Gurkha Khukri Cigar Box Guitar Build

[EricTheRedBeard]

This has been awesome to watch. I have a very old guitar I took to an old timer to have it refinished. Instead of taking my money and doing the job, he told me that covering the wood with a layer of plasticky product to refinish it would destroy the sound and muffle the resonation. I decided to leave it as is. Maybe consider staining the inside black instead of painting it to keep as much woody resonation as you can. Just a thought to consider. It might not matter since you already spent $$$ for the humbucker. Thanks for posting.

 

[Bookie]

Kamidog, Not wanting to steal your thread, [but wanting to show you what I've been working on] please allow me this indiscretion of posting a few photos to accompany it. This 5 string banjo to be is made from native Iowa black walnut, will not have frets, and the pegs will be wood. The pot was made from a piece of old duct work and riveted together with a 16 penny nail. You will notice a hole on the side of the neck and the neck tapering just past it. This will be where the tuning peg for the 5th string goes. The nut is made from rock maple as will the bridge be. The head cants downward away from the neck. The round thing is the goat skin still in the stretcher. It will be somewhat smaller than what it is now when installed. The finish will be oil only. These banjos ring surprisingly well.

 

[Bawanna]

Paddle faster!!!! I hear banjos!!!

 

[ndoghouse]

Thats some awesome woodwork Doc! So the goat skin stretches around that metal ring im supposing? Gives me goosebumps to hear a good Banjo player! Feel free to post anything you want here. Id love to see that project progress! Bawanna's still paddling! I think I hear him now!

 

[Bookie]

Yes, the skin goes over and around the pot, then pressed into the body. The skin must be tight, but it also must have a slight depression in the center of it. That requires a thin piece of wood to be laid on the bench, the skin moistened and the banjo placed skin down on top of the block of wood until the skin is dried out. The pivot point for the 5th string to come off the neck and attach to the tuning peg is just a common slotted pan head screw and the slot directed carefully so the string does not kink or break.

 

[ndoghouse]

Wow! Thats some serious stuff. Guess I got to study up on that part some more. That skin must be like those metal resonators they use on them steel guitars. That neck and headstock is the same piece of wood right? That must have been a good chunk of wood when you started out! I made a scarf joint to get my head stock tilted back but a solid piece of wood would be really cool. Im wondering about Osage Orange being a good neck and headstock? I have some logs Im wondering about. They mostly use them for bow making but I have enough to play with some instruments too? Hmmm?

 

[Bookie]

Yes, one piece of wood and a big honkin' thick piece it was. I have one more that size which has been saved for years now and the slabs were old when I traded for them. Tombstone/grave marker slabs, you know and are worth a pretty penny.

 

[ndoghouse]

Oh! Well folks! My worstest fears with this thing has become reality After playing it for a while I noticed every day when I pick it up the tuning is flat. Ya know what that means?

I slowly notice the bend getting worse. Hmmm? We aint havin that!!!

Enter the Dragon! uh..I mean the truss rod! The best way to do that means the fretboard has to come off and Ill have to do my third fret job. YeeeHaaa! This time I get to learn to remove a fretboard, rout out a channel for the truss rod to reside and while im at it a few more mods. The switch location was not optimal because I kept hitting it with my leg and changing the pickup selection. That gets moved to the top of the CB. The new fretboard is Gaboon Ebony.

First thing is rip out all the wiring, lid, and parts. Next is ....well i bet you didnt see this coming!

Make me a one string Electric Diddley Bow out of some spare parts I had and an old Christmas tin. I think I should paint it red and glue some cotton on it somewhere? My grandkids loved it! We sang Jingle Bells musta been twenty times!

Dont ya think it needs some duct tape on it somewhere?
Anyways... back to the cigar box. Yall stay tuned and hopefull my GCBG will too when im done.

edit:
OK im back! Its raining out and pretty crappy weather so im stuck in the "shop".
Time to apply some heat to the ye' old plank.

