Well this was really cool Reverend Nix of the "Mojo Medicine Show" http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/scm-live invited me to his interview with Reverend Payton and the Big Damn Band.... What a cool group of people! I kept thinking to myself how smart songwriters really are (the good ones). Hey did I mention how cool it was to hear my instruments in the hands of someone that can play. They are out on tour, do yourself a big favor and check them out... If you can't make that you might get their new CD "The Wages" http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/bigdamnband
http://www.bigdamnband.com/

Well this one gave me a run for my money. I had to make 3 different tailpieces thanks to Frank at Republic Guitars for helping set me straight..

3 string "Delta" resonator

This is the biggest box that I have used yet. The instrument has a nice balance.



Maybe I should trim those string ends. The next build will not be a Sunburst finish.

If you have not seen the video of this instrument please see my older posts.

Double Treble

Here is a video of another wine box guitar build this one is a 4 string with double strings on the treble side. This is a really cool sound that has been very well received.

Yard work

Well here is a batch of what I have up for sale these days (all but the wine box resonator - It has been spoken for) Now this could make yard work a whole lot more fun...

Wine Box Reso No. 2

the line up

Hey if you are looking for a CBG or a reso I have a few.... ready to go.

Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down"

Great video sung by the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin, AMEN! brother Robert Amen!
as Keni Lee would say enjoy....

o.

Here are some photos of my current build



Neck joint



Neck Pocket



New Headstock design more like older Stellas



Tenon for neck pocket this is a very strong way to join the neck to the body

I am still pretty fascinated with the resonator theme and pushing to make something that is new, sounds good and looks really old. Improvements on this build include the double slotted headstock, Grover tuners, a custom truss rod, and a hand hammered cover plate. I etched most of the metal to give it that "came off of a plantation 80 years ago" look... So far, the response has been incredibly positive.



This nut was milled from a dog bone that I bought at the pet store... You can't believe how bad bone smells when you are cutting it on a bandsaw. It's really a pretty tricky operation cutting bone, if you try it be careful! (I built myself a jig to hold the blank0. I would not want to make a living cutting this stuff all day. It really kills the saw blade. After I cut out a rough blank I then did as much of the rough shaping as I could with my belt-sander. The real fitting though was slow going, There is a lot of hand sanding to get the nut to the final dimensions.



I stayed with the Tobacco sunburst finish. I almost forgot to mention that I actually used a two bottle wine box for this CBG. Yes it is still a CBG because this was a box for Chianti so according to Angel it technically still qualifies. You can see that I used Bacotte for the heal cap. That wood is amazingly beautiful.



Here you can see the cover plate that I hammered from some 26 gauge metal I found at Lowes. Again, this is a lot of work to make one of these. I am thinking that it took me almost a full day start to finish. The larger F-holes on this build really help produce the warm full sound this instrument features.

This cover plate appears more smudged.



While this one has some real aging to it....




And here they are side by side..

Circa 2010....

I can't help it, I like the look of old instruments. To me when I think of cigar box guitars I think about something from an old farm that is well worn and very warm. The first shot is of a three string resonator. The following pictures demonstrate the results of an aging process that I use to give my new instruments that vintage look. Even with the receipt I don't think my supplier will take this stuff back.Sorry about the picture quality I shot them late and did not really set up any lights. If you scroll a few posts back you can see the 4 string before I aged the metal parts.

Did I forget to mention my friend Keni Lee Burgess did this awesome youtube for me... Took me by complete surprise... If you don't have any of his music (CD's) you need to get some.

The new build is finished. Four string resonator with truss rod, mother of toilet seat fingerboard and double slotted headstock.... This one game me a run for my money there is a lot going on with this build and no it will not be in every one's price range. Let's just say it is something that only the most dedicated player is going to want to take home...






I am still thinking about adding corners, relicing the metal parts. Don't be surprised if you see some changes to this one in the near future.

Well the body is nice and clean I was able to find the same corners I used on the model that Keni Lee played in the Judge Judy video. On to the bridge,tail-piece,frets,nut finish.......

More options for Gabe.....

Here is how the headstock binding turned out...


Picture of the neck mostly carved, still need to detail sand and clean it up a little here and there.


If you have been following this build you will notice the spalted maple cap is missing, it popped right off when I was carving the heel. I don't know if I am going to leave the black or put something over it. I will see what it looks like when I match it with the body


Three strings with a truss-rod... Yes, I think it's overkill as well. But I had to try.


I love this Bacote fingerboard. (Still need to trim the binding)

As I continue building custom CBG's, I have been working on a new line that is a neck through model. These CBG's are acoustic/electric 3 and 4 strings. The one pictured below is nod to "Blackie" one of my all time favorite guitars. If you get a chance please let me know what you think. "Blackie"has a very warm sound and does not mind a little over-drive to get you where you want to go. $235.00 plus shipping and includes a copy of Keni Lee Burgess' instructional CD/DVD.

Tried something new on this build. Originally, I was not going to bind the headstock. However, as I started looking at the neck I decided it really would be much better with binding. I did not think that my customer would mind a little extra tiger maple....So I drug out my beading plane a jigsaw blade and a file to shape the cutter, said my prayers and began.



The trick was to plow out the channel for the binding. I would say that all in all I think this method was a pretty good way to go. The results were very respectable.



With a little time and patience you can really do a nice job with simple hand tools.

Capture bolt and nut use to attach the neck to the body.


Fingerboard attached to the neck blank.


Still need to flush trim edge of fingerboard to the neck, this also gives a view of the working end of the Capture bolt.


Trimming fingerboard flush.


Leveling fingerboard.


Installing the binding.