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Seeking advice Re: tin box body - bridge design, reinforcements, sound holes.

I'm building my first instrument. It's going to be a tenor ukulele, which I'm calling a "banjolele" because the box I'm using is a rectangular tin that once held Whitman's candies. It measures 10" x 8.5". I've got all the materials I need at this point, and I'm working on making a nut out of scavenged bone, so that will take me a bit.

As I'm working on things, I've been thinking a lot about that box top. Because this is a through-neck design with a tailpiece, there won't be upward pressure on the lid, but the bridge will be pushing down hard on it. I'm concerned about the whole thing collapsing the first time I put tension on the strings. Because of that, I'm considering some kind of cross-bracing. When I do that, though, I'm worried about deadening the sound. I like the idea of the whole lid vibrating when I pluck the strings. Won't wood bracing keep that from happening?

Then there's the question of the bridge itself. Should I use a banjo-like design to minimize contact with the vibrating lid, or use a big flat bridge to distribute the pressure?

Finally, I'm thinking about soundholes. They will doubtless weaken the lid, so should I put them around the sides of the box instead?

Ideally, I want an arching bridge, no bracing, and soundholes in the lid. I guess wheat I'm asking for is reassurance that it will hold up to the pressure if I do that.

Here's a photo of the tin, if that will help:

Tags: banjo, banjolele, bridge, soundholes, tin, ukulele

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Permalink Reply by Order99 on March 13, 2012 at 12:21am

I haven't got around to a full-metal body yet (too many projects in ront of me just now) but i've got a nice 10.5"x8.5"x3.5" candy tin of my own just waiting on the shelf..

Due to my own concerns about structural flimsiness i'm planning a variant on Uncle Crow's 'dulcimer style' guitars-nut, bridge and all on a single neck, possibly with a strum hollow carved in, and attached to a bracing bar on the other side of the lid(or bottom bepending on preference). With the entire neck being self contained one has no pressure on the bridge directly into the tin, and if the cigar box versions i've made so far are any indication the the vibrations should conduct directly into the body. Due to the percieved flimsiness of my tin box i'm also going to glue a second brace behind the first-this second brace will not touch the lid at all but will space the entire length of the body and be discreetly screwed into the top and bottom of the box.

Will the stick-over version affect my tone, lower the volume or just possibly add some 'warmth' to the tin? No way to tell until I get to it I suppose-and i've got a Lap Dulcimer and a 'not sure what it is until i'm done' experiment with a series of small joined boxes, so it may be awhile until I find out...

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Permalink Reply by Karl G. Siewert on March 17, 2012 at 11:13am

Well, I've completed my tin uke. Ended up with a concert size instead of a tenor after deciding to add a tailpiece.

Here are photos: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/album/show?id=2592684%3AAlbum%3...

Materials:

Tin box
Poplar through-neck and headstock with additional poplar neckpiece
Additional wood for fretboard, bridge, and neck insert scavenged from ca 1910 2x4s
Tuning machines purchased at local guitar shop
Bone nut from unidentified animal bone found while camping
Frets are 18ga copper wire wrapped around the fretboard
Fret markings made with woodburning tool
Bridge includes 1910 wood and found bone (will be replacing soon. Too short!)
Tailpiece cut from pierced sheet metal pulled out of a disassembled multifunction printer
Aquila Nylgut strings

The only things I purchased were the tuning machines ($16 for 6) and strings ($6). I also bought a dollar store door alarm ($1) to scavenge a piezo from, but haven't used it. The uke sounds bright and pretty without amplification, and I doubt I'll ever need to plug it into an amp. I'll save the piezo for my next build!

So, total cost (less labor): $22 :-)