Handy hints on how to glue-up a cigar box guitar neck

Here's the way I make pretty well all my guitar necks. Glueing on a "backstrap" is essential to give the neck sufficient strength to cope with being cut to fit into the box and being notched to accommodate electric pickups. It's a simple process, but as the neck is at the heart of every guitar, it's really important to get the basics right if you are to have a chance of making a good, playable and durable instrument.
Of course there are other ways of doing it: this is my approach and has stood me in good stead over the past few years.
www.chickenbon...

[@AlexArcady]

John, I am very happy to watch your thorough tutorials on building. After watching tons of CBG vids (no names mentioned) I finally found what gives me step be step instructions. Thank you.

[@PoppabearsCave]

Thank you brother! Your videos are a MUST watch for us folks just starting out building. Thank you so much for posting these! You have answered so many questions I didn't even know I had. Thanks again!

[@ClarkyGuitar]

It's pretty reassuring watching this to know I'm doing most things right, even after a few years of building, but I still like getting tips. The veneer pins idea is a good one, I'll be using that next time.

[@remcbride2008]

beautiful work bud

[@genomitchalinni8106]

The wee bit is 3/13". Or, the height of, 3, American quarters.It makes a pretty good string height.

[@crackerjack3359]

I enjoy your videos which are very helpful. I have just made my first guitar and chose to angle the sides of the back strap so that it is narrower on the base than at the neck piece. The idea being that it will be easier to open the box than if the sides had been vertical. I am making this for my son's Xmas present so I'm being somewhat particular and probably won't bother for future builds

[@74dartman13]

That's good to make that extra support. I've seen guys make em without that and I think it makes for a weak neck! Nice work!☺

[@f1948s]

Excellent work John. You did an excellent instructional video on this and I really appreciate your detail. Thanks a million. I will have to check out some of your other videos because when I am able I want to make one of these CBGs.

[@joehoran9347]

Great tips. I also swear on titebond original. I’ve been doing high end custom carpentry for 40+ yrs, and an established guitarist/ enthusiiest but new to guitar building. Most cabinet makers and luthiers use titebond blue top. Never liked the yellow glue line it always leaves. And it’s not waterproof. It does come apart more easily w heat gun. I could see how that would be handy for repairs, modifications.... but for strength and invisibility you can not beat original formula. It has performed and Is time tested.

[@jeffiscool1805]

Helpful video. Thank you. I used to feel the same way about those speed clamps. I recently got a pair that are made in Germany. I can't remember the name on them. They were on clearance somewhere. These things look basically the same but heavier made and they generate way more force than my others. I can literally put one clamp on a single post and support a 12 foot 2x10 at midpoint with the clamping force they have..... Went and looked. Megaton clamps. 900lbs clamping force. They are awesome. Has to be more good ones out there. Cheers

[@jimmcdougall9973]

Yeah, mine snapped at the neck joint, and I gave it about an inch and a half. Will teach me to insert the frets before gluing the body section. I’m a bit heavy handed.

[@stakwalderbak5331]

Your videos and presentation are first class. Thank you for sharing your expertise in such a simple manner. You are a natural teacher. I like the way you cut down the headstock area and I am wondering what thickness the headstock finishes past the nut and could you give me an idea of the radius you put on the transition between the neck and the headstock. I'm thinking it might be OK to use my router table for that part of the process. It also looks like you don't add any laminations to the back of the headstock.

[@joarimuspapim8807]

Right !

[@ronmiller7916]

Forget the pins. Sprinkle a small amount of salt into the glue. The salt will desolve and the pieces will not skate around. It's a very old woodworkers trick. Won't effect glue or joint.

[@theriggsworkshop8606]

Im just building my first box guitar and this is exactly the kind of information i need ... thank you . Just a question ... can i make my neck from pine ? Due to lockdown all the timber yards a closed ..all i have knocking around my workshop is pine ,

[@HELLHAMMERHANDHIX]

true *blue peter* stylee !!! ... "here's one I made earlier". !!!

[@ChickenboneJohn]

John Noakes is alive and well!

[@wings9191]

Hi CBJ, I am enjoying your video. Very good info. Question though, You are using Poplar for the neck but you are using Cherry for the back strap through the Cigar box. Why Cherry for the back strap? That's a nice piece of wood to hide in the box. But great video, Thank you very much. I'm building my first CBG and doing the neck this weekend and you have me super jazzed! Take care

[@genomitchalinni8106]

So, get the neck to size then glue, or glue and run through the table saw again?

[@genomitchalinni8106]

So, a 30" neck will do? Or another chunk of wood to make a "Scarf joint " tuner?

[@BurninSven1]

Good video but I was tought to never use a hammer on a machine table. The overlap is way to short and there are other clamps that are even better.

[@rstarguitar5350]

Chicken bone, tell me do you ever make scarf joints on your head stocks? And I also wanted to ask you what pick ups you use .do you get them from CB Getty possibly? Or do you buy them somewhere else? What scale do you use for your neck? I was wondering if you used 25 1/2 or if you think that a smaller scale is better for a cigarbox guitar just wanted to get your opinion because I build all my cigarbox guitars at a 25 1/2 and scale and sometimes I find that challenging perhaps I should try a smaller scale just wanted to get your input

[@chickenbonejohn714]

I sometimes make scarf joint necks, but not very often . Pickups - for most of the guitars we have them custom made for us. Because we order several hundred at a time we can specify pretty much exactly what we want from our small factory supplier. We use a small number of our own handwound pickps, and a few Lace Alumitone and Bill Lawrence pickups. The scale length we use most is 25 1/2, but we do quite few 24 3/4 and a fair number of of 22 1/2 inch.