This ought to git er done! Wood wedges check, spatulas check, cold beer check, ready to go.

Awesome! It seems to be parting on the glue plane! I was afraid I glued it on too good and was going to splinter up the neck! That was my biggest fear! That and running out of beer right in the middle of this All good!

Almost there? That linseed oil surfacing was the perfect temp indicator to shove the tools underneath and separate.

YESSSS!!!

Got it! My pup's looking at me like "What you gonna do with that dad? Can I have it?" Nope girl! Gots linseed oil on it. Aint good fer ya plus them frets wont feel very good tomorrow i promise.

All cleaned up and level. Thats it for now. Gotta rout some and make the new fretboard.

 

[Bookie]

Very cool, Danny. My favorite pastime is making something work that seemed impossible or very difficult to fix. Go for it, Brother!!

 

[ndoghouse]

Thanks my friend! Im going to kill it before it kills me! I kinda miss it being down. Been playin my six string and Diddley bow tonight. Sure is fun tho. I figure if ya cant play one string how the heck can ya play six? I cant tell you how much I learned about scale lengths and such. It dont matter how long it is. Its how you divide it up and deal with it. I really want to see your progress on that banjo so dont forget to keep us updated!

...covering the wood with a layer of plasticky product to refinish it would destroy the sound and muffle the resonation....

Eric.
I have heard this as well but Ive heard it both ways. Some say it dont matter some say it does? I doubt my ears are tuned well enough to ever notice any difference tho. I wont put any thick coats of anything on it other than oil most likely. In the inside I just used a big fat sharpie and colored it in which is more like a dye I suppose. My thoughts on guitar wear is if its natural wear then let it be. Thanks for the comments brother!! Ill keep ya updated. Im going to try to route out the truss rod channel today.

 

[Bookie]

AAAAAARGH, Kamidog! I said AAAAAARGH! Had primered th' first ukulele an' was trying to hang it on th' dryin' wire hook when it slipped off an' dropped onto th' floor. Out of no wheres a miserable split appeared on th' side of the box. I've clamped an' puttied it up, but it's set me back probably two ta three days now. Gonna paint this a gawd-awful thermonuclear yeller with a deep red starburst on th' top that drips down th' sides of th' box, kinda like a sloppy iced cake. Turning some bronze bushings for th' tuning key posts to fit inta tonight. Would really like to get this first one done by this weekend 'er so. Th' second uke is beckonin' like wunna them Sirens outta th' Odyssey (you know Homer?), but I want it to be better'n' this one. Figure it'd git a more classical finish job an' make it worthy of Iz, may he rest in peace.

 

[ndoghouse]

Well sunny beach!!! That sucks! One setback but I know that aint gonna stop ya! I got me some more cigar boxes so I might just make something of them. I got one round one I thought about doin a cigar box banjo? We will see. Im taking a break for now tho. Thermonuclear yella and red starburst sounds dang cool! I found out that the tuning on my three string is same as a banjo but the short drone string is added in half octave of the bottom string. They sure do have different finger pickin styles tho. That would be cool to learn. Take some pics along the way doc! That should be very interesting project! Keep posting!

Hmmm? I just realized I never finished my post of the final product. I get something together soon.

 

[Bookie]

Kamidog, here are 4 pics, the first showing what a proper AAAAAARGH! looks like. The other three are pictures of a drastically simplified assembly process so as not to bore your sensibilities. Turned 4 bronze bushings for the tuning key assemblies last night and they fit like a charm. Want to prevent premature failure of these little jewels and to keep it in tune longer. I opted for a different colour scheme since one can of spray paint had dried up and I'm too cheap to go spend another 3 bucks on it. The hammered black paint job came out pretty decent. Want to start a yeller "sun burst" around the sound hole tomorrow. If Bawanna was here, he'd be workin' on the second uke that's under construction. It'd be right up his alley....well, if him and me newest mule, Boscoe, could keep outta the beer cooler.

