I got an Acid box recently. As you may know they are pretty deep, almost cube shaped. I cut it in half. I attached a poplar neck with wood pegs and glue. Then I took apart a SmartWater bottle, tacked it onto the box, and used my wife's hairdryer to heat it-shrink it-and bring it under tension. Then I glued on the poplar fretboard. 15 inch scale tuned as a ukulele. Since the surface flexes, tuning it up is quite a challenge. But it is LOUD.
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Another cool build Warren!
Sweet! I've used water bottles w. heat gun before, I like the near-banjo-like tones and it's a cool look in my opinion. Nice work Ghostbuttons! -Glenn
A 2-liter bottle was my first attempt, but I