cgb "the special" is finished

Yeah at last it's done and I'm well pleased with it. It has great sustain which can be a problem with cbgs. I put that down to the hefty neck reinforcing I had to do inside the box to facilitate cutting away a recess for the pickup. I have a three way switch to select either the piezo or the magnetic pups or both together. The piezo is much hotter than the magnetic and so the middle position, where both pups are in circuit, is a bit piontless becuase all you can hear is the piezo. It's quite heavy for a cbg and I like that solid feel, nicely balanced too. The action seems just right to me, high enough for slide but able to be fretted with fingers too. I have it tuned to open G with strings 456 from a set of 10 guage electric steel strings. When I get time I'll do a video for Youtube.

some cigar box guitar ramblings

I'm amazed and thrilled at the spectrum of experiences I've enjoyed through this wierd and wonderful subject. I've just had the pleasure of free tickets to the Pasion de Buena Vista - a fantastic stageshow of Cuban music and dancing. It all came about from meeting someone who bought a guitar from me and who happens to be the tour manager for the show at present. He kindly offered me a backstage tour where I met some of the musicians, then free tickets for the show later. What a brilliant show and it was a thrill to meet the guys. I even got to play one of my guitars for them. I am deeply thankful for the opportunity.

Next up is tickets to Ian Clayton's Concert for Billie. It's a benefit gig that Ian organises each year in memory of his young daughter who died in a tragic accident a few years ago. I'm really looking forward to that and it came my way through CBGs.

I've made some great friends through CBGs too. But one of the best thrills is when I finish a guitar, string it up, tune it and start playing. Something deeply satisfying happens. I know it sounds weird, but up until that point, a new guitar is still just a collection of parts that I have assembled. Even though I am familiar with every aspect, I don't see it as an instrument in it's own right until I have added the final touches and played it. Those first few minutes of playing are incredibly satisfying. It's like a new baby taking it's first breath. I have a little ritual when I reach this point. I bring it into the lounge and stand it against a plant stand next to the tv in front of where I usually sit. It's just so I can look at it, admire it and drink it in. It's as if I am seeing it for the first time and I can't get enough of it for a day or two. I can look at it and think "Yes I like that, I'd buy it if I didn't already own it". Weird isn't it? It's as if it came from somewhere other than myself.

Updates - the "special" is finished. I'm absolutely delighted with it. It completes my CBG "kit". It goes fantastically well with the wooden case I made and the old radio extension speaker that I converted into an amp way back and my hand-cut bottleneck slide. Every bit of it my own work that creates a completely unique and desirable outfit. This is a definite keeper and no money would prize it from my hands. I'm gonna take some photos of the whole kit soon and post them so be sure to watch out for that. Hopefully I'll get around to videoing it for Youtube.

The little recording studio I'm building is almost there now. Just received my Fostex PM04 monitor speakers but need to build a shelf to put them on. I had a play with the Roland midi keyboard I bought on Ebay. It took some figuring and I'm not completley happy with the set-up yet. It does some random things when playing. Occasionally, the notes played, continue playing until you hit the keys again. Not sure what causes it, probably something in the software I'm using that needs a tweak. Aren't computers frustrating? That's all for now.

bone slide

As promised here's the photo of the bone slide I had made for me. It's had mixed reactions. Some people shudder at the thought of putting a bone on their finger. Well it doesn't bother me one bit, after all we're full of bones ourselves! So what do I think of it? Well it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship first of all. Randy, the guy who made it in the USA, really works with you to produce a custom slide the way you want it. I was a little surprised at the large size of it. I knew it would be bigger than a glass slide and not circular, but it is quite a hefty piece. Randy provides some self adhesive material to stick inside to take up the slack. The surface of it is smoothed and polished to a very high degree and provides a beautiful smooth, silky action when using it. I think the thickness and weight of it also helps to give a good action. The bone material works great as a slide and helps reduce the harsh "clatter" you can get with glass or metal slide if you hit the strings a little clumsily. As a special "gift", Randy also included a bone pick and some nut/saddle blanks. These will be worked into my "special" and should help with the tone. If you want one of these, you can contact Randy by email at farmish@comcast.net he calls his business Mojobone Works and he's a real nice guy to deal with. Be sure to tell him who sent you there. No I don't get a commission, it's just nice to know.

