Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello All. I have been lurking a while. I am a beginner wood worker. Here is a kind of cigar box guitar I made.

Specs:
-headless bamboo neck with carbon fiber spar
-zebra wood fretboard with reverse fanned fret scale (25" on long side)
-body made from Home Depot paneling for optimum sound
-headstock on bottom with maple veneer
-maple support bar with headstock that connects to neck
-sound hole on side

Ironically, the hardest part for me was not the neck but cutting the box so that the mitered edges met correctly. I triple checked the table saw fence down to the millimeter, and still the box sides did not fit together perfectly. What would I do without wood filler...

Well lactose or JW, I've got to say that's one screwy cigar box guitar!
I've built a few of these and they are fun to build and play. That seems like a good twist putting the headstock at the butt, helps balance out the guitar from being neck heavy. Not sure what you wanted with the reverse fanned fret idea. Usually you want the longer scale on the bass strings to give better string tension for open tunings. So what do you think now that's it's done? Does it work for you?

Keep rattling the cages,
Joe

I started out making cigar box guitars. I used them to practice fretting and basic woodworking skills before I commited the $$ for decent wood. I still make the occasional box guitar. Looks good. Have fun with it.

_________________
Chris

Thanks for the encouragement. I have made several fanned fret necks shorter on the treble side (see Novack's article on scale length and clang tone). But my friend ask me to build him one with the opposite fanning. His thinking was that sonic subtleties will likely be lost on this instrument (cough cough...), and there may be an ergonomic advantage to reverse fanning (that low F bar chord is a little more work on a normal fanned fret neck). So I though, why not. I believe it was Rick Toone who was pointing out that there is no reason the fanning has to be symmetrical from the center of the neck (12th fret). So you could fan the bottom more than the top which might be a happier medium.

I still need to fine tune the nut and the 'bridge nut', but just playing it really quickly it felt ok. Playing a G chord was a little strange. I will have to give it a little more time.

I have one more box guitar halfway built that I need to finish (gifts for friends), then I am going to jump in and try building my first archtop jazz guitar. I have been practicing wood bending. I also want to practice dovetails. I have been reading Benedetto's book. I am thinking I will make it headless and fanned fret, so I will need some kind of bridge tuner solution. Seems to me, I usually need to make an instrument about three times before I have something with enough quality to give to a friend. So I might as well get started.