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Thanks so much! 💜 ✨

Thanks for the encouragement,JP🙏 There are some genres I can do very well, but I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone these days. 😄 I’ve not heard of Jacque McShee… I’ll definitely check out her music. 🎶 I agree with you regarding CBGs and different genre. A really skilled player can make it work ✨ Thanks so much for checking out my latest videos🔥

@@psycheopera you are most welcome, I am now and always an advocate of everyone being able to sing, I sing quite well, better than I play guitar and bass at least and I do have a few videos up to prove it. exploring genres is always fun, all you need do is practice, every song can be sung with practice. and you are most welcome, I am enjoying your videos a lot. it is amazing what can be done with these guitars, on a diddley bow if decent fret markings I can do at least 20 riffs, you're a better player and I am sure you can do 100's if you really wanted to ;)

Hey JP! 🎸 I look forward to checking out your channel. ✨Singing is definitely my way of figuring things out musically, so I'm definitely an advocate for it too. I used to teach ear training a while ago; singing was a big part of my method for teaching people how to transcribe melodies and chords by ear. When it comes to CBGs: if you can sing it, then you can play it. 😁I agree with you 100%... these instruments are amazing 🔥

Hi! You are right! ✨I forgot to mention that I only built using piezo pickups; that was a very important detail that I didn’t address in this video. 😓 I avoid magnetic pick ups because they negate the unique acoustic characteristics of my cigar box guitars. 🎸 I made a funny little short aboutthis topic. check it out. Let me know what you think: 🤔 th-cam.com/users/shorts7707k68mSfc?si=Dk3SzBTdRYvoLfDF

@@psycheopera I watched your short and I enjoyed it, you are quite right, the piezo does preserve the acoustic qualities of the cigar box guitar much better than a magnetic pickup. I'm very much an advocate of using natural acoustics with builds to give a unique tone, the size of the box for example, do you favor deeper or wider boxes for sound, I like a deep body for resonance

Hey JP!✨ I really like using larger boxes, but they are hard to come by. Of the boxes I've been able to get regularly, my favorite is the Tabak Especial Toro Negra, which is approximately 9.5 x 8 x 3 inches.

@@psycheopera thats a very nice size for a box, that 3 inches deep must give some beautiful resonance and tone. here in the UK I regularly find similar size tins for my builds 10.5 x 8 x 2, get quite as deep, but just enough for my 3 stringers and my 2 string basses. looking at your range, I'd say you've chosen your box sizes very well, bigger ones are rare, but worth it not to make you jealous but I recently got ahold of a massive chocolate tin for a bass build 15 x 8 x 3 and another thats 5 inches deep, the tones will spectacular. may I ask, do you ever come across tins of danish butter cookies over there? if so I recommend them for builds if you ever wish to try one.

Wow! I am jealous LOL!😮 I've never run into a cookie or chocolate tin that size. I'm very curious to hear your bass, JP! Please produce a video; I'll share it in my community posts. 🔥🤩

Hi!!! Thanks for checking out my work ✨💜 I’m with you about the broomstick headstock. 👍 Definitely leaves us with more time to get creative on the rest of the instrument. 🎻

@@psycheopera time to experiment with our instruments is most important, especially when we have many to build. the broom handle solved a lot of those issues back in the early day, so easy to cut a 5ft length in half and screw to the body. I have a cost saving measure for broom handles, I cut a notch in the broom handle for the headstock, provides a good string break angle for tension and I use the wedge I cut out for the floating bridge. give it a try, the result could be helpful

Thanks so much for the build tips! Will give them a try : ) ✨

@@psycheopera you are most welcome, Diddley Bows are where I started and I love them. may I ask, is the bridge piece on your Diddley Bows floating or fixed. I ask because if they float, you could offer them to customers as having an adjustable scale, you could go down to a short tenor scale of 20 inches or up to 27 or 28 for a baritone, having the variety and option to do this looks good to a customer or at least, thats been my experience. I admire your talent, if I my advice and experience is useful to you, you are welcome to it

Hey JP! ✨Thanks for your question and for your detailed build tips!🤩 I've considered addressing your question and other bridge topics in a video.🤔 The bridges on my CBGs are fixed and parallel to the nut. I know this might be seen as a "mistake" in the CBG building world, but I, as a performer, would rather not deal with floating bridges, and most of my customers are novice players who would rather not deal with them either.😁 As for the straight bridge/saddle issue: I know that it can affect tuning, but since I build rustic instruments, perfect intonation isn't one of my goals. I've also chosen a metallic object as a bridge, which already messes with intonation because it preserves vibrations it shouldn't.😮 I see all of these quirks as part of my unique building style. 😁Anyway, do you think this would make an interesting video topic?