some cbg photos as promised

I made an effort and took some photos to show you as promised. This is the "special" I've been working on for a while. It may not look much but my design aims were to make a visually understated guitar, quite minimal looking and a bit of a "ratrod". Having made a plain, aged-wood finish guitar before, and liked the look of the monochrome brown, I decided to make another but with some added refinements. The hand-wound magnetic pickup I won at the Birmingham CBG fest is the first refinement that makes it a special. Adding a second pup in the form of a piezo disc and a changeover switch plus volume control were the next additions. And to top it off, I've got some real bone blanks for the nut and saddle. Check out my posting on the bone slide to read about these.

cigar box ukes, recording and the "special"

I've got to make a couple of ukes, so there's a new challenge for me. Not sure how I'm going to make and attach the neck but I'll figure something. Big learning curve at the moment. I knew nothing about them except they have 4 strings and frets. So I reckon I can do the frets OK now but how about angled headstocks? I usually take the easy route with the guitars, just a simple cutaway headstock similar to Fender teles. I have a piece of hefty teak which should cut into a couple of nice necks and incorporate an angled head.

Still building my home recording kit. Just bagged a Roland PC-160 midi keyboard for a decent price on Ebay. Should be fun creating some midi tracks to blend with my guitar stuff. I bought a small, cheapo computer station to put everything on. Just need a pair of reasonable monitor speakers to complete the set-up then there's no excuse for not producing something listenable - aprt from lack of skills!

The "special" cbg is coming on well but still slowly. I wired up JuJu's coil pickup and a piezo disc onto a three way switch to give similar set-up to a tele - neck/both/bridge configuration. Added a volume control too. I'm using a 250k log pot. Got the nut and bridge to make now, add the tail piece, then I can string her up.

Hey I need to take some photos of all this stuff to show you. I keep promising but notice I haven't showed you some of it yet.

quote of the day

"We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars"

Ian Clayton - Bringing it all back home

Pretty excited this week. Ian Clayton the author and tv presenter paid me a visit and is now the proud owner of a smojo cigar box guitar. What I really want to tell you about is his book Bringing It All Back Home. Ian grew up in a gritty mining town in Yorkshire in the 1960's/70s. He has a passion for music - blues in particular. He's journeyed all over England to gigs and travelled to India and the USA and has collected thousands of albums and mementos from his travels. He has a love of stories of everyday folk and his book combines all these elements into one, highly enjoyable read. When I finished it, I wanted more and just didn't want it to end. He has a knack of touching on subjects, thoughts, stories, observations that are close to my own early life. You feel as if you've know him for years and wish you had! If you love a good yarn, music and grew up in the UK in the last century, you're gonna love this book. I'll be reading it again before long. Have a look at his website to see what he's about.

http://www.ianclayton.info/

"my special" cigar box guitar update

Making some progress at last with the "special" I'm building. Got the frets in, fiddly and a bit scary when you think you can mess the whole thing up if you're not careful. JuJu's single coil pick-up is sitting nicely in the lid now, just need to get some bits to wire it in. I made a jack socket and volume control plate out of a piece of rusty metal which is looking cool too. The headstock has been given a white crackle finish look. I'm really taking things slowly though, thinking about every detail. When trying to create a "ratrod" (old distressed) look, it's a fine line you tread between too opposing forces. The desire to make something that looks like it's thrown together from junk and the strive for perfection which can lead you to over-working it. It needs to look like crap but in a cool and pleasing way and most of all, it needs to play well too. Of course you never know if you've created a winner until it's strung up and by that time, most of the work is done.

Been doing some home recording. Wow that takes some concentration. First the steep learning curve of getting to grips with new technologies and software can be extremely frustrating and hard work. Then trying to get your musical ideas to sound half-decent. It makes me realise how hard it is to keep perfect timing when trying to play a new track to add to it. Anyhow, after many hours of messing about, I eventually created a short piece which I am fairly pleased with. No cigar box guitars were hurt during the process - in fact none were used. I'm playing my Harmony H44 through a Zoom pedal and some looping provided by the Akai Headrush. See what you think, it can be heard on my Handmademusic site here.

http://handmademusic.ning.com/profile/smojo

this 'n that

Been playing catch-up on a few projects. I had some finishing off to do on the guitar case. I needed to find a way of securing the guitar safely inside. I still have a few tweaks yet before being entirley happy with it. I made a leather belt to go around it for safety as the catches I used are to say the least - basic. Also it'll give it a bit more character. I like the hessian/sack lining I used on the case. As someone pointed out, sorta like a poor man's tweed. Might look good covering an amp.

