So I built myself a 3 string guitar...

[Gaara]

Since I know quite a few board members are into models and creating stuff of their own I decided it might interest you to see the latest project I've been working on.

Being inspired by cigar box guitar video's on youtube I decided to have a go at building one myself.

The first problem I ran into was the fact that it was really hard to get an old cigar box for the body of the guitar, so I decided to go with a tea storage box like such:




Using that as a starting point and several supplies later, this is what I ended up with:





For the neck I used a piece of hard wood I got from the local DIY store and the frets and fretmarkers were burned into the wood using a heated bicycle spoke and nail.

The bridge and the nut of the guitar are made from extremely dense nylon, which feels like plastic, but is super hard (and a pain in the bottom to work with).

The string are medium gauge acoustic strings, namely the A, D and G strings.

I managed to beg the repair section of my local music store for some free tuning pegs (hence the reason they are different colours and makes).

And as you may have noticed the guitar is electrified aswell. I managed this by getting a 6.3khz piezo element, which transmits electrical current when it is vibrated, and attaching this to a 1/4" female mono jack at the bottom of the guitar body.

The action on the guitar is quite high, which makes it really nice to play slide guitar on (which is the reason i built it). The sort of music I aim to play on it is 30's style delta blues, or dirty delta blues by throwing in some distortion or overdrive.

Oh and its tuned to G D G.

I hope this monologue didn't prove boring and I am looking forward to your comments ^^

[b00n]

I love it!  Did you have a set of plans for this or did you just make it up?  I would love to try making something similar.  I love playing twangy dropped-tuning melodies.

How does it sound?

[DuVeL]

Nicely done Sven! I would like to hear the sound coming from that. :flirty:
Love the Pickwick sign on there, who knows, go asking for a sponsorship.
 
BTW, is that the same kind of music the Dutch band DeWolff makes?
Saw them at a small gig nearby and it was great music.

[Gaara]

Cheers b00n and Duvel.

Basically I got most of the info I needed from youtube and a website called cigar box nation.

These sources show different ways of getting the neck flush with the box lid or other ways of assembing the neck.

I decided on the length of the neck by laying it next to my acoustic guitar and marking the frets accordingly. Due to the bridge being slightly off, so are the frets but by testing it by playing harmonics on 12th fret etc it comes pretty darn close.

Other than that it's basically a do what seems best to you kind of approach.

I stronly encourage you to take a look at the several video's on youtube of simular sources online to prevent making mistakes when you decide to make one yourself.

The guitar itself sounds surprisingly good and clean, concidering it was once a tea storage box. Also the sustain is pretty good! When i plug it in the amp it tends to sing around a bit on high distortion and high gain levels, but so are the joys of hollow body guitars right?

I will try to record some sounds it produces once I replaced my headset.

If you decide to build one yourself I would be more than willing to provide you with all the info you need.

(btw i don't know the band Duvel mentioned but I will check them out)

[Zootoxin]

How about a video of you playing the thing?

Looks great!! Nice work Sven very very impressive

Cheers b00n and Duvel.

Basically I got most of the info I needed from youtube and a website called cigar box nation.

These sources show different ways of getting the neck flush with the box lid or other ways of assembing the neck.

I decided on the length of the neck by laying it next to my acoustic guitar and marking the frets accordingly. Due to the bridge being slightly off, so are the frets but by testing it by playing harmonics on 12th fret etc it comes pretty darn close.

Other than that it's basically a do what seems best to you kind of approach.

I stronly encourage you to take a look at the several video's on youtube of simular sources online to prevent making mistakes when you decide to make one yourself.

The guitar itself sounds surprisingly good and clean, concidering it was once a tea storage box. Also the sustain is pretty good! When i plug it in the amp it tends to sing around a bit on high distortion and high gain levels, but so are the joys of hollow body guitars right?

I will try to record some sounds it produces once I replaced my headset.

If you decide to build one yourself I would be more than willing to provide you with all the info you need.

(btw i don't know the band Duvel mentioned but I will check them out)

[Gaara]

How about a video of you playing the thing?

Looks great!! Nice work Sven very very impressive

Thanks Zoo! TBH as for now I am rubbish at slide guitar, but once I get the hang of it I'll try and record some

[Tutonic]

Awesome work Gaara.

Now you just need a 1-string, Seasick Steve style

[Gaara]

I think Seasick Steve plays a 3 string guitar and a 1 string diddley bow. If I only had 1 percent of his talent I'd be a happy man

[DuVeL]

Awesome work Gaara.
 
Now you just need a 1-string, Seasick Steve style

I think after the LAN he means a G-string and Benny. :norty:
 
Sven, Let me know what you think about the band DeWolff. I think they rocked.
Music from Tour of Duty (the series) but earlier and they were playing it awesome.