Hi!!! Thanks for checking out my video. ✨I plan to produce a more detailed video about tuning and figuring out melodies by ear. I know a simple method that anyone can use.😀 I love the DAD tuning!🔥 I agree; It definitely brings out the grit in cbgs ✨So glad you found me on TH-cam. Where can I see some of your cigar box guitars? 🎸

@@psycheopera I'll keep an eye open for that video, it will be most interesting to hear what you have for us, I love messing around with strings and tunings for a 3 string, the variety is wonderful. DAD is very nice, especially with a wound string, a 22 or 24, gritty is the word. I am glad I found you on TH-cam as well, all of my guitars are currently on eBay here in the UK, I have no TH-cam presence though, I would love to spend hours making videos for each of them if I could. my cigar box guitars are a little different, I was tins instead of cigar boxes for the bodies, my own unique twist

Hey jp! I love seeing and hearing the work of other builders. Everyone has their own unique build style, and its inspiring to see so much variety. Please feel free to share a link to your store in this thread. A lot of CBG shoppers stumble upon my videos. Plus, I'm curious to see your work 😁Hope you'll consider making some videos for TH-cam 🔥

Hi!!!😄Great to hear from you!!!!✨I can’t wait to see your videos! 🔥I’ll share them in my community posts 🤩

🐈

Thank you💜 So glad you enjoyed it🔥✨

Hey! Thanks for the info you sent on X! ✨ I’ve been planning to make improvements to this pre for a while. Been getting info from other DIY audio enthusiasts and want to replace drain resistor with lower value to eliminate useless sub bass, and want to try installing film bypass caps to get my sparkly high frequencies back. Let me know if you have some thoughts here in the comments or shoot me an email at psycheoperaco@gmail.com ✨ Thanks again!✨

Hi! Not yet. 😓I’m still working on it. I released a preview to let everyone know that it’s truly in the works. 👍

Thanks Mike! I can't wait to see your creation. It's ALIVE! ⚡🔥

if i was you - build your self a rangemaster , get some 2n2369a low gain npn switching transistor . you would like that . also , pedal pcb has a spring reverb pdb and you can get this small blue plastic chassis spring tank from acutronics . try the zmp-1 thru the allien amp model on your zoom . that was my favorite high gain sound back when i was playing with dirt . i used the filter delay , but i had it set up kind of how evh used a phaser . i have a demo on my channel that is called " pilfer" or Rain out is a live version we did at the park , my wife and i have a duo .we build a lot of gear and make a lot of music . both of those videos i used the zoom with that patch - zmp-1 preamp thru the allien amp model - its different but i really used that tone a lot for a long time . ok take care - cool channel - sorry i didnt have any questions . oh hey -if you ever feel like winding magnetic pick ups check out heavymetalATC channel he is the man - he has a popular tube preamp video that was done thru my recomendation - he has 120k views on that so yeah highly recommended ... (to take my advice that is ... jk .

Hey! Thanks for the detailed tips! 🔥There's so much to work with there. I'll definitely checkout your channel. ✨

Hey Mike✨ Thanks 😊 This is the 6th string from a custom light phosphor bronze set.

Hey there!✨ I'm really happy that this video was helpful to you! Bravo for including the stereo jack on/off switch! I'm looking forward to trying that when I update my preamp.🔥 I'm a big fan of this preamp, but I'm on a mission to make it even better. Take a look at this post to see what's coming up next for this piezo preamp: th-cam.com/channels/4OMtVX9uQzowxCLQWqcaQg.htmlcommunity?lb=Ugkx6FE7jb1gS_WIJQ-wmj13Gfi_-8qJr3Lb (You may need to copy and paste the URL into your browser's address bar to access the referenced post.) Thanks for taking the time to check out my work!💖

