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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Given the current conundrums with bonafide & legitimate Ovation instrument repair, this is what I have accomplished while contributing to the collective conjecture. It just seems so folksy and unpretentious and it is purposely unrefined. Now, I do have a more "serious" 3-stringer in the works with a walnut neck and a maple chopping block body, 3-pole pickup & hardtail bridge. Just thought I needed a trial run to get the "gestalt".
Retuning you now to more authenic BFLG......
Edited by seesquare 2023-03-15 8:00 PM
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Location: When?? | And yet another installment of intrigue! If we could get a band together with everyone playing all of your inventions and restorations in concert it would truly create an unforgettable sight and sound for the ages. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Would the band's moniker be "Needless Cacophony"? |
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Location: When?? | >>>Would the band's moniker be "Needless Cacophony"?<<<
It surely would if I were in it. Likely the reason my wife leaves the room when I walk in with a guitar; though if it were one of your originals she may actually stick around out of mere curiosity. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Attraction by oddity.........high praise, indeed! Like not being able to look away from a car accident. |
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Location: When?? | >>>Attraction by oddity.........high praise, indeed!<<<
Yep! Zappa had hundreds of millions of fans. On his first major TV appearance he played a bicycle (I believe the seat springs and spokes were the highlight). Have you named this one? What is the open pitch on a three-stringer?
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-03-16 5:21 PM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | It's just "Proto". And tuned to open-E (E-b-e). Makes the blues scale real easy. |
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Location: Yokohama, Japan | Mother Necessity must've sent some serious revelation for this invention (project), Seesquare! Is that an acoustic electric three-stringer?
Love O Fair - 2023-03-15 1:16 PM
...Likely the reason my wife leaves the room when I walk in with a guitar...
and here I thought my wife was the only one who did that, lol! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Yep, and it works great!
My Spousal Unit turns up the volume on the TV & my dog demands to leave the house.
BTW, found your nuts yet? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Added some visual interest. Maybe projects a bit more with the extra holes- dunno. Had to resolder the piezo lead in the embellishment process. Who needs finesse, anyway? Having fun watching all the CBG stuff on You-tube.
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Location: Yokohama, Japan | seesquare - 2023-03-20 10:01 AM
...Who needs finesse, anyway? ...
Especially when tightening TR nuts (mine are ordered for a May ETA)! This thing is getting the treatment! Love the epi's - figured maple? Eventually gonna need some MOP purfling and wood binding! Dying to hear what she sounds like! Nice! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanks, Mr. A. I'm working on my chops, so I might post something (eventually). So, homecoming is in May, eh? Well, patience is certainly a virtue. Not one I seem to have acquired. |
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Location: When?? | Nice move on the eppi addition! And how did that black gloss eventually cure up on the GCDB bowl? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanks for the approbation, Al!
The finish is still mirror-like on the DBGC. All that time with the micromesh pads appears to have achieved the desired (and lasting) outcome. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Forgot about this other activity. Been clowning around with basic electronics, too. Fits right in with the spirit & intent of bottomfeeding, doncha think?!
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Location: When?? | Does my crystal ball see a busking tour in your future? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Maybe..........to the end of my driveway! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Next project- a solid-body CBG! Should be much improved over "Proto".
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Location: Upper Left USA | Looking good buddy! |
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Location: When?? | I swear.. we can't leave you alone for even a few days. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | "Idle hands are The Devil's workshop."
Routed out the 3-pole pickup pocket & plotting out where I want the volume pot to be located. Had to order a long-shaft 250K full-sized pot since the body is 1-1/4" deep. I think I will forego a tone pot, for now. The tricky part may be boring the recess for the pot close enough to the pickup cable channel.
Edited by seesquare 2023-03-30 10:03 PM
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Location: When?? | The photo title says "proposed" pot site. Where would that be in relation to the pickup? You looking at a solid bridge.. or perhaps a trapeze combo?
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-03-31 12:21 AM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | More stuff. As it's said, "One picture is worth......."
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | More progress. Actually applied the 1st coat of satin finish on the critter this AM. I think it's coming together. My fretting (actual and metaphorical) is improving. The neck & frets are dead-straight with no variations between frets with my Fret Rocker!
Got the long-neck 250K pot fitted to the body. The tricky issue will be soldering the pickup, pot & jack in that confined space, virtually as the last task of assembly. Have to install the hardtail after I get the wood finishing done.
