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Diddley bow straps for kids

Hi,

I spent yesterday making diddley bows with my daughter's brownie troop (ton of fun and highly recommend building with kids). We will finish up at their next meeting in two weeks. One of the things I wanted to do with them is have them make straps for them out of nylon cord sandwiched between two pieces of duct tape leaving the nylon cord sticking out each end so they can tie the straps to the diddley bows. I was going to have them tie on the tail end (they are made with a wood dowel through a CB and the dowel sticks out the end of the box for the tail) under the string so it won't slide off. For the other end of the strap I was going to either have them tie it around the dowel under the string on the neck side of the box OR under the string at the head between the nut and tuner. Is one way better than the other? What are advantages/disadvantages of either?

Thanks,
Mike

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on April 16, 2015 at 2:37am

Outstanding! Also, thanks for the link to Justin's video. (I already have his lesson on how to play the thing.)

What did you use for a $1.40 tuner? Can't quite see in the pic.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on April 16, 2015 at 6:07am

it is not in the pic sorry, that will be done next outing with them. I purchased the cbgitty economy tuner pack of 6. it breaks down to $1.40 per tuner. and that video is a good one for showing how to do the build. i created documentation to give all the kids to take home in case they want to build another with a family member and i put a link to that video in the doc for them to check out. it really helps explain it all.

These are the ones I used: http://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-guitar-parts/6pc-economy-open-gear...

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on April 16, 2015 at 7:05am

Thanks.

I've been using eye bolts with wing nuts plus regular nuts to clamp onto the headstock, but my per each cost for that as about $0.75 USD and I have to file and drill the bolts to make it easy to attach a string. The budget tuner looks promising...

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Permalink Reply by Mike on April 16, 2015 at 7:56am

yep that is why i went with them. the cost is not much difference when you think about it and much less work and easier. I could have just used a screw like in that video but i would think for a kid tuning it would be a nightmare you wold just be at what ever it is tuned to or not tuned to.

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Permalink Reply by 14 buck bass (aka antonio) on April 17, 2015 at 12:37am

here are my observations on the tuners with the kids. Id recommend using real tuners . the eye bolts and screws and such are difficult at best . and Although a diddley isnt that noticable if out of tune it gets to be a drag for them. and the hope is that they will grow to enjoy playing and want to explore the cbg world a bit more. We actually had some scouts that wanted to build more . The neck ties work great , I got a bunch at a thrift store. heres what we found out about that... Some, not all but some parents arent too thrilled about some ?? who knows who neck tie on their childs neck. weird i know but true. dont ask me how i know. So it can be solved by requesting each kid to bring their own. " grampys tie or " dads tie " oh and there is a site guitar huggers. we bought a bag of like 8 pounds of tuners for 24 dollars plenty of tuners . also went to the hardware store and got donations for the troop in wood and copper pipe for slides. the boys did it for their belt buckles.

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Permalink Reply by 14 buck bass (aka antonio) on April 17, 2015 at 12:39am

oh and for the nuts we bought a long piece of allthread and i cut a bunch of chunks with my hotsaw. and presanded them . its alot cheaper than buying a bag of screws or bolts

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Permalink Reply by Mike on April 17, 2015 at 1:28am

Excellent, thanks for the info. The tuners I definitely agree. I hope this to be a jumping off point for them so making it easier is better. I can also see what could happen with the thrift store ties. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. I thought about all thread but with round dowels for the neck we would need to glue and was concerned about time and not enough clamps. I have not tried the slotted screw to hold the strings yet so need to test this weekend to make sure it holds them. Thx for the info/advice!