¡Gracias! ✨Me alegra mucho que has disfrutado mi vídeo.😁 Bienvenido a mi canal.🔥

Hi! I’m so glad you enjoyed my video. ✨The DAW I used in the video is Adobe Audition, which has awesome sound analysis tools. But, in this case, I analyzed the recordings by ear 👂 and made my choice based on which piezo placement gave me the most balanced sound. 🎸 Thanks for checking out my work! 💜 Hope you’re enjoying my latest vids 🙏😀

Thanks 🙏 Good luck in your first meeting. Let me know how it goes 🎸🔥

Hi! Those are definitely interesting questions.✨ The best recordings I’ve produced with these instruments involved mixing the piezo preamp output with the output of a pencil condenser placed a few inches away from the box. Here’s the video with those recordings; let me know what you think 👍 th-cam.com/video/7n8y-nHktJQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HGMT_cMpdAKzZYx9

​@@psycheopera Thanks for your amazingly prompt reply! At that video, my unfortunately old and high-cutoff ears still found the 04:36 Piezo Preamp Recording section less to my liking than the 05:30 Rode NT5 Recording, which had a brighter sound (even I could hear :-) that better captured the box's acoustic character. The combination was nice as a recording. I guess it is a question of whether the aim is solely to capture an instrument or create a sound of interest with the instrument. I'm old and tolerant enough to find both admirable aims. It is nice to hear someone so invested in this subject and I wish you well. Try a diddley bow next :-)

Hello again!✨ I've recently started experimenting with Diddley bows. It's been challenging for me to get into them because they are harder to play than 3-string sliders. I need to work on my rhythm and picking to get better at playing the diddley bow. I have a video about my first two diddley builds. The instruments sound different due to their shape and piezo placement. You can achieve interesting and unusual sounds when you play around with piezo placement. Anyway, here's my little diddley bow video. I hope you enjoy it! th-cam.com/video/QqdkldiFAjQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PfOBY_MEmlu4S9bL

@@psycheopera Oh dear, my joke fell flat. My intention was to reference something much more primitive. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diddley_bow

Thanks for the link!✨Yeah diddley bows have an interesting history. I've seen some built from the side of a shed or house. Love it 🔥

Hi! Thanks for checking out my video. ✨ True, situations may vary. I usually don’t use my pre with my amps with tone control. For me, it’s a must with my TC helicon, zoom and recording direct into my computer. Also…quick update: since the production of this video, I’ve fixed problems with my pre and now I can use my cbg with my tc helicon play electric with good results 👍 The pre still needs to undergo more improvement to get the truest sound from my cigar box guitars. I’ll be swapping its drain resistor to cut some sub bass and adding some bypass capacitors to get the highs my guitars are actually producing. It’s been a journey and I hope you’ll stay tuned to see and hear the improvements ✨ 🎸

Thank you!!!!🤩✨I’m so glad you enjoyed my video✨

Thanks so much ✨🙏

Thanks Laura! ❤️✨

Yay! Thank you!❤️✨

Hi Laura! I'm planning to livestream lessons here on TH-cam. I've not decided on a schedule yet, but I've created a playlist with lessons to help you get started: th-cam.com/play/PLlVHstDF7JwzHo7iJ1Xwfxx_Gwt4qmXy0.html&si=TGjwlO7DYSKHL43P

Thank you!✨ I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks so much!!!! That's one of my favorite wigs. 😁 So glad you're enjoying your CBG!!!!! ✨❤️🎶

Thanks Laura! ✨ 🎶🔥

Thank you!🙏😄

Nice!!! 😆✨ Hope the video is helpful. 🎶

@@psycheopera they all are!

I got both mine to DAD. Just about had Rose at EBE and broke a string lol!

Thanks so much @oldmanwinter63 !!!! I'm so glad 😍

Hi Mike! Sorry to hear about the broken string 😔You've just confirmed something for me; Leather Rose and Perdomo should have stretched enough to handle EBE by now. I like the sound of those silver-wound strings, but, from both our experiences with them, they are less robust than the brass-wound ball ends by Martin and Co. The Martin strings are more expensive, but I may revert back to using them for my baritones. Anyway, remember that you can use other strings with your CBGs. My baritones also sound great with custom light phosphor bronze strings and 80/20s. Let me know if you need more info. ✨