Take a 'crack' at the Plumber's Challenge!
CONTEST OVERVIEW:
What instrument can you build that starts with plumbing and heating/AC parts? We're looking for the most spectacular, innovative, interesting and artistic stringed instruments.
We're challenging you to create new and exciting instruments starting with:
- Copper pipes
- PVC pipes
- Sheet metal ductwork (craft your own dobro body, perhaps?)
- Toilets
- Everything... including the kitchen sink!
SUBMISSION RULES - NO EXCEPTIONS:
- You must build a playable stringed instrument using a common plumbing and/or heading & air conditioning parts.
- Submit your entry by uploading two (2) different photos in the COMMENTS section below.
- Add a 1 paragraph description of your instrument (parts used,building techniques, inspiration yadda yadda yadda)
- All submissions must be built by the person submitting them.
- Contest submissions end Wednesday, June 30, 2017 at 11:59 pm (Eastern Standard Time US)
- Instruments that have been previously submitted to build-off contests, whether on this site or elsewhere, are ineligible for this contest.
YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY THE STAFF OF CIGAR BOX NATION
PRIZES:
First place: $100 gift certificate from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply
Second place: $50 gift certificate from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply
Third place: $25 Gift Certificate from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply
THIS PAGE IS FOR CONTEST SUBMISSIONS ONLY.
Replies
Here's entry #2. The body was intended for a banjo but when I found that the 10" galvanized duct cap fit right in it made for a pretty quick HVAC/ Plumber instrument. The neck is 3/4" PVC with a T-coupler head. I put a wooden dowel inside the PVC for more rigidity. #2 pencil fret indicators. Zither pin tuners. Sound sample coming soon.
I'm officially in with this 27" Baritone Scale 3 String PVC Tubulum Guitar.
Body is made of 1" Schedule 40 PVC(has a 1 & 1/4" piece over the 1" neck piece). Has 4 sound holes pointing forward for acoustic Tubulum sound.
Fretboard is made of a couple Lowe's yard sticks, aluminum braces make the nut and bridge, 4 tuners from CBGitty that were left over from other projects, electrical box cover for control plate with a 500k volume and a input jack. 4th tuner is for a string running along the inside back for adjusting the neck relief/ramping if any.
The pickup is made from the motor coils of a power hand drill that I had and hacked for a pickup. The pickup slides from neck position to bridge position for alternating tones.
The Dan Bau is a traditional Vietnamese instrument My PVC version is greatly simplified but it has all the main elements. 4" PVC pipe with end caps, aluminum gutter nail for the 'whammy" which is used for vibrato and to obtain melody notes. A .010 guitar string is attached to a zither pin at one end and the gutter nail at the opposite end.
Or even a Bau Diddly
very punny Darryl...lol
whats the sound like Jim?
Check out the video on the main page.
Here's how an actual dan bau sounds in the hands of a master
https://youtu.be/1xckQdlqTdg
Thanks Rose. So it shall be named!
In my description I stated that I used electrical boxes. I also used wood, guitar tuners, guitar strings, and a magnetic humbucker pickup. None of which are plumbing related. If this disqualifies me from eligibility, then so be it. I had fun making it and I enjoy playing it!
Yeah man, we can't get too nit picky about the rules in an area where there are no rules. You're build, Kevin, has set a cool standard. Plumbing parts are the main body of this build and electrical boxes are certainly part of all the HVAC work I've stuck my fingers into.
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