Bobiron Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 Hi I am new to this forum and like moding existing instruments at this stage. Here is my latest project inspired by a cigar guitar ad for daddy-mojo gats and of course one of the fathers of rock Bo-Diddley himself. So I came up with my basic design based on using an old artbox (hence the name) and an old neck that was still attached to something. Surgery all happens here: This is the artbox: ..and the neck donor The neck donor has not back ... probably the result of a video shoot ...actually found on the side of the road in the inorganic...thankyou whoever you are. First procedure is to free the neck from its body ...ahh thats better And offer it up to the artbox body ...yeah doesn't quite fit I will post more as the work is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 Cool idea, I like this. I was thinking about making a guitar out of a shoebox but I need an acoustic neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 in this last pic it seems that you might have some problems with the bridge placement. is that box long enough to fit the classical scale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted November 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 in this last pic it seems that you might have some problems with the bridge placement. is that box long enough to fit the classical scale? That is right Hector I thought I had enough room, the bridge would end up right on the edge and that would be no good, as it would defeat the prupose of having a box. So I will need to pack out the heal box somehow. Suggestions welcome of course. I would like to have room for a standard classical bridge, so I probably need to pack out 25mm to have the space. The neck is 332mm to the 12th fret so need at least that plus allowing for a 30 wide bridge. The box is 332mm long too...Sods law applies damn it. Not as tidy as I thought but hey that is part of the build. See more pictures below for more progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 That is right Hector I thought I had enough room, the bridge would end up right on the edge and that would be no good, as it would defeat the prupose of having a box. So I will need to pack out the heal box somehow. Suggestions welcome of course. I would like to have room for a standard classical bridge, so I probably need to pack out 25mm to have the space. The neck is 332mm to the 12th fret so need at least that plus allowing for a 30 wide bridge. The box is 332mm long too...Sods law applies damn it. Not as tidy as I thought but hey that is part of the build. See more pictures below for more progress. So... instead of trying to add length to the back of the box, why can't you add depth to the heel of the neck? It's surgury either way, but this one seems like it'd be more ascthetically pleasing in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted November 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 (edited) That is right Hector I thought I had enough room, the bridge would end up right on the edge and that would be no good, as it would defeat the prupose of having a box. So I will need to pack out the heal box somehow. Suggestions welcome of course. I would like to have room for a standard classical bridge, so I probably need to pack out 25mm to have the space. The neck is 332mm to the 12th fret so need at least that plus allowing for a 30 wide bridge. The box is 332mm long too...Sods law applies damn it. Not as tidy as I thought but hey that is part of the build. See more pictures below for more progress. So... instead of trying to add length to the back of the box, why can't you add depth to the heel of the neck? It's surgury either way, but this one seems like it'd be more ascthetically pleasing in the end. Thanks for that suggestion, yes I am thinking along those lines. Here are some more progress pics: Neck stripped of finish. The neck will be painted and lacquered. Fretboard sanded ready for faux ebony process Closeup. I will polish and level frets before I start this process. I want to use a marine lacquer on the fretboard to make it hard and to stop the wear...the frets will wear out before the board does in that case. But the neck had quite bad wear as shown below. I had to sand that out the best I could. As the box is not long enough for the scale length I need to block the heal out some 25mm by the looks to get a classical style bridge on the top. I want the back to open when the neck is attached so I can get access for the electrics. So I need to come up with something that has rigidity. Suggestions welcome. Closeup The artbox sides are quite thick but not very high, but enough to get a screw or 2 in there to hold a block I suppose. The fretboard will be glued to the top which is 3mm thick MDF(the top has a veneer as is fashionable these days). The box will be painted anyway veneer or not. Edited November 27, 2007 by Bobiron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 Oh man I'm loving this one. You need to search on youtube for "the honeydripper". There's a movie coming out about a poor black man in the south that builds a guitar just like this from an old guitar neck and a box. Better yet, do a search for Ben Prestage. He owns the 2nd Honeydripper ever made and he plays it really well. Ben Prestage will let you know what the CBG is all about. This guy is the shizzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted December 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Oh man I'm loving this one. You need to search on youtube for "the honeydripper". There's a movie coming out about a poor black man in the south that builds a guitar just like this from an old guitar neck and a box. Better yet, do a search for Ben Prestage. He owns the 2nd Honeydripper ever made and he plays it really well. Ben Prestage will let you know what the CBG is all about. This guy is the shizzle. Thanks for the site links Mr J they are real cool....and yeah that guy is the sizzle, very inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Ok time for an update, yes some progress has been made. See below for links to pics. Neck and Body http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bob...odySeperate.jpg Neck offered up to the body http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/NBJoined.jpg Neck joined to the body http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Aerial1.jpg Neck Joined to body with HB http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bob...erialwithMB.jpg Body shot with 1 string http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/BS1.jpg Headstock http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Headstock.jpg Full front Mockup view http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Aerial2.jpg Body mockup font view http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Mockup1.jpg Back view mockup http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Mockup2.jpg On the guitar stand http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/Onstand.jpg On the ironing board http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bob...oningboard2.jpg On the ironing board with the iron http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bob...oningBoard1.jpg Ok thats enough progress for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foil1more Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Are you planning to use classical nylon strings on this? If you are, that humbucker won't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted April 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Are you planning to use classical nylon strings on this? If you are, that humbucker won't work. No Nylon for this baby, its steel all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Are you planning to use classical nylon strings on this? If you are, that humbucker won't work. No Nylon for this baby, its steel all the way. Classical neck... no truss rod, right? Not a good combination with steel strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Are you planning to use classical nylon strings on this? If you are, that humbucker won't work. No Nylon for this baby, its steel all the way. Classical neck... no truss rod, right? Not a good combination with steel strings. Yeah I know but, I am using a high strung set which will have less tension and I will probably tune it down if it becomes an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 (edited) Hi there, I have finally finished this and here are the completed pictures: Front view: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2773.jpg Back view: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2777.jpg Top close up: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2789.jpg Inside with the back off: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2783.jpg Headstock: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2775.jpg The label: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e307/bobiron/IMG_2784.jpg Plays ok, even done a gig with this. The piezo and humbucker combined sound great. The quality of the machine heads are not great and the needs to be kept an eye on a little to much for my liking. Maybe I will put some better ones in to address that issue. Overall very happy with it. Now onto the next one. PS I dispensed with the high strung idea after stringing it up that way an decided to go standard instead. Edited June 5, 2010 by Bobiron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted June 6, 2010 Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 thats one wild guitar. i love the paint job on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobiron Posted June 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 Here is a youtube demo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.