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Cigar Box Resonator Guitar
This was a lesson in adaptive engineering. I wanted a homemade Dobro and this is what my dimented brain came up with.
The cover plate is what you find under the burner on your stove. The cone is a Goodwill stainless steel bowl (unseen in that pic)
or this one:
The string retainer is Home Depot aluminum 'L' channel. I mounted it on a piece of wood that tries to take away from the fact there's a cut-out in the plate, the wood retainer base goes into that void. The sound hole inserts are something I found in that WONDERLAND known as the hardware dept in Sears - and I drilled a bunch of holes in 'em. The 'bridge' is a rounded piece of whatever wood I had on hand. A brass saddle sits in a channel grooved into it. They both sit inside (untouched by) the hole in the burner plate, ON TOP of a stainless steel bowl, and held in place by the pressure from the strings. The round bridge floats and can be rotated for intonation.
The pickup is an element from a yard sale Cobra CB Radio. The magnet is strong enough to hold it where I deemed fit. There's the sweet spot I found. Wired straight to the jack.
There are reinforcements all around and through the box. This was a strong box to begin with, but I wanted to brace it. The hand shaped neck is red oak with a 1/4' Red Oak fingerboard. The neck ain't goin' anywhere!
Look close, and the stringers that span the bowl are above the edge of the box, not secured. The bowl is just supported by the tension of the strings. When the lid is closed, it pushes everything into place. But like a puzzle, it all comes apart...
If you look real close, you'll see the homemade strap pins that also came from Sears Hardware.
Let me dismantle it a little more:
When I look at it this way, I wonder how it sounds so loud acoustic. I'm usually plugged in, so the extra heft of the body works. Since it's an actual microphone in the box, it really picks up the twang of the strings, but also picks up every other sound of fingers on the box/strings etc.
Not much more to say, maybe I should have removed the bridge so there was a big white circle through the burner plate.
Take note of the neck butt and how I attached the neck at 4 points. And the retainer support.
This is the Star Trek shot...
cool, huh?
peace
Ted
The cover plate is what you find under the burner on your stove. The cone is a Goodwill stainless steel bowl (unseen in that pic)
or this one:
The string retainer is Home Depot aluminum 'L' channel. I mounted it on a piece of wood that tries to take away from the fact there's a cut-out in the plate, the wood retainer base goes into that void. The sound hole inserts are something I found in that WONDERLAND known as the hardware dept in Sears - and I drilled a bunch of holes in 'em. The 'bridge' is a rounded piece of whatever wood I had on hand. A brass saddle sits in a channel grooved into it. They both sit inside (untouched by) the hole in the burner plate, ON TOP of a stainless steel bowl, and held in place by the pressure from the strings. The round bridge floats and can be rotated for intonation.
The pickup is an element from a yard sale Cobra CB Radio. The magnet is strong enough to hold it where I deemed fit. There's the sweet spot I found. Wired straight to the jack.
There are reinforcements all around and through the box. This was a strong box to begin with, but I wanted to brace it. The hand shaped neck is red oak with a 1/4' Red Oak fingerboard. The neck ain't goin' anywhere!
Look close, and the stringers that span the bowl are above the edge of the box, not secured. The bowl is just supported by the tension of the strings. When the lid is closed, it pushes everything into place. But like a puzzle, it all comes apart...
If you look real close, you'll see the homemade strap pins that also came from Sears Hardware.
Let me dismantle it a little more:
When I look at it this way, I wonder how it sounds so loud acoustic. I'm usually plugged in, so the extra heft of the body works. Since it's an actual microphone in the box, it really picks up the twang of the strings, but also picks up every other sound of fingers on the box/strings etc.
Not much more to say, maybe I should have removed the bridge so there was a big white circle through the burner plate.
Take note of the neck butt and how I attached the neck at 4 points. And the retainer support.
This is the Star Trek shot...
cool, huh?
peace
Ted
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Start imagining what Ted Crocker can create for you...