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | "The Breadboard" CBG is alive. Tuned to G-D-g. Action is great, but the neck is too deep. It will get some further weight reduction & slimming procedures. Works well with the slide, though. In keeping with the BFLG, the strap was a low-cost & materials-on-hand accoutrement. I think the "Chinese woven knot" on the peghead-end was an inspired touch. The webbing is my actual belt from my Uncle Sam's Flying Club uniform- never throw anything away! It's only 3 weeks-shy of 45 years since it was last worn, and high time it was repurposed. Trying to commit to memory the chord charts for this open tuning. My memory is not as agile as it once was.
So, submitted for perusal & mirth. Cheers!
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Location: When?? | Excellent mirth here. I wouldn't have a hint how to play it, but I dig the look.. right down to the knot. Reminds me of stuff saved from from my G-G-grandmother's Kentucky days. What do you mean by too "deep" on the neck? And what did you fly with the Uncle Sam Flying Club? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | The neck is about 1-3/8" deep (fretboard to bottom of neck) & 1-3/4" wide. It's more than a handful & I have trouble reaching around to fret the lower string. So, I figure to thin down the depth to about an inch. I don't think that will significantly impact the strength or relief, since there are only 3 strings & it is pretty solid walnut.
About my jocular musings on my military service, I trust nobody is offended. I was an E-4 in the USAF, serving as a Psych Tech at Travis AFB. Great experience, but 4 years was enough. My next assignment was to Thule AFB in Greenland, so I decided to re-enter civilian life.
There sure are a lot of CBG videos on YouTube. Some are actually pretty helpful, too. |
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Location: When?? | @seesquare - >>>There sure are a lot of CBG videos on YouTube.<<<
Which I have now absorbed many of as never before exploring this animal; henceforth developing an immediate case of CBGAS. Dang! There may be hope for me yet! Curiosity quite highly piqued. You have any for sale?
Ah.. Travis. Home of the famous "Burst of Joy" photo, of such I have built a very intimate relationship with for decades as a large print hangs on the facing wall of the entry to our home. Much nicer than a 'welcome' mat at the door. The psych tech part also further bringing an affectionate image of actor James Millhollin to mind. Thank you for your service!
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-04-17 4:28 PM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Shaved the neck profile to 1-inch. Much improvement. Raised the action a tad, also. With less string tension of G-d-g, it's not buzzing anymore.
Threw in the prior photo of the neck for comparison.
Edited by seesquare 2023-04-19 9:55 AM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Another thing I learned from this project is how to use my peghead electronic tuner. Set it on "chromatic", not "guitar" to get the right pitch. Only had to break one string in discovering this one tip on a video of 3-string CBG tuning methods. Relatively cheap education, eh? |
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Location: When?? | In agreement that the new neck dimension does looks more manageable. As for the body, all the GBGs I have been checking out online the bodies are all of the typical cigar box size. Is there any law that says this must be observed? Meaning.. what happens when a normal guitar body is used instead of a small body? Have you ever built or re-arranged such a thing? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | The Breadbox is my 2nd foray into CBG 3-stringers. Proto was actually a hollowbody, but not an actual cigar box. I don't think there are any rules to construction or size. I suppose you could have 3-string basses for that matter. Most CBG's have some sort of pickup, but they can be acoustic-only, also. Empty cigar boxes come in a lot of sizes- length, width & depth. You can buy an empty box for about $15.00-20.00, includes shipping, on Ebay. That would keep me busy awhile, just buying a couple.
I am thinking an Ovation uke would make a good body for a 3-string critter, with the O standard scale length. No rules, but serious design parameters. If I was really inspired, I would mold my own bowl. |
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Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Added a new strap & a hand-forged hook for convenience & ready accessibility. I like the way it plays & sounds, too.
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Trivia question: What was Captain Hook's sidekick's name? Might make a good nickname for this critter. |
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Location: When?? | His name is Smee.. but Hook can really abuse him at times.. so please be gentle! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | "Smee", eh? Hmmm......doesn't lend to a powerful mojo. I will continue the process. Y'know, learning new shapes based on open tunings is a bit of a challenge. A lot of stretches. |
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Location: When?? | If it was mine I'd name it Butch. Every explanation I have heard or read thus far is that there are no rules to the CBG, so maybe the shapes are meant to be not-so-shapely. I dunno. I don't have one. I know a guy up north who has built a couple of them, so perhaps he could be commissioned to build me one someday when I'm not so poor as today. Not even sure how much it would cost, but then I might actually know about shapes and stretches. Meantime I shall scour thrift stores and yard sales in search of the ideal box. At least it's a start. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | There's gotta be a tobacconist in your baliwick. Just get an empty box from there. Doesn't matter the size or brand, really (no rules). And, an example of some chord shapes. on a 25.5" scale, it quite a reach over 4 frets in the 1st-five.
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Figured I would add a photo of the family. Kinda like eating potato chips, I guess.
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