Hand Tools Cigar Box Guitar

This is an Instructable about a few guitar type things I have been building while traveling in our motorhome. I used hand tools I found along the way and thrift store stuff. I had to buy a few things from ebay and amazon.

I made some of the necks out of 2x4 fir some out of oak and one out of red cedar. I went online and found a fret calculator. I made the first frets out of bobby pins super glued on. The later ones were made with regular fret wire I found on ebay.

The end plates were made from brass hinges the later ones I cut out of brass from a door kick plate I found in a thrift shop.

The nut was made out of a dog chew bone I found at pet smart. Some were made out of plastic knitting needles. The banjo was a cookie tin.

For the bridges I used brass welding rod glued to wood. Some were plastic knitting needles and some bone.

I used a hand saw, chisel, coping saw, a knife, a small hatchet, a few different files and rasps I found in thrift stores.

I found electric pick ups and piezo pickups on ebay and amazon along with tuner pegs and strings. I used sink drain screens for sound holes. Brass box corners from amazon. For amplifiers I tapped into the volume switch on some old radios and added a 1/4 inch jack. I looked that one up on Instructables.

The cigar boxes came from thrift stores and local tobacco shops.

I tried one with this type tuners but never again. This box is from a fancy flatware set. The dog bone made quite a few nuts for the necks,