My first attempt at fretting a CBG had mixed results. I tried it on a guitar I had already built. The action was far too high for correct intonation. So I took it apart, cut some relief in the neck under the lid to lower the action. It now has a medium sort of action which is just about low enough for fretting notes but still high enough for slide work. I sort of wish I'd left it alone from the start because it was a great sounding, simple guitar. Well you learn from your mistakes so in future, if I want frets, I'll design it with that in mind rather than adapt a good guitar.

I've got my home recording set-up, more or less complete but seem to have hit a "recorders block". Somewhat like "writers block" where you can't seem to find the creative inspiration. I get like this at times. It's partly due to my perfectionist approach to things. As a novice composer/recording engineer, I'm lacking a bit of confidence in producing something decent, so my sub-conscious puts barriers there on the basis that if I don't attempt something, then I can't make a crap job of it and be disappointed. Faulty logic really because if i don't attempt it, I'll have no results at all and still be disappointed and - wasted my time and money on the project. I know once I get started, I'll enjoy the process but as I have so many other things on the go, it's taking a back seat for now.

I picked up a Marshall Park 10 watt guitar amp from a kind person on Freecycle. This amp has a slight fault - a noisy gain pot. I took it apart and cleaned it but it's still faulty. It's an odd value, 200k ohm and I'm having difficulty finding one. So there's another project that will languish on my bench for a while. I've mentioned Freecycle before. People post items they want to give away and all you have to do is answer the e-mail saying you'd like it. You need to get in early if it's a popular item. Some people give it to the first responder, some draw lots so you don't always succeed in getting it, but I've done pretty well so far..... two guitar amps, a spanish acoustic guitar, mahogany shelves for cutting down into necks, loudspeakers for amps, an oscilloscope for testing my electronic stuff, a few cigar boxes and more. I'd like to add that if you do take stuff, it's nice to redress the balance and give some stuff away too. Don't be greedy. In the words of the great sage and philosopher Noel Gallagher of Oasis - "take what you need and be on your way."

What's next? Finish the "Special" CBG with the JuJu hand wound pick-up; hoping to carry on building the "Ratocaster" which is gathering dust; have a crack at a cigar box uke, start another batch of tobacco tin amps. That should keep me going for a while.

new toys

Managed to bag a new Novation Nio 2/4 USB soundcard on Ebay and saved myself about £45 on shop prices. Not a dealer, just someone who had an unused one for some reason. OK you chance it going faulty and having no guarantee but it does come with a manufacturers one. I don't usually bother with them because buying locally, the seller usually honours the guarantee if you have the receipt. Electronics are pretty reliable these days so you are usually safe. Having said that, the Line 6 Backtrack recorder worked for a week then stopped. There's nothing mechanical in it except a couple of switches so you'd think you were safe with that. I rang the shop where I bought it, they are out of them. They said they'd have one by the end of the week - nope. So buying locally, in a regular shop, doesn't necessarily make things any easier.

So what about the Nio. I spent all afternoon playing with it (and made my eyes hurt for the rest of the day). It's looking promising. There's no printed manual but you get one on disc. You get two pieces of software to complement it. Ableton Lite recording software. Quite a steep learning curve but there's a good interactive tutorial, which is worth working through as it tells you how to configure it to work properly with your PC. This is important if you are buying it for the same reasons as me - latency problems. You also get software that gives you a virtual effects rack. This is cool and easy to use. You can select various amp types and effects components which are all adjustable like the real thing. Or you can just use the Nio as it is with a pair of headphones and your own pedals and instruments.

I spent most of my spare time this week making a wooden case for a CBG. Just wanted a lo-fi, rat rod type of thing to carry one guitar, but it had to look cool (of course). I'm pleased to say it has turned out great. I'll tell you more later but just leave you with a couple of photos for now.