This easy to follow PDF guide shows you how to make your own electric cigar box guitar. Its author Ed Vogel says
how to make guitars and guitar gear
Make a fuzzy fuzz pedal
Form follows function with this DIY fuzzy fuzz pedal. You can make one too by following this step by step guide . Everything is explained in detail, down to the circuit layout.
You could get a similar effect by putting your RAT distortion pedal in an old sock.
Make a guitar shaped birthday cake
Kristen Fowler and her friend Shalisa Francis made this amazing guitar shaped birthday cake for Shalisa's sister Denise. You can make one too by following the steps on Denise's website. The tattoo style design on the front reminds me of Luna Guitars. According to Denise it took forever to make and there was A LOT of leftover cake!
Make a cigar box guitar and amplifier
This pdf file from Make magazine shows you how to make a three string cigar box guitar and matching amplifier.
Make a LEGO pickup winder
These are two examples of pickup winders made out of LEGO. They use the motorised Mindstorms , NXT type components to spin the pickup bobbin. I haven't seen any LEGO winders with an automatic travese mechanism yet, but it won't be long before someone builds one.
The first is a pickup unwinder, for despooling a broken pickup, by Scorpion097 .
Prototype a guitar shape
You have sketched your ideal guitar shape, it looks good on paper but will it work full size? Berlin guitar blogger GuitarRen has designed some great guitar shapes. GuitarRen tested his designs with cardboard mock ups, painting them and adding aluminium foil. He even added pickups and control knobs. This is a great way to test a design before starting to build.
Make a hand held fret press
Ant Setchell shows how to convert a welding clamp into a fret press. To make the press you have to modify the jaws. The top jaw holds interchangeable fret cauls from Stew Mac (to match the fingerboard radius), the bottom jaw is a padded caul to press on the back of the neck. You would pay over $200 for a handheld fret press, but a welding clamp will cost you less than $15.
Make a pickup using GeoMag parts
GeoMag is a magnetic toy construction system. It connects together using short magnetic rods and little steel balls. Niels Kaagaard noticed the resemblance of the GeoMag rods to the pole pieces in a single coil pickup and proceeded to make a pickup out of them. When you remove the plastic coating from the GeoMag rod you can see it is a steel bar with neodymium magnets at either end.
Make a talk-box
Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, Slash and Zakk Wylde have all used a talk box at one time or anothe to give a vocal quality to their solo guitar. A talk box is essentially a speaker attached with an air tight connection to a plastic tube. When you place this tube in your mouth it acts like an artifical larynx and you can make yor guitar speak.
Make a pickup with neodymium magnets
Traditional guitar pickups used alnico magnets or ceramic magnets. Neodymium magnets, a form of rare-earth magnet, have not often been used in guitar pickups. These extra strong magnets are becoming more and more available, and this instructable shows how to use them in a single coil pickup.











