Eight-page set of plans walks you through building a simple but fully playable 3-string cigar box guitar from scratch. Well-illustrated in an easy to understand method to build your first cigar box guitar with minimal effort. Written by Ben "Gitty" Baker.

>> Read more...

Essential!  The cigar box guitar plans that started the modern movement.  Designed by Cigar Box Nation founder, Shane Speal, these plans were then adapted and improved by Ivan Sucharski. 

>> Read more...

Joshua Gayou's 179 pg guide covering the complete design and construction of a top end solid body electric cigar box guitar. 

>> Read more...

Uncle Crow shows how to make a simple, yet great sounding cigar box guitar in less than an hour.  He includes step-by-step video instructions.

>> Read more...

These cigar box ukulele plans by Shelley Rickey of the Mourning Glories offer some of the easiest methods for constructing your own playable uke.

The design requires no fretting tools (the frets are black zip ties!) and utilize a simple stick-through-box construction. Features demo video. >> Read more...

A short scale modification to the 3-String Pro Plans that will bring your sounds into the mandolin and ukulele range.  Features demo video.

>> Read more...

Build a timeless sounding Appalachian dulcimer with this guide.  Experienced cigar box mountain dulcimer builder, 'Diane from Chicago' shares photos and discusses some of her methods for creating these beautiful instruments..

>> Read more...

The oldest known plans for a cigar box instrument, the Uncle Enos Banjo plans were written by Boy Scouts founder Daniel Carter Beard for a childrens magazine. The finished product is a very playable 5-string banjo. Includes photos of a completed banjo made from the plans.   >> Read more...

Originally published in 1886, these cigar box banjo plans are some of the earliest ever discovered. They bear a striking resemblance to the Daniel Carter Beard plans originally published two years prior. This instrument utilizes the same broomstick neck with a separate one-piece fretboard/headstock. >> Read more...

From the June, 1917 edition of Popular Mechanics. S. H. Samuels walks the reader through the basics of constructing a uke, which in 1917 “was made at a cost of 30 cents, by careful selection of materials from the shop scrap stock.”.

>> Read more...

Another great set of plans with beautiful diagrams.  Originally published in 1920 by Charles A. King, these have been archived straight from the scan so you can see them exactly as they ran almost 100 years ago.  

>> Read more...

From Popular Science Monthly, July, 1920.  Author Frank W. Vroom gives fairly brief instructions for constructing a “Jazzolin” using a cigar box. This is another take on the classic one-string Vaudeville fiddle

>> Read more...

A  solid 5-string mandolin made from a wooden cigar box. From the lost files of cigar box guitar history, we present these plans which were rediscovered by John "Reddog" McNair.

>> Read more...

These plans have been archived here and re-typed out in an easy-to-read format.  Straight out of a 1923 edition of Popular Mechanics. 

>> Read more...

A patent (with full diagrams) for a musical instrument formed from a pitchfork, tightened string, resonator drum and an interesting slide/resonator box. Similar to the "Viking Fiddle" used by Ida Rindlisbacher of the Wisconsin Lumberjacks band in the 1930's.

>> Read more...

"Anyone who loves music and is handy with tools can make a cigar box violin that is capable of producing really good tones. The violin may be designed for either two strings or four, depending on the maker's ability as a craftsman and aspirations as a player."  >> Read more...

The one-string fiddle was a staple of the Vaudeville circuit in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  In fact, Larry Fine of the Three Stooges was a master of the Vaudeville fiddle.  

>> Read more...

The rebak is the father of the violin and was introduced to Europe by the Persians.  We have archived these set of plans -- including making the bow -- in a downloadable pdf. 

>> Read more...

The Strat and Les Paul were only several years old when Mechanix Illustrated magazine published these plans, penned by Captain America creator and artist, C. C. Beck in their September 1959 issue. 

>> Read more...

God bless the writers of science magazines back in the 1960's. Everyone wanted to be a rock star, so they found innovative ways to make the instruments!

Archived plans in a downloadable PDF file  >> Read more...

A comprehensive set of plans to make a classic lap steel guitar.  Includes pickup construction along with a full discussion group for lap steel guitars.

>> Read more...

The article that inspired the modern Cigar Box Guitar Renaissance.  These are the plans that Shane Speal used to build his first cigar box guitar… and from that first cigar box guitar, he went on to jump-start the entire modern cigar box guitar revival.  

>> Read more...

Very simple instructions to build a one-string bass with a "whamola" style lever as the tuner.  The plans come from a 1970's children's book.  

>> Read more...

Make a playable rawhide violin.  Also gives instructions for making a homemade violin bow.  

>> Read more...

This lap steel was made from an extra 2x4 I had in my shed, with just a few saw cuts to the wood. I even used a pre-wired acoustic sound hole pickup, so there was no wiring needed. Anybody can build this lap steel guitar!

>> Read more...

"This guitar was never built to be a gimmick.  I made it simply because I wanted a steel bodied Dobro guitar, but couldn’t afford one. "

See how this poor man's dobro was made, including a demo video.

>> Read more...

Get all the set-up secrets, specs and string choices to convert an old electric guitar into a Seasick Steve "3 String Trance Wonder." Features info culled from Steve's closest friends.

>> Read more...

Figuring out how these things fit together was a right old game, but I've managed to do it. It's got a few neat bits...double action trussrod, and a method of adjusting the tension on the head...but the internal pot is a simple 6" cake tin, and the skin is a drum head, as they... >> Read more...

Video lesson on how to build a heavy metal one-string shovel guitar, as played by Youtube sensation, Rob Scallon.  

>> Read more...

Les Claypool's one-string Whamola is the mutated and high voltage bastard-son of the washtub bass.  Using a lever tuning/playing system, the instrument delivers globular, freak-out sounds.    Just watch this video to get an idea...  >> Read more...

Johnny Brooke of Crafted Workshop has created a great step-by-step lesson on building your own snare cajon drum.  The project was made with mostly scrap material and common snares from a snare drum.  We have a parts list and a link to detailed photos.

>> Read more...

If you've ever seen the Blue Man Group, then you know all about the Tubulum.  This instrument is built from a series of PVC tubes that are whacked at the end with flat rubber slappers, similar to cheap flip flops.  >> Read more...

Washboard virtuoso, Ronn Benway shows how to set up your own musical washboard.  This episode of Cigar Box Nation TV includes design, layout and percussion choices.

>> Read more...

Great cardboard-topped 3-string dulcimer plans!  Link contains an entire downloadable booklet with photos and more plus demo video.

>> Read more...

These free plans are for a traditional 3-string, triangle-body Russian instrument known as the Balalaika. They were written by James H. Flynn, Jr.

>> Read more...

The nail violin is a musical instrument was invented by German violinist Johann Wilde in 1740. It consists of a semicircular wooden soundboard with iron or brass nails of different lengths arranged to produce a chromatic scale when bowed with a violin bow.

>> Read more...

Traditional style gourd banjo featuring a special features such as a double action trussrod and a method of adjusting the tension on the head The internal pot is a simple 6" cake tin, and the skin is a drum head, as they... >> Read more...

These plans are archived as a downloadable PDF file, perfect for printing.  In them, author "Bill" shows his schematic for making a primitive homemade bass guitar

>> Read more...

This has got to be the most alien-looking uke you'll ever see...  BUT IT SOUNDS INCREDIBLE!  Simply put, the Styrofoam Cooler Ukulele is nothing but a neck without a body and a huge cooler screwed to the butt end. 

>> Read more...

Make Magazine originally published these plans for a great working "Strung Out" PVC bass in 2009.  We recently discovered that they archived the plans and info so that everyone could build their own.

>> Read more...

Check out this cool DIY upright bass from Brian (YouTube name, bmiranda2645).  It features a 1x3 plank from a hardware store.

>> Read more...