I got this box that looks like the book War and Peace and my first thought was to make a guitar out of it. At the time I was still pretty new to making instruments and you can tell, given how I made the neck. I thought I would try a different design for how to make the headstock. It was an interesting idea, but makes the neck so thick you can’t really play the first 2-3 frets. This is how we learn!
I made the bridge from a scrap piece of wood, and gave it its shape by using woodboring spade drill bits. Behind the bridge I added a piece of leather so that the strings wouldn’t cut into the box. It came from the tag on a purse’s zipper if I remember right. The fret markers are screws that I spray painted black. The neck is made from wood too…I hadn’t experimented with bone yet. All in due time…
Testing it out The finished product Adding cuts for the neck, with reinforcements The fretboard is a yardstick with all the numbers and markings sanded off. This took FOREEEEEEVER… Piezo (contact mic) inside a bootlecap, glued to the inside of the case so we can play this gitty through an amp Leather tag to prevent the strings from cutting into the box View from above Spray-painted screws for fret markers I mean, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It’s an unusual design, although not very user-friendly since it’s difficult to use the first couple of fret positions I used these strings from C.B. Gitty
