My Next build is 
an Ever Quest tin game box from a buddy of mine. He had saved this box for a few years and while cleaning up his basement he came across it again. He thought I might be interested in making a CBG out of it, to which I said hell ya!!! This build the neck orientation will be across the box at an angle rather than straight through the box, something I have never tried. It will be a 3 string fret less design.
Let’s get to it !!!
NECK
For this build I started with a 36″ piece of Red Oak which I routered two edges using a 1/4 round over router bit. It gives the neck a nice profile and helps to make grip along the length smaller. It also helps to reduce the amount of hand sanding when trying to get a rounded profile, I also cut a curve at the tuning peg end for a more pleasing look. The finished length of neck is 32″ with 21″ exposed and 11″ in body. The scale of this CBG is 25″ from Nut to Bridge. Neck has a brass eyelet screwed at end for strap, string or to hang. Not to sure it will make a good hanging spot account depth of the body!!!
The finish on neck is 2 coats Watco Danish Oil in Dark Walnut and Varathane Triple Coat Clear Gloss spray, which gives a nice look and smooth feel along playing surfaces. The tuning pegs used on this build are Brass colored self-locking peg which was purchased from Amazon. The Nut is made up of 3 brass # 8 – 3/4″ slotted brass screws, the slot helps to keep strings in place and also helps line up string to the tuning pegs, because the screws are adjustable they also help to set and maintain good string height.
FRET BOARD
Wood used for fret board is poplar 17″ long from Nut to body, the fret board also has a curved edge at the body for a better look. This board has no tradition wire frets, but instead has the fret lines marked in pencil. Fret board is finished with Natural Clear stain and Varathane Triple Coat Clear Gloss spray giving it a smooth finish. This board is affixed to the neck using # 8 – 3/4″ brass Robertson screws. The screws indicate the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th,12th (double screw), 15th and 17th fret marks. I like to use screws for the neck and fret board rather than glue on, because if you want to change fret board or neck in the future, the screws make this much easier.
BODY/BOX
The body for this build is as shown in above picture, it is a tin box 9.5″L x 7.5″ W x 4 3/4″ H, despite the 4 3/4″ it is a comfortable size. Normally the cigar boxes I have used in other builds are 1.5″ – 3.5″, there is nothing wrong with using a thicker Box/Tin just keep in mind it may not be as comfortable while playing, if you are just making or purchasing as a decorative piece then it does not matter.
I drilled two sound holes using 1 1/8″ metal hole bit, then covered the holes from inside of box with some Brass Leaf Aluminum, which I cut from sheet and affixed with glue gun. This covers the hole and provides a nice finish and look.
STRINGS, PICKUP, BRIDGE/TAILPIECE
The strings that I used are a bulk Phosphor Bronze which I purchased from CBGitty. The strings are .026. .034 and .044, the guitar is tuned to Open G which is G D G, these strings give a warm, mellow tone. Since this guitar is meant to be played with a slide whatever slide you use could change the tone of the strings, for example a glass slide will give you a bright, twang sound whereas a brass slide will give you a more mellow tone.
This guitar is acoustic but also has the ability to be played through an amp with the addition of a 1 1/8″ round Piezo pick up with jack, which is located inside the box under the bridge. The Piezo pick up actually senses the vibration of the strings to create sound. They are cheap and a very good alternative to magnetic pickups, they work really well on acoustic guitars with nylon strings where a magnetic pickup would be useless.
The one issue with using a Piezo pickup it will also pickup sounds when something hits the box, for example I wear a couple of metal wrist bands and when plating my bands will hit the box and the sound is amplified. It’s not a big issue but just something to be aware of.
Bridge/Tailpiece on this build is a 3 string hard tail bridge with adjustable saddles. This type of bridge is meant to be secured on the guitar so it won’t move. The adjustable saddles allow for exact string intonation, this particular bridge allows the strings to be run up from bottom through the box or run from the back of bridge, I chose to run from the back. The bridge is brass colored to match the box, strings, markers and tuning pegs.
