Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on October 13, 2014 at 6:13pm

Have them source their own box. Be prepared to work with tins, plastics etc too.
You can easily cover tuners and hardwood for necks, call gitty

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 13, 2014 at 6:22pm

I'd say at $30 you are spending twice as much on the materials & parts as you need. What are you using for the box - are you buying these in or making them? Depends on whether you have to factor in your time into the costings, but you can make a box for a couple of bucks (material costs using pine and Masonite). I have a simple jig for cutting and assembling,  and just butt-joint, glue and staple the boxes together, with a screwed-on top. Using pine for the necks should cost you $1 a piece or less. As for hardware, buy in bulk and buy cheap...but watch out for sub-standard parts. I've done lots of these (over 1200 guitars made in my workshops), and it does take a little while to get good sources of components..having unreliable tuners or jack sockets can be a nightmare in a big class, so check out all your components in advance. 

Aside from the costings, you really need to get the build process down, so that if this is a day project, you need to be 100% sure that everyone will get finished on the allotted time. You need to get some prototype builds thoroughly tested so that you can be sure each and every time it will got right. Despite doing this, and having a good staff /student ratio, my first 2 classes of around 25 were a real struggle to get finished on time. I had worked on the prototypes with the shop class teachers, and we still over-estimated the time taken to complete some of the processes, so do think carefully about the work-flow and potential problems. You may need to do more pre-prep work on the components than you originally think, and make sure there is enough tolerance on your parts and build process to accommodate the skills (or lack thereof) that your students have. Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Rasmussen on October 14, 2014 at 1:06am

Yeah, I've been working on it at home and had a little success. Got a bit frustrated when I got to the frets so it's been sitting on the backburner for a couple of weeks.

Fortunately I have (3) 1 1/2 hour blocks set aside to get it done (with wiggle room)...

Thanks for the advice!

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Permalink Reply by Jason Rasmussen on October 14, 2014 at 1:04am

Yeah, I think I might have them get the cigar boxes and wood for the arm. That will at least make it more reasonable. The tuning pegs and guitar strings are the other big expense.

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Permalink Reply by David L. on October 14, 2014 at 1:26am

If time and money are an issue have you seen Uncle Crow's one hour guitar?

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/easy-to-build-cigar-box-...

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Permalink Reply by Jason Rasmussen on October 14, 2014 at 8:03am

Thank you, I think I might go this direction. With the cracker box amplifier I think it'll work well...

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Permalink Reply by Muddy Creek Guitars on October 14, 2014 at 1:58am

When I did this with a class, the lunch ladies saved back tin cans for me. I got 8 ft pine boards from a lumber yard and cut them down myself. I got eyebolts for tuners, 2 for 97 cents at Walmart. Strings were in bulk from C. B. Gitty. He'll work with you on price if for a class. We did 1 or 2 string gits. It was about $3.00 per git.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Borczon on October 14, 2014 at 2:46am

Jason, I would look at the uncle crow build. This is as simple and elegant a build as I have found. It works out really nice too. Fast and a really surprisingly good sound. I have used both tuners and eye bolts with success. It is worth the look.

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Permalink Reply by JL on October 14, 2014 at 5:48am

Keep It Simple.  the larger the group, the longer each step takes.

Face Mount the neck to the box.  Use a paint stir stick (or thin cut scrap) as a cleat inside the box, screw 2 screws  through the cleat and through the box and into the backside of the neck.  With this method, any box can work, cigarbox/shoebox/amazon-corregated-cardboard-box/plastic-leftover-dish/1-gallon-icecream-bucket/paint-can/coffee-tin/cookie-tin/etc.

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on October 14, 2014 at 6:04am

You can get strings on eBay from $1 a set and tuners from $5 for a set of 6 from Hong Kong.  The cheap strings are fine but as Chickenbone John said, you'd need to find which tuners are good as I've had some of dubious quality.

Good luck with the project :-)

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Permalink Reply by Groucho on October 14, 2014 at 7:03am

If you're looking to go "cheap and easy" you could go with 1-string diddley bows instead of 3-string guitars.

I sawed a hardwood broomstick in half for the neck (it was already stained & laquered), used a hose clamp for the nut and nuts & bolts for the bridge.  I used 3 screws and superglued a grommet over the sound hole.  Check out Justin Johnson's "How to build a diddley bow in 20 minutes" video. 

It sounds good and was super easy to make. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Jason Rasmussen on October 14, 2014 at 8:04am

I like the look of this one. I might have to look at this approach as well.

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