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Weekend Build. Strumbox: My 2nd CB Project

Hello CigarBoxNation!

I recently got some new tools and got to put them to use this weekend. I made a 23" scale strumbox dealio (diatonic fretted, a la strumstick, mountain dulcimer, walkabout dulcimer, etc). It was great fun. I used a router & router table for the first time and made great use of a combo belt / disc sander, chop saw and elbow grease.

The construction is very similar to the 1-day ukulele build that I did a couple of years ago. I used Home Depot lumber (alder and poplar) for the neck and and fingerboard. The body is two of the internal shelves from a large cigar box bonded together. Since the old uke is still playing strong after a couple of years, I used mostly the same construction themes including stick-through-body, architectural steel tail piece, bonded-on brass frets, circuit board bridge, and screws in addition to glue at some joints.

It came out great. It still needs some cleanup, finish sanding and oiling, and sound holes but I strung it up to see how it plays. Sounds clean and loud even without any soundholes. Here are a bunch of pics!

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Permalink Reply by JL on May 31, 2016 at 3:44am

That's a neat 3 piece neck design.

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Permalink Reply by Shannon on May 31, 2016 at 5:29pm

Thanks for the kind comments!

The circuit board bridge was inspired by the Pete Seegar banjo bridge which used the same material. Totally different shape but I liked the notion of a very stiff yet lightweight material. Most circuit boards are made of a glass fiber reinforced epoxy. The one that I made for my uke has worked so well so I'm sticking with the idea.

Lol... the 3-piece neck was originally supposed to be a 2-piece but I messed up and made the slot in fingerboard neck segment deeper than I'd wanted to. The third piece was part of recovery, and in the end, I agree it came out pretty neat. That's the awesome thing about no-plans DIY building -- you just invent as you go.

Next step is to drill a constellation of small sound holes, though I'm tempted to skip them. Sounds really great already.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 31, 2016 at 5:37pm

good stuff indeed .

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on May 31, 2016 at 5:39pm

Interesting,and a little different Shannon,some nice work in that

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Permalink Reply by Shannon on July 12, 2016 at 2:57pm

I finally got around to putting a finish on this one. Just a couple of applications of boiled linseed oil, rubbed down with #0000 steel wool after each dried. It came out pretty and the neck has an nice feel.