Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: mikeluke on January 14, 2010, 07:31:18 PM

Title: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: mikeluke on January 14, 2010, 07:31:18 PM: Folks

My son has to make a basic instrument for a school project and I was thinking about working with him to make a very basic electric guitar. Thoughts as follows:-

3 strings - tuned to open triad
Single pickup (got a spare)
Body - piece of wood

Questions:

Could I wire the pup directly to the jack socket? One wire to live and one to earth? Or should I wire it differently? I have a few old pots lying around so I could use those - I was going to make a simple bridge and nut to raise the strings above the pup and then get him to play with a slide. It just needs to make a noise rather than a tune!

Any advice or suggestions welcomed

Thanks

Mike
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: Twinfan on January 14, 2010, 07:39:20 PM: Straight to the output would work fine :)
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: mikeluke on January 14, 2010, 07:47:13 PM: Thanks, Dave
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: WezV on January 14, 2010, 08:26:46 PM: make it a lapsteel/didleebo - some ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVeTtI--wjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xNYyQQIGUQ
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: mikeluke on January 15, 2010, 09:19:17 AM: Wez

Brilliant! I will have to substitute the beer bottle for something softer though... he's only 9!
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: choucas09 on January 15, 2010, 09:47:41 AM: Good idea from Wez. Here's a no beer bottle version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5YFolCXn3w
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on January 15, 2010, 11:11:25 AM: Quote from: choucas09 on January 15, 2010, 09:47:41 AM
Good idea from Wez. Here's a no beer bottle version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5YFolCXn3w

Excellant

I liked this one too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSt2RgGPDow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSt2RgGPDow)
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: mikeluke on January 15, 2010, 01:29:24 PM: Got to find me a nice low E string now... Seems to work best with lower strings - Great links, guys - many thanks
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: WezV on January 15, 2010, 04:41:41 PM: anything hollow will work, wooden boxes or tins. although really it doenst need it if its got a pickup.

stick a hole one end for the string to go through and i would put a tuner at the other rather than a nail to make it a diddlybow deluxe ;)
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: Frank on January 15, 2010, 05:42:09 PM: nooooo, make one of these!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAmFNKb1L8g&feature=player_embedded

or a Bowafridgeaphone

http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om06800.html
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: gingataff on January 16, 2010, 05:00:58 PM: Why mess with strings when with a bit of woodwork you can make a Daxophone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07qrTfgeYWo&NR=1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07qrTfgeYWo&NR=1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxophone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxophone)
http://www.daxo.de (http://www.daxo.de)

(Hans Reichel has also made some amazing 'guitars' too, imagine an acoustic that lets you transpose the pitch of any/all strings whilst playing. Yowzer.)
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: Frank on January 17, 2010, 01:10:08 AM: Quote from: gingataff on January 16, 2010, 05:00:58 PM
Why mess with strings when with a bit of woodwork you can make a Daxophone?

Why mess with wood when you can do this?

http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om32400.html
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: shobet on January 17, 2010, 01:14:51 AM: http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol21/?pg=80
Title: Re: Basic Electric Guitar Build
Post by: ToneMonkey on January 18, 2010, 12:35:55 PM: Make a Cigar Box Guitar (although I'd use something else other than a cigar box if he's only 9)....... or rather than three strings, make an electric uke :lol: