Eddy Finn Roadhouse Cigar Box Ukulele

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Uncle Crow shows how to make a simple, yet great sounding cigar box guitar in less than an hour. He includes step-by-step video instructions. once you have it tuned up you can see how well it plays, you'll probably have to adjust your nut and bridge so the strings are at a good height. if they're too high when you fret them the intonation changes too much, if they're too low you'll get buzzing from the frets. you can file your slots deeper to lower the strings, or sand the bottom of the nut/bridge if it's really bad. if it's too low you can put shims like pieces of paper under them or just start again with another piece from the strips you made. Essential! The cigar box guitar plans that started the modern movement. Designed by Cigar Box Nation founder, Shane Speal, these plans were then adapted and improved by Ivan Sucharski. The positions of the frets depends on the scale length of the ukulele. The plans posted here (uke2, see below) are for a concert size. For fret position measurements, search "fret calculator" in google or go here . For a concert size I used a 15" scale length with 17 frets. I thought about making a mold and melting plastic from plastic bags for the saddle and nut, but chose instead to destroy a few dominoes. Warning: cutting and sanding the dominoes will dull whatever you use to cut and sand them with. There is also a nasty burning plastic smell. Wear protection and work in a well ventilated area.

Note: if you use wire for your frets, the way you sand and finish your fret board may also differ from these instructions. I have been in the joinery business for over 30 years and I also own a successful kitchen business with my brother. I made cigar box guitars more as a hobby but in recent times I have had more and more enquiries to make one of a kind models. With my vast experience in the joinery field and a fully loaded workshop I can complete most builds within a four/ six week period. Make Magazine originally published these plans for a great working "Strung Out" PVC bass in 2009. We recently discovered that they archived the plans and info so that everyone could build their own. Very simple instructions to build a one-string bass with a "whamola" style lever as the tuner. The plans come from a 1970's children's book.there is a ton of resources online on how to build instruments. This is just a basic overview of what I did so you can see it's not too hard. Making an instrument this way is not going to get you a professional quality instrument without spending a lot more time and effort, however, I managed to make one more than good enough for playing at home and with friends without too much effort!

All my guitars are set up for easy fretted and slide playing - I'm a guitar player, so I understand how a guitar should perform. I source the best components for the price, and carefully craft them into truly gig-worthy instruments, with unparalleled playability and tone. The first fret, near the head, is 1/18 of this distance from the nut, the total length being in this instance 13 in. Figuring out how these things fit together was a right old game, but I've managed to do it. It's got a few neat bits...double action trussrod, and a method of adjusting the tension on the head...but the internal pot is a simple 6" cake tin, and the skin is a drum head, as they... >> Read more... Another great set of plans with beautiful diagrams. Originally published in 1920 by Charles A. King, these have been archived straight from the scan so you can see them exactly as they ran almost 100 years ago.Build to be discussed and a price to be worked out once specifications are agreed. (waiting times for custom builds are currently very long) Anyone who loves music and is handy with tools can make a cigar box violin that is capable of producing really good tones. The violin may be designed for either two strings or four, depending on the maker's ability as a craftsman and aspirations as a player." >> Read more... All Lace® Cigar Box Guitar models are shipped with an extra set of Steve Arvey Signature Cigar Box Guitar Strings. The original and best! That's no empty boast - I've pioneered the making of cigar box guitars in the UK. I have made and sold over 2000 of them, and have been featured in the UK music press, and on UK & European TV & radio. Once the slotted fretboard was cut to shape I put in the frets. I cut each fret to length with some side cutters then hammered them in, I think the best method is to start from the edges and move to the center. I cut all my frets a bit long so once they were all in sanded them down to be flush with the edges of the fretboard.

As we only deal with larger size cigar boxes that fit a minimum of 50 cigars (and not the smaller 25-cigar size you often see elsewhere in the cigar box guitar market), our CBGs are guaranteed to have a warm, full-bodied acoustic sound that is pleasing to the ear. However, as all our cigar box guitars are fitted with controllable preamps, they can be plugged in and played as electric guitars as well. In a clever twist to the design that we have not seen used elsewhere (yet!), we fit the control panel discretely “hidden” to the rear of the cigar box guitar. This has the dual benefit of keeping the aesthetics clean from the front of the instrument as it is viewed by others or when displayed on the wall, while having the control system easily accessible to the player for adjustment. That's right, this is the end. It is time to install the tuners and strings. Installing the tuners will vary for each instrument. I took the tuners from a thrift shop guitar, so I had to cut down the metal sheet that houses the tuning pegs with the metal cutter on a dremel. If you follow this example be sure to wear protection and watch out for fire hazards, this throws a lot of sparks. The article that inspired the modern Cigar Box Guitar Renaissance. These are the plans that Shane Speal used to build his first cigar box guitar… and from that first cigar box guitar, he went on to jump-start the entire modern cigar box guitar revival. Material for the frets: I actually bought brass welding wire for the frets, but ended up inlaying crushed turquoise instead. If you choose to inlay crushed stone the ukulele will essentially be fretless, which will change the way you play it.We have two cigar box guitar models: The classic “f-hole” with its ornate and instantly recognisable sound-hole shape. And an alternative design built using beautifully intricate paper-covered boxes, with dual metal sound-hole covers (that you may recognise as being a pair of sink strainers!)