Comments on: Build your own instruments!

Build your own instruments!

Civil_Disobedient — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:39:37 -0800

How to build your own violin, in 45 pictures. Or for guitarists: build your own hollow-body, solid-body electric, or steel guitar. For the budget-minded, PVC flutes. How about bagpipes? No? Surely you cannot resist the tribal sounds of the home-built didgeridoo? Other eclectic (and not so eclectic) home-built instruments.

By: kamylyon

kamylyon — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:54:49 -0800

Neat-o! Quite a few years back I attempted a guitar. Kids and work made it virtually impossible at the time and it ended up as a pile of scrap wood :( A rather expensive pile of scrapwood at that.

By: TungstenChef

TungstenChef — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 22:32:38 -0800

Heh, I made a few PVC didgeridoos from those instructions. They sound decent, and if you ever find yourself standing in a park using a blowtorch on a large length of pipe, you WILL have people come up and ask if you're making a bong.

By: cookie-k

cookie-k — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 23:00:26 -0800

I can't wait to get my hand tools back from my kid to try this.

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 23:18:54 -0800

nice post, civil_disobediant but i don't think i'll be able to rest until someone posts plans for homemade electric bagpipes...

By: hippugeek

hippugeek — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 23:24:24 -0800

Oh man...a friend started teaching me guitar a few days ago, and I'm just goggle-eyed with joy and wonder at this stuff. Thanks. For kid-level home-built instruments, try here--a section of the blues and folk heritage site The Mudcat Cafe.

By: TimeFactor

TimeFactor — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 05:55:51 -0800

My niece just spent a couple grand on a flute. If only she'd waited for this post she could have made one of PVC. Thanks for the great post.

By: password

password — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 06:19:13 -0800

Funny you should post this. Over the weekend, I built myself 2 new guitars; a 12 string electric & an archtop electric. I didn't make the necks, but I think my ambition has grown & I will be attempting to make one very soon. Accurate fret spacing is my biggest worry. I'd also like to get into making my own effect pedals. I've seen quite a few pages around online devoted to wiring diagrams etc. One more project in the works is a leslie-esque speaker cabinet with a rotating baffle. I just need to find the right foot controller for the speed adjustment. I always wanted to be a rock n' roll star, but now I think I might just want to build the equipment.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 06:58:27 -0800

Great post. Here's another one: Matthias Wandel's pipe organ.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 07:25:12 -0800

Great post, C_D!

By: penguin pie

penguin pie — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 09:00:02 -0800

Or make your own bardic, Celtic, minstrel or Paraguayan harp (and hear what it should sound like).