 

[ndoghouse]

Man! Thats a proper AAAAAARGH alright! You'll get her done tho im confident! Well done doc! So you fret the fingerboard before you install it? I was doin it backwards. That would prolly be easier than when its installed. You culd do it with a simple press then I suppose. Ill snap a few pics and post the finished project tonite if I get half a chance.
Im still working on that song Steve (other Steve).

 

[ndoghouse]

Time to end this project! Sorry I got busy on another project and forgot to end this one.

My other project. Any guesses?

OK back to guitar.

Not an easy way to cut a truss rod channel but it did work. I screwed the neck to a two by four and cut it to depth with my table saw. A router would have been far better but I dont have one yet.

Once you get the channel cut you bury the truss rod in that channel and glue the fingerboard on again. Well I did just that and when I went to tighten the truss rod it broke at the adjustment end. After removing the fingerboard for the third time and reinstalling with a new truss rod I finally got it to fit. It does have reverse action because the neck was getting so thin I wouldnt have had room to cut the channel like its supposed to be so it upside down and the adjustment screw works in reverse. As long as I remember that all is cool.

I even had to cut a relief on the fingerboard to make it all fit.

Now it gets all puki'ed up so it dont vibrate in the channel.

And once again hopefully for the last time I reinstalled the fingerboard.

A little more carving and I do believe that will work out just fine.

Here it is all back together again. To adjust the torsion I have to remove the middle string and slip the allen wrench through the middle eyelet and into the channel. Kinda has that liquid fingerboard look with the ebony rounded off on the end. I had to cut it down on the end like that so the strings would not rub.

While im at it I had to move that three way switch on the bottom to the top of the box to prevent inadvertent switching. I actually had to rewire the whole dang box because the wire lengths were not right anymore. I replaced the piezo disk with a bigger one while im in there.

After dumpster diving my wifes beads again I found these yella diamonds but they were larger than the originals. I do like them as they are easier to see at night.

Well there it is all complete, intoxicated, tuned, and ready to go! The action is so much better with the thicker ebony fingerboard. I think next time I install new strings I will make a finer adjustment to the truss rod and I dont think ill have to do that again for a long time. Everything seems to be stable now so Im calling it done. Thanks for visiting my friends! Enjoy!

 

[Steve Tall]

Thanks for the updates, and kudos for completing it. Talk about persistence, that project really snowballed. Are you practicing songs like Voodoo Child?

 

[Amko]

Ndog, I've followed your progress here with much interest and marvel at your ingenuity and can-do spirit. While four decades of rock(star) worship have left me with the usual (if tightly curated) collection I have zero musical ability but love nothing better than to sit at the feet of you divine musically talented folks. If you care to post or share forthcoming musical works on your newest creation, let me know. Kudos, brother!

 

[Bookie]

You know, Kamidog, that little thing is kinda funky, but still impressive.....and looks like it'll be a lot of fun. It's always gratifying when you spend all that time and effort making something and then all of a sudden, it works! Good job.

 

[ndoghouse]

Thanks Steve I aint quite ready for Voodoo Chile yet but Ill get something up soon.
Ha! Forget divine musical talent Amko! That aint coming out of me. Im just glad to have something to take out with me camping and stuff. I still love to play.
Thanks Doc! Im happy as heck with it but if i hadnt gone through all that extra work correcting things I dont think id be happy with it so all good Ill wait till my wife is gone to get groceries or something and record a quick video at least a demo of the thing.

 

[Bookie]

Danny, here is uke #2 at this instant. It's made of basswood and has walnut stain on it. The spots on the neck are dimples so the Acraglas has something to lock into when the fingerboard gets attached. The neck is 3 pieces of scrap wood grafted together and epoxied. Holding the neck onto the box with a stubby scrap piece of wooden ramrod we had laying around. Second pic is me and #1.