Yesterday I held a one-string making activity at the local community college. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. I kept the design super simple, and had about 15 students make diddley bows. It was part of the school's spring activities week. It was free to students, and kept me crazy busy for 3 straight hours. I used Oliva Series G 7x50 Churchill boxes, pine necks and inexpensive geared tuners. You can see the design sitting next to the 1922 Maine guitar.
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Took one of my 3-string wonders to a church-based pick-and-sing. 8 year old kid saw it and asked a LOT of questions. Yesterday he told me he had built one out of a shoe box he found in the closet.
Under 10 years old they get it!
I've got no business working with kids that young. I need to figure out how to do a train-the-trainer session to show the (mostly female) kid workers how to build and play these things. (Diddley bows, washtub basses, tin-can percussion, plastic jar shakers and rattles and scrapers, water-glass xylophones, any other ideas out there???)
All suggestions greatly appreciated--including dire warnings if you see problems.
Cool project. I think I'll do a simple diddley bow as an activity at the San Diego Maker's Faire in October.
I cut a piece of PVC pipe, and found the slide to be very dead... It works, and it's a different sound... might be useful . . . but for me, as the kits go, I will probably stick to deburred copper pipe...
Thanks. PVC pipe is not an ideal material, but I needed 50 in a hurry, and I saved a bunch. 3 bucks vs. 50 for copper couplings. Brass is my favorite slide material for my own use.
Nice project, I bet they are having a blast playing them too.
good on you Dane.
keep it up.
Thanks, everyone.
right on man good on you