psw Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 Gentlemen...here's a challenge, or maybe you've got something already that meets the idea. Or maybe you've got a hypothetical design. Basically, what is the cheapest, or perhaps simplest guitar, you can make with stuff you've got lying about (not including floyds and stuff that you have lying about) around the house or workshop. To give you an idea, here's a guitar I made in a very short while in 1999. Heavily inspired by Gittler's low tech minimilistic approach. This is a very small practice guitar (it can fit under the seat of the car for practice at the traffic lights!). It's tuned to A and has the same fret scale as my acoustic from the fifth fret up. The neck is made of Jarrah (I had a bit of left over flooring timber I found) which is a reddish colored hardwood (no truss rod). It bolts thru the top to a block below. Another block at the back is drilled and allen bolts (ok I bought those) act as tuners (a hole is simply drilled thru their sides and the string is threaded thru). The ball end of the strings thread through the head end of the neck. The strings are reused and cut short after they've had their time on my regular acoustic. The frets are simply coathanders cut to size and glued on with epoxy glue. The bridge is also coathanger wire on a piece of jarrah that spreads the load over the top. The really embarassing part is that the body is made of 3mm MDF scraps. It's actually held up really quite well and is stained with black shoe polish or something! Well it sounds like a banjo/mandolin (no prizes for quality as you'd expect) and the frets should really be filed low and the neck tilted back or the bridge lowered to get a better action. But the intention was to get something to do a bit of a technique workout on the run and it does that pretty well. It recycles strings and truely the only thing I did buy are the tuning bolts, but I could have used anything lying around for the same effect, but then I'd need a spanner instead of the allen key (that mounts in a hole in the back) As it turns out the thing very rarely goes out of tune anyway. BTW the shape is really comfortable, that back curve sits on our right leg and puts the guitar in a really good position for playing and not sliding around, and of course, the lack of a headstock stops there being any chance of poking out the eyes of you passenger (we drive on the left and sit on the right down here in Oz). So that's my little guitar...anyone got a similar instrument or experiment lying around? Up for a challenge?...See what ideas or instruments you can come up with! psw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 Hey, that could be kind of fun. I've been wanting a beater travel guitar, and I might have to steal that tuning idea. I'm assuming you've got some kind of inserts in the body for the bolts to thread into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Yep, basically a small hardwood piece at the back. The bolts just self thread into the hardwood (no nuts or anything), the pull of the string keeps them fast but you do need the 'key to tune it! Another block of wood is under the neck. A piece of 3mm ply connects the two from the underside of the two blocks. This runs about 3/4in below the soundboard. The idea was that this would take the strain of the strings without effecting the top. The bridge is like that of an arch top of course. Anyway, would still like to see if anyone else has or can make something cheap as' that works! psw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 (edited) I like the idea of making something really really cheap. I haven't gotten around to trying it. Have run across examples on the web. The Hamdolin $12 Plastic Jumping Flea (ukulele) Cigarbox guitar trash can, gas tank, and wash tub basses cookie tin banjo Edited May 2, 2005 by tirapop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Interesting that both the cigarbox and the spamdolin use an internal brace to take the string strain like mine did, that is, seperate from the top. I think that the headless design adds just that extra little bit of modern simplicity to both the design and the construction. You know, Les Paul made his first pickups by spearing his acoustic guitar with a record player neadle and head...what a pioneer! And check out Leo Fenders original guitar...(a kind of lap steel), rough as guts...but started churning out Telecasters shortly after. Just shows you what you can do I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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