This build “Blue Jay” was inspired by my 90 yr. old mothers love of baseball and her favourite team the, Toronto Blue Jays, she has been a mega fan for years. She has asked me numerous of times to build her a CBGuitar, I didn’t want to build her a CBGuitar using a traditional box, I wanted to build something that had meaning to her, something special just for her.
So I thought about what she enjoyed and it was a no-brainer the Toronto Blue Jays, I looked for a vanity plate with a Blue Jay theme, Wal-Mart had a few different styles so I purchased a plate and “Blue Jay” was born!!
Let’s get to it !!
NECK
I started with a 1″x 2″x 36″ piece of Maple that I purchased at Home Depot, our Home Depot has a Hobby Wood section at back of store where they stock pieces of Red Oak, Maple which are perfect for CBGuitar necks. They also stock Red Oak, Maple and Poplar wood that is perfect for Fret Boards. Finished length of this neck is 33″. I hand sanded the length of neck along grip edge giving it a smooth, comfortable feel along grip.
The tuning peg end has a hand sanded curved edge, which gives the CBGuitar a nice detail and in my opinion a more appealing look. “Blue Jay” has a 3 coats Blue spray paint finish, which I sealed with Varathane Triple Coat Gloss Clear spray that was lightly sanded between coats giving the neck a smooth high gloss look. “Blue Jay” is a 25″ scale neck.
“Blue Jay” also sports 3 sealed, locking tuning pegs with brown pearl knobs
FRET BOARD
Fret Board is a piece of Red Oak, this build is Fret less but has 18 Fret lines marked in pencil. I hand sanded edges of the Fret Board and stained with Varathane Antique Walnut Gloss and sealed with Varathane Triple Coat Gloss Clear spray which again provides a durable smooth gloss finish.
Fret markers on “Blue Jay” are Nos. 8 – 3/4″ Robertson wood screws, which mark the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th (Double Screw), 15th, 17th and 19th Frets.
BODY/BOX
“Blue Jay” has a Maple body and a Red Oak 1/4″ laminate bottom. I sprayed the box with 3 coats of Gloss White spray paint which was then sealed with Varathane Clear Gloss Triple Coat spray finish. This build has an in body Neck design as shown in the picture. The license plate is screwed to the body with 6 Nos. 8 – 3/4″ Robertson wood screws and 6 grommets.
STRINGS/PICK UP/BRIDGE/TAIL PIECE
The Tail Piece on “Blue Jay” is a 1″ door hinge that I drilled a 3rd hole between the existing holes for the strings. It has been screwed through license plate into the neck to provide support so Tail piece doesn’t move.
I used a small piece of Red Oak at the Nut, which has been stained and sealed. I also used 3 small screw eyelets to act as string guides to help hold strings in place. Bridge on “Blue Jay” is a small piece of Paduk which has been sealed with Varathane Clear Gloss Triple Coat spray.
“Blue Jay” is an acoustic/electric CBGuitar, that is amplified with a 1 – 1/8″ round Piezo pickup placed under the Bridge beneath the license plate. Strings used are bulk strings which were purchased from CBGitty. They are .026, .034 and .044 tuned to open “G” which is G D G
PARTING THOUGHTS
I hope you enjoyed this build, it was great fun for me to build something special for my mom. She will probably never play it, but it looks great on the shelf on the wall ! She has on occasion taken off the shelf and strummed it, I know she really likes her “Blue Jay” CBGuitar, whenever someone drops by she is quick to show it off. This leads me to back to what this site is all about, making something with your hands that can bring fun and pure joy to you or that special person.
So if you want a challenge or have a special someone that would appreciate a hand made playable instrument or wall hanger conversation piece why not try a CBGuitar ??
If you have any comments, questions or build ideas you would like to see please send them along and I will do my best to answer. Will be posting more of the CB guitars I have built and will be doing a start to finish video in the near future.
NECK