Guitar Phone Amplifier

This rustic and simplistic guitar-shaped phone amplifier is the perfect way to add style to your porch or outdoor area. Instead of using speakers, this simple design allows you to project music directly from your phone without cords or electricity.

You will need the following supplies:

• A guitar- this is so you can trace an outline for the build
• A pencil and a large piece of paper to trace on- you could trace the outline directly onto the wood, but I didn't want to damage my guitar
• Scrap wood- I'm using several 7''x1 1/2'' boards for the front, and some thinner wood for the back- you just need enough to cover the guitar surface twice.
• A router
• Wood glue
• A jigsaw
• Wood stain of choice- optionally you could paint it, but I don't know how that would hold up to the elements.
• Polyurethane
• A hand drill
• A chisel
• 2 large clamps- large enough to clamp all your wood together.
• Several smaller clamps
• 1/8 in thick sheet of plywood- big enough to cover the whole top of your guitar
• an electric sander- you could also just use a sanding block, it just might take longer
• Strong wood glue
• A drill and 1/2 in drill bit
• Polyurethane (optional)
• Black paint (optional)
• Hooks/screws for hanging (optional)

If you would like to trace the outline of a guitar directly onto the wood, you can skip this step.

Trace the outline of a guitar onto the paper.

Tape the tracing to the wood, then cut along the traced lines with a knife. Make sure to make a cut in the wood where you trace so that there is an outline of your tracing on the wood. Then use a marker to make the cut outline more visible. for the top of the guitar, make sure that the place where you would tune the guitar is wide enough to fit your phone with space on each side.

Clamp all the wood pieces together, then use a router to hollow out the guitar shape. Remove about 3/4 of the depth of the wood, leaving 1/2 inch on the sides. Start from the middle and work outwards until you have the entire body hollowed out.

Using the router, remove a strip of wood about 1 inch thick all the way up. Make sure to leave roughly 1/2 inch on the sides. when you finish the neck, get your phone and place it at the head of the guitar. The body of the phone has to fit within the guitar head with 1/2 inch on the sides. once you've traced the necessary boundaries for the phone, use the router to hollow it out. Only remove wood at the depth of your phone, because this is where the phone will need to slide in once everything is covered.

Un-clamp and separate the pieces of wood. Then use wood caulk/glue to glue them together. I used Max Strength Clear Gorilla Glue from Lowe's as it was the strongest adhesive I could find. Make sure to cover all the surfaces that will touch generously with glue. After the wood is glued, clamp everything back together and wipe off the excess glue with a wet paper towel. Leave this to dry for at least 24 hours.

Using a clean-cut blade, carefully cut out the guitar with a jigsaw, making sure to stay 1/2 in away from the routed-out area. If you have the wood set up on sawhorses or a table, move the wood and lay it on tall (just not short) grass. This will allow to whole guitar to be supported, while the jigsaw blade will still be able to move. Start by cutting out the body, then move on to the neck and head.

For this step, trace the outline of the top of the guitar from the last step onto a 1/8in thick sheet of plywood. If you want, you can also draw out the bridge, which is the piece of wood that holds the strings at the bottom of a guitar.

After you've made the outline, cut it out using a jigsaw and a clean-cut blade. Remember that the opposite side of the wood will be the side facing outward. When you've finished cutting, move on to the hole, this is where the sound from your phone will come out. I used a small bowl to trace the hole, but any round thing will do. To make the hole, first drill a smaller hole in the middle, and start from there with the jigsaw. Cut out the bridge as well if you decided to make one.

After that, lay the body of the guitar (the hollowed-out bottom piece) on a flat surface and sand any surfaces that will touch the plywood thoroughly, wipe with a wet paper towel when finished.

Next, apply wood glue to all the surfaces that will touch the plywood. Apply wood glue to the bottom side of the plywood guitar as well.

Clamp the two pieces securely together, and wipe away any glue drips with a wet paper towel. Leave this to dry overnight.

When the glue is completely dry, use a sander or sanding block to smooth the edges, top, and bottom, anywhere that will be stained. Wipe the entire guitar with a wet paper towel when you finish sanding.

After that, apply a layer of pre-stain the entire guitar, this is optional, but it will make sure the stain has a uniform finish.

Next, use a brush or a cloth to apply the stain to the wood, wipe away any excess stain with a cloth.

If you decided to make a bridge (mentioned in step 7) give that a quick sand now, and stain the front of it. Then use a small amount of wood glue to attach it to the guitar below the hole. Wipe away any excess glue.

If you want, you can use some black paint to darken the inside of the guitar near the hole, like I did.

Allow everything to dry overnight.

This step is optional, but applying a layer (or two) of polyurethane will give the guitar a glossy finish.

I used one coat of Miniwax Wipe On Poly, and two coats of Bulls Eye Shellac, But you can add as many or as little layers as you want.

Apply the polyurethane/shellac with a paintbrush, and let it dry for 24 hours. (time between layers varies)

Hang your new guitar speaker up on your porch or in the yard. It could also make a good decorative piece in your house. If you use screws or hooks to hang it, make sure to use short screws, and attach them along the edges of the guitar. Slide your phone in the hole at the top and play your favorite music the next time you have a barbeque or backyard party!