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Comment by Vern Hallett on March 12, 2018 at 12:35pm

My latest diddley bow inspired by Ben Baker's "Hobo Fiddle".

Comment by Barry Weaver on June 6, 2017 at 1:16pm

My 2nd graders made Diddly Bows in our school Makerspace!

Comment by Will King on March 11, 2017 at 11:35am

20 Deluxe Diddley Bows for young music students at the Strum Shop in Roseville, CA.  They are 17 & 19 inch scale lengths with blue & red stain, tooth pick frets and fret numbers on the side of the neck for 'play by the numbers tabs'.

Comment by A.C.E on December 16, 2016 at 8:36pm

OK, just finished this as a Christmas gift.  What do you all think?

Hid a trigger from an electronic drum kit inside as a pickup (piezo & jack). See photos

Diatonic 25" tuned to A

Comment by Robert Killen on May 30, 2016 at 12:04am

Just finished my first diddly bow.

More images are here: 12 Honest Men album

Comment by Simon Cartlidge on April 29, 2016 at 1:23pm

Hey guys, just found this on YouTube, thought you might like it. https://youtu.be/UvnhSsT5QT8

Comment by Frank Carr on March 18, 2016 at 11:56am

Another diddley bow build, this time with a handmade box.

It has a 45 degree headstock angle.

The sound hole decorations are antique bobbins from Hobby Lobby, cut in half. The tailpiece is a Chinese coin pendant, also from Hobby Lobby. The finish is olive oil mixed with a brown dye. Electronics is a piezo pickup. Scale length is 24 3/4. Dot and side markers are celluloid guitar pick punch-outs. Frets are standard narrow acoustic guitar frets.

On building the box, I made it out of scrap oak I had around plus birch plywood for the top and bottom. I didn't get it quite as square as I would have liked but it was good practice since I hadn't built a small box like that in a very long time.

Some people have asked about why I have the long tail. I've found it makes the instrument more comfortable to play since the extended tail acts as sort of an elbow rest.

Comment by Frank Carr on March 8, 2016 at 2:57pm

Here's a short "Rollin' & Tumblin'" clip with my paint can diddley bow seen below. It's plugged into my Monoprice 5w tube amp with a touch of delay. I also added a bit of compression in Audacity after recording.

Rollin & Tumblin Diddley Bow Demo

Comment by Frank Carr on March 6, 2016 at 11:07pm

It's about 3 1/4 inches wide. I probably planed about 1/2 off of it with a spokeshave to get the rounded top. That side of the plank was beveled to start with so it was good practice with the shave.

The board was about 4 1/2 feet long to start with. The finished length is 32 inches with a scale length of 23 inches.

Comment by Gordon Cooper on March 6, 2016 at 9:23pm

Thank you Frank! Quite inspiring. Nicely done! How wide is the pallet wood? 

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