[@rstarguitar5350]

Hey Chickenbone John, Thank you for the quick response. I think that I’m going to try the 24 3/4 and the 22 1/2 scale lengths just to see how they work out. I’ve been building for 3 years and I learn more everyday thanks to videos like yours . Thanks again

[@januszsikora7689]

Hi John, Excellent video. I bought your basic neck kit recently and before I start cutting and carving I have a question: my cigar box is 250mm x 165mm x 25mm. My concern is the 25mm depth, which by the way seems to be the standard for cuban boxes. If I glue the two pieces together I will have to cut 19 mm from the neck part to fit the box, seems like a terrible waste o the very nice piece of wood (the back strap). Am I missing something? Thinner piece of wood for back strap or end wood blocks? Looking at your video, your box is custom made, much deeper then factory boxes, that's O.K. it's the basic technique that important. Please keep the good work for the CBG beginners.

[@chickenbonejohn714]

25mm is VERY shallow for a cigar box guitar, and I usually reject these as being too thin to be of practical use. I've used thin boxes before, and simply raised the fretboard height well above the top of the box and used a tall bridge, and made sure that the depth of the box is completely filled by the thickeness of the neck, and avoided notching the part of the neckstick through the box. With some boxes, it's possible to take off the top and graft in some pieces to increase the depthyof the sides...you need to be a bit creative sometimes.

[@januszsikora7689]

@@chickenbonejohn714 Thanks, I will make new, deeper, box frame and use the original top and bottom from the cigar box.

[@finnbelton3556]

Handy video, although I did panic a bit as I saw it just after coming in from gluing up my neck. Luckily it turns out I didn't go too far wrong and I now have a better idea about the fret board tomorrow. Out of interest how do you go about sealing the box? I'm thinking I want a semi permanent solution so access is still possible for maintenance but would prefer not to use visible screws.

[@ChickenboneJohn]

I usually just let the string pressure keep the box closed.

[@Chaplin835]

super

[@tracymcdougal6381]

Now i get it

[@f1948s]

Great video John. I am trying to figure out how to be able to make a short scale neck like the one you are doing and was wondering if you have any hints as to how does a person determine how long the entire neck board needs to be to accomplish this? I want to make a 21 " scale neck and I want to make sure the bridge is located about 1/3 the distance from the end of the box and not at the very bottom which I think reduces resonance and also makes it hard to palm mute the strings when playing. Can you give me any advice? Let's say I have a box that is 10" long. What would be the best way to determine how long the neck should be? Would I just add the length of the head + 3" (position I want the bridge from the box end) + the scale length? Thanks for any help.

[@chickenbonejohn714]

Yes, figure out your bridge position, measure out the scale length , add whatever you want for the headstock configuration and that will do it. Just sketching it out roughly or measuring directly onto a piece of timber may help.

[@f1948s]

Thank you John. I appreciate the help.

[@AvidEric]

Isn't popler a too soft kind of wood? To me it seems like that the force of 3 or even 4 strings would bend the neck quick a bit... sure, not a big problem when only playing slide. But doesn't that rise the action too much over time (if you prefer a low string hight)?

[@ChickenboneJohn]

Not at all - I've made over 1150 guitars, many with poplar necks, and no problems.

[@AvidEric]

Interesting. Thanks for replying!

[@rocket9244]

to bad we dont use the metric system in the usa. looks like a decent video/.

[@ChickenboneJohn]

I flip between referring to inches and mm, being brought up with both systems. Raw unsawn timber I tend to refer to in inches, finished sizes in millimetres..it's the same at the woodyard, they talk about width and thickness of lumber in inches...totally illogical, but it's the strange sort of mixed-up system some of us old-timers work with in the UK.

[@joarimuspapim8807]

Tanks for your tips, where qou find good wood dry enough ? and what is the right position for the wood to don't move ( the curve) ? On my chanel you can see my cigar box for children ! regards

[@ChickenboneJohn]

You have to keep an eye on the humidity of the place where you are storing the wood.

[@grantpuchert8618]

How do you cut your fret slots and what's the best way for me to cut fret slots

[@ChickenboneJohn]

These days I use a table saw with a specialist thin kerf blade, a custom made sled and a CNC machined indexed steel guide, but that isn't necessary unless you are making fretboards in great numbers. I recommend a proper Sheffield steel luthier's fretting saw and a simple home made mitre box.

[@stakwalderbak5331]

I think Indian rosewood is going to be a huge problem sourcing since CITES have made it difficult to source. Probably a good thing environmentally but alternative sustainable woods may be the future. Any suggestions? Especially woods which may be available in Oz.

[@genomitchalinni8106]

Poor man's double stick tape. Painter's tape, super glue, then painter's tape. And it won't move during sanding. Still be safe. Wood slivers, in the eyeball, aren't fun. Splinter's to the finger, suck, too