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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on September 9, 2018 at 3:19pm

Two 2x6 pine boards glued together with a chunk of 3/4ply in the back for extra support. Pickguard is 1/4 ply. Unfortunately this guitar is no longer playable. Because the 2x6s coming apart and my gluing on a fretboard attempt. Underneath that painted pickguard is nothing short of wood brutality. It's astounding what someone with no talent can do with a chisel and hammer. 

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on September 29, 2018 at 1:13am

I love the funky authenticity of this one, Rat.  It looks like it was built by a poor guy in the 60s.  His buddy had a guitar and he didn't and didn't have the cash to get one.  He got a busted Teisco electric for next to nothing and put this one together.  He wanted it to be cool, but even more, he wanted it pretty darn quick. 

Here it is 30 years later.  The guys got a Gibson and a Strat now, but the old rat guitar still gets played.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on September 9, 2018 at 5:03pm

I came in crazy right outta the gate  ;-)

TEA-N-TEA

2 small tea boxes .Detachable potato masher for a lap rest .. with a bracelet cuff attached ,
Turn it sideways and it sits, and looks like a gun ;-) the yardstick fretboard is cool and vintage , and with the booze flask spout makes the neck look like a chimney or smoke stack when standing up . the curved wood holding the electronics plate  is a berry picking basket handle . , the pole the  BODY MOUNTED turners are on is the arm for a window scraper .
The headless  wrap around string design was a pain in the butt ,, but looks cool

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Permalink Reply by Korrigan on September 10, 2018 at 6:48am

My first instrument was a GDG tuned, 3 course (6-string) candolintarjo...

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Permalink Reply by Lonman on September 11, 2018 at 2:36pm

My first was this Oliva 3 string, acoustic/ piezo electric, nail frets- oak neck. No fretboard. The fret dots are wood putty mixed with black paint. I was really impressed at how well I did for my first. 

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Permalink Reply by Tim Castagnola on September 11, 2018 at 4:32pm

I finished my first build last week.  I didn't have a cigar box but I had some hard wood laying around the shop.  It is cherry and birch acoustic/ piezo electric and I am excited by how good it sounds.  I have never played a string instrument before but I get this one. What a blast!

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on September 12, 2018 at 5:08am

Nice work guys some normal some odd ducks.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on September 12, 2018 at 9:54am

Indeed  , some mighty fine entries here , congrats guys .  Ans don't be afraid to  post some "not so great" first attempts folks , there are no "fails " , just discoveries of   ways that don't work  ;-) and ways that work better ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Hans on September 13, 2018 at 11:47pm

Following the Anonymous Pick's suggestion to post "not so great" first attempts, here is mine:

It sounds pretty good, actually, because of the big box, but the neck is beech (and so is the fretboard) and I quickly found out that beech isn't strong enough to withstand the tension of four steel strings... This poor guitar has such a bad forward bow in the neck that it's absoutely impossible to play. And - worst beginner mistake of all - I glued the neck to the box and glued the box shut, so there's no easy way of replacing the neck...

But even though this first guitar I ever built is not playable, I still love it. It got me started on the guitar building path. And by now it has a lot of (very playable) company on my guitar wall...

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on September 14, 2018 at 12:07am

It does  seems to have been the seed  to get it right .  very nice line up indeed . And i recon  the  firsty  can still  be used as a slider ?

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Permalink Reply by Hans on September 14, 2018 at 12:09am

Yeah, but I really suck at playing slide...

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on September 16, 2018 at 2:00pm

First build - Undercrown box, oak neck, pretty much a basic build overall.  Spray varnish on the box which really made the wood look great.  Later the bridge was changed to a wood one.  It plays good and has a nice tone but is a little quiet compared to a few of my better ones.  Biggest mistake was all the reinforcement as this box is super sturdy already.  Made in 2015, it has remained stable and solid so far.

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