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VIDEOS: How to Make Copper Wire Frets on a Cigar Box Guitar

In my upcoming book, Poor Man's Guitar, I explore the building techniques and history behind many antique homemade guitars in my collection. One very interesting instrument in the book is a syrup can guitar (circa. 1930's, Portland OR) that has copper wire frets.

I never got to explore the frets in the book, so I've re-created them this week for Cigar Box Nation. In this example, I built a one-string cigar box guitar using barn wood for the neck and an antique cigar box for the body.

The first video shows all the materials needed and how to set up the frets. Scroll down for the second video which features a full demo + a lesson on how to play one-string diddley bow like blues legend, Lonnie Pitchford.

Demo video of completed instrument:

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Permalink Reply by Gerrit Klaassen on April 24, 2018 at 12:22am

Yub as I explained in the video on one of my latest builds:

And before using the copper wire it is advisable to straighten the wire by turning it (between a clamp and a drill) Here's the video of the build with the explanation on the wire fretting: Hope this explains a bit more.

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Permalink Reply by Hexx Bombastus on April 24, 2018 at 2:40am

Wire Coat-hangers if you've got them laying around and a set of good sturdy pliers (Dollar store specials aren't going to hold up) and strong wrists will give you this and a nice bronze color.

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Permalink Reply by Termoking on April 24, 2018 at 6:43pm

Steel wire frets:

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Permalink Reply by BlueBird J on April 26, 2018 at 12:14am

oh i like this. very nice

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on April 25, 2018 at 12:06am

tie wire frets , much the same method as yours Shane

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Permalink Reply by Busyhands Slim on October 9, 2019 at 7:57am

The big advantage of copper wire is that it's softer than steel, so easier to tie. Copper gets harder as you work with it (bending, hammering, etc), and softens after you heat it in a flame, unlike steel. So you can soften the ends in a flame to make bending and tying easier, and it will stiffen back up as you form the fret.
That said, it's pretty impressive that you managed to get the steel frets tied. They should last longer than copper. Can you show the back of the neck, please?