Preparing the Nut and Bridge for Strings

This is a fairly simple step, and one that won't take very long. It is still important to be careful during this process, however, as a mistake could ruin your nut or bridge.

We will only need a knife and a ruler, preferably a long one. There are a few ways of approaching this step, depending on how far apart you want your strings to rest from each other going across the fretboard. You can choose to line your notches in the bridge up with the string holes in the backside of the fretboard, or measure out your own equidistant notches on the bridge and nut. The key is just to remember to line the notches on the bridge and nut up in the end.

Once you've gotten the notches measured out, and hopefully marked, grab your knife. Press the blade into the marks and perform a sawing motion. Don't go too deep into either the bridge or the nut, or the strings will not catch in them and they will be useless. In fact, make the notches very small to begin with, and wait until the next step to deepen them if needed. We will talk about stringing the cigar box guitar up in the next step.

Attaching the Fretboard to the Box

We've successfully taken care of putting frets on the guitar, so we're close to having our guitar ready. This next step takes care of one of the final preparations on the guitar. We're about to attach our fretboard and cigar box.

We will need wood glue (I use Elmer's), six finishing nails which are somewhat small, just below an inch in length, and a hammer. Apply a small amount of wood glue to the indented section of the fretboard that goes inside of the box. Close the lid, and using the two protruding sides of the fretboard as handles, gently pull the box and fretboard together. Keep reading ahead while doing this however, as you made need to open the box while the glue dries. While doing this, make sure that your bridge and nut still measure up to the exact same scale length as before.

If the cut out sections on your cigar box have provided enough wiggle room to allow you to open the box while still keeping the fretboard attached, do so and wipe off any excess wood glue that has flowed out from the box. If you don't have this kind of wiggle room, do not let the glue dry very much before opening the box and separating the fretboard and box. Wipe off any excess glue and begin attaching them again.

Once the glue has had some time to dry, grab your nails. We will put two on each end of the lid of the box in the space where the fretboard rests underneath. Space them out evenly, and take care in where you place them. Remember that the strings will also be right above them, so hammer the nails in as far as possible. I always hammer mine in to where the head of the nail is flush with the lid of the box.

If you would like a cigar box guitar that still opens in spite of the fretboard being attached, you only needed those four nails and are done! If you would like to seal the box, go ahead and put finishing nails in the side of the lid that rests on top of the side of the box.

Frets on the Fretboard

On my cigar box guitars, I prefer to paint on frets as opposed to placing fretwire. This allows for smoother slide playing. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

In this post, we will add frets to the fretboard. This is a somewhat simple process, so long as you have a ruler that has both metrics and inches on it. First, we'll need a fret calculator, as the frets on a guitar are not just placed all over. They each have very specific placement dependent on the guitar's scale length, that is, the distance between the bridge and the nut. Go to https://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator for the same fret calculator I use.

Here, you'll be prompted to input your desired number of frets (the average number is 19 to 22), and to put your guitar's scale length in. Find your scale length in inches, then convert it to millimeters and input that number for the scale length. The Fret Calculator will also ask you to input your specific instrument, though this is not relevant as we have already determined the bridge placement. It doesn't hurt to select acoustic guitar, in any case.

After putting in all requested information, the calculator will yield the positions of every fret, measured by their distance from the nut. The measurement should be given in millimeters, while most rulers have centimeters on them. To measure with the ruler, move the decimal point on the millimeters over to the left once and the results will now be in centimeters. Proceed to place your ruler's zero mark on the nut, then mark off the fret positions based on their position from the nut.

After marking out all frets, grab a paintbrush and paint up the lines that will now clearly depict your guitar's frets. If you're looking to get even more detailed, the dots seen on a common guitar's fretboard are meant to be put on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, and 19th frets.

(Optional) Getting Electrical

The black cylindrical object on the bottom corner of the cigar box is the piezo pickup's input, seen here attached to the box by velcro. The red disc is the piezo pickup itself, still waiting to be attached to the underside of the fretboard. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

This post is for builders interested in making their cigar box guitars electric. If you have not ordered a piezo pickup by this time, it'd be best to skip this part.

The sound the guitar will give out electrically is entirely dependent on the placement of the piezo pickup. You are free to place the pickup anywhere you would like on the guitar, but the following has been where I have had the most luck:

Take your piezo pickup and lift up the fretboard out of the cigar box. Place the wire from the input to the pickup in the corner of the backside cut that you made earlier in the cigar box, specifically where the fretboard is placed. This particular placement of the pickup works best if you cut a small wedge out of the corner to place the wire in, allowing it to fit in its own spot while still letting the fretboard rest snugly in its original cut out spot. Utilizing the velcro included with the pickup, use the adhesive on the velcro to attach it to the side of the cigar box guitar. This will be where the input rests on the guitar.

Attaching the pickup itself requires more accuracy. You can either choose to remove the adhesive cover on the piezo and permanently attach it, or use tape on the red side to affix it temporarily. Take into account where you placed the bridge on the lid of the cigar box, as this will determine where to place the pickup. You will want to place the pickup in the middle of the underside of the fretboard, slightly closer to the middle of the cigar box than the bridge sits.

This placement of the piezo pickup should provide a well balanced sound plugged into any regular guitar amp. One thing to watch on the amp itself is high gain level, however, as this can produce unpleasant feedback, Always set any amps used to low gain.

Bridge and Nut Placement

The bridge is the black piece of wood seen here attached to the "Java" label on the cigar box. The nut is the piece of wood attached just before the headstock begins. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

Bridge and nut placement is a seemingly simple part of the cigar box guitar creation process, but keep in mind that accuracy is key here. The bridge and nut are two mechanisms that raise the strings to their appropriate place, and keep them locked in so to allow them to follow a straight path down the length of the fretboard before guiding the strings into the tuning pegs. Depending on how the bridge and nut are placed, the tone and playing of your cigar box guitar could be entirely different.

Two key factors are determined by the bridge and nut: Scale length, and action. Scale length is the distance between the bridge and the nut. With longer scale lengths comes longer strings, and greater string tension, which can affect sound and make bending strings while playing more difficult. Action is the height of the strings raised up from the body and fretboard of the guitar, which can also affect the ease in playing the guitar itself. Action is determined by the height of the bridge and nut, which prop the strings up to their resting height.

When crafting my bridge and nut, I generally take a 1/4" wooden dowel and cut it in half with a coping saw. Be careful doing this, as cutting objects as small as these is very difficult. The dowels cut in half give me flat surfaces to attach the bridge and nut to the guitar with, and rounded ones on top to make carving the guides for the strings somewhat easier.

If the dowel method is one you find too dangerous, or you would prefer a more rustic look, you can also use an eye-bolt and screw for your bridge and nut. Keep in mind, however, that this usually gives the cigar box guitar an extremely high action, and generally renders it good for only slide playing.

When placing either the dowels or bolts, use wood glue. Attach the nut first, at its rigid location of 1/2" below the beginning of the headstock. You will now have to determine your desired scale length. Any larger than 24" is usually too long for cigar box guitar strings to handle. I generally set my scale length at 21". Upon determining scale length, take a ruler or tape measure and measure out your determined scale length from the nut to the area on the cigar box where you will place your bridge. Make a small notch with a pencil for accuracy, and proceed to attach the bridge.

Congratulations, you have just finished one of the two most complex steps in creating the cigar box guitar! In our next post, we'll look into installing the piezo pickup system.

Making Your Own Fretboard: Part Four

Remember to make sure the bottoms of the pegs don't get in the way of each other. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

In this post, we will now proceed to affix the tuning pegs to the headstock of the fretboard. This is a fairly straightforward process, as it's just a matter of lining up the tuning pegs with their proper holes and making sure the square bottoms of the pegs don't get in the way of each other.

If you are using the NEWEER pegs, keep in mind that of the six you receive, three will be constructed a different way than the other three so to allow for the pegs to stay uniformly placed regardless of whether they face outwards on the left or right side of the headstock.

When putting the screws in that will fasten the pegs in place, you can either drill small pilot holes for the screws to go in, or just attempt to screw them into the wood.

Making Your Own Fretboard: Part Three

I have a custom carved headstock on my fretboard, and the backside of the fretboard is sanded into a round shape. You'll find that for making a smooth, naturally glossy finished product, fine-grade sandpaper and very fine-grade steel wool are your best friends. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

In today's entry, we'll try to kill three birds with one stone. This is an optional post, as your need to follow these steps is entirely dependent on the design you are aiming for with your guitar.

If it interests you for the design for your guitar, we'll carve the headstock into a custom shape. There really aren't any guidelines for this step other than to use a good knife to carve your shape, and routinely stop carving to sand the shape up closer and closer to the desired result. For the Feuerborn Guitars signature headstock, I aim for a shape similar to a knife blade, where one side curves inward to meet the other curve in a point. Rough sandpaper is great to use to shape the wood, but to get a very smooth finish on the shape, end by using fine-grade sandpaper. Be careful when shaping the headstock so that you don't carve off all of the space between the tip and the tuning peg holes.

After the headstock has been carved and sanded down into your desired shape, we'll carve and sand the fretboard itself. You are welcome to keep the fretboard's edges if you prefer, but carving up and sanding the back will allow for smoother movement and better comfort when playing the instrument. Be sure to check both sides of the fretboard as you go to ensure you don't sand the back of the fretboard into a lopsided shape. You also only have to sand the part of the fretboard that sticks out from the cigar box guitar, as the fretboard's edges in the area beside that are necessary to attach it to the cigar box. However, it's a good idea to slightly sand the edges of both the top-side of the fretboard and the back end where the strings will be inserted, so they aren't as pointy.

Once the fretboard is shaped up, we'll move on to painting the entire fretboard and headstock, which is also optional. Generally I prefer to paint my fretboards to a color that matches the cigar box, however with some cigar boxes the natural color of the poplar wood fits well. I generally use spray paint, the Rustoleum brand specifically, for a solid color. However, you are more than welcome to crack out a brush and put mutliple colors and designs on your fretboard. With either spray paint or brush paint, put some newspapers under the fretboard, start with one side, and then let it dry. After the paint on one side dries, turn the fretboard over and repeat the same process for the other side. If using spray paint, you'll want to apply two coats on both sides.

Once your paint has been applied to both sides, let it dry for a night. Before we begin the next step, take a moment to check your paint to make sure it is oil-based. If it is water-based, do not do the next step, you are finished. If it is oil-based, we will take very fine-grade steel wool and polish the paint with it. Polishing the paint with the steel wool works just like sanding, but be slightly gentler when you press.

Afterwards, you should be left with a high quality fretboard. The only steps left in preparing it are attaching the tuning pegs and nut, and painting on frets if you would like, which we will explore in a later post.