ll just pay the shop.besides it’s my granddaughters violin,if it was mine I’d play with it but I just want to get it fixed for her but help with the tuner mix up would be great.
Been awhile ,but I missed fotmd I have not yet started any dulcimers but have made another Cigarbox guitar,this one tuned DAD ,I don’t have a huge lot of songs but am learning,and through forces far greater than me,came into possession of a Mandolin needing restoring and so have been directed down another stringed path,I don’t control these things I just go where I’m pushed I guess. My daughter also indicated she was interested in mandolins when I get it finished! I do enjoy the info contained,here and thanks,I will do a dulcimer eventually.
A harmonica my other I’ve made two Cigarbox guitars but found a long box in Hobby Lobby and made me think “Dulcimer”.
I’m really new to music,and not really sure what a key is,but I play on happily in ignorance!
Yes Ken I am actually playing a little bit and I feel there’s actually possibilities for me,I have also cut cherry for two more necks and some mahogany for the next fret boards ,walnut would be cool but that’s one wood I don’t have in my stock ,I do have a lot of cherry,they were right,they told me it was habit forming to build these ( for a woodworker) and even more so when it sounds good in the end…! I am thinking a Dulcimer is in the future.
Pardon all these pics,I’m working on image quality and format and also I need to find the edit feature on the comment box here( it seems to elude me!)here is another pic of my guitar full length and whole finally!
Working on loading photos to here,I think I have it licked -maybe editing too!
Working on loading photos to here,I think I have it licked
Sorry,my acronym caused so many problems,in the Cigarbox guitar world ,it does make the handle easier to use,and I grew up and served in the Armed Forces where acronyms are king but I do agree online people seem to make them quicker than you can learn them.At least in the Marines they are made official and formally listed as soon as the General says so!
The picture of my cgb,unfortunately image was a bit downgraded
It lives,and sounds good now if I can only learn to sound good!
Oh I used a small wood clam p for the press ,a hammer being uneccesary I will haveto rub in some more Tru oil on the fret board and despite checking several times I ended up with two lefts and a right tuner instead of two rights and a left and they changed after the holes were drilled( dang poltergiests!) so one is backwards till I get another to match(.but nobody knows but us!) again thanks everybody
Well,I managed to fret and worked out well after all,the frets tang is smaller than I thought with the “ teeth “ .010 I’m measuring them right now so I guess it’s not my saws fault,I guess I assumed they would be sized about .030 ,I looked at another brand,a popular brand on Stew Mac they were sized for tang thickness at.037,not all of them have that dimension the tangs were also longer ,I guess you learn something every day wether you want to or not! Between glue and some fine scrap from my tables saw I got the job done and it seems strong.I also got the piezo installed ,a floating bridge,finished,the nut cut and finished and the tuners installed ,only thing left is strings, the piezo controls and Jack port holes and the tailpiece put back on,then I’ll hear what it sounds like,I’m still resizing the pics then I’ll put them up,all I can say right now is it’s a real purty piece of woodwork!thanks for your help guys
I cut my fret slots the saw cuts .031-.032 the frets I have are just about .030 so there is grab but they can be lifted out easy,will super glue gel hold them or should I use another glue like epoxy ,my first fret job ,I put in a couple with super glue gel and they held while filing and fitting which can be stressful my concern is will it keep holding or shrink later,the right thing is a wider tang fret or a crimper but I am attempting to do with what I have .Wider tang frets are about .037 maybe enough for more grab.appreciate any help. Thank you
Hi all,I want thank all of you for your responses,CGB is Cigar Box Guitar ,sorry I guess I am a CBGuitar guy,not to mislead you ,I am not a knowledgeable musician,but since I decided to build a guitar,I guess that makes me some kind of a musician,maybe! I am hoping it will help me,the build has taught me much,I believe the guitar will play as I’ve payed attention and learned a lot as I’ve built,as I said I have metal and wood skills and my other hobbies left me with tools,and hardware scraps to use,I have NO musical theory and music is still largely a mystery,but I know now what a scale length is,mine is 24”,and will be tuned in open G,GDG ,this guitar is actually MY teacher ,I also know frets are more than just wire and lines,as I told others,this is a new trail for me,I kind of wish I had some of my old friends who were and are musicians nearby to help .
I’m a new CGB guy,so new I haven’t finished building my instrument to learn to play on.I do have wood and metalwork skills ,previously having built flintlock,percussion rifles of traditional style1830’s and 1840 ish.I was wish to insert a pic of 1.8 mb but it’s not allowing me even though it’s under 2.0 mb?sorry.
Hello everyone,I am admittedly a cgb guy but I do like dulcimers and any of the various homemade and earthy “ mountain and folk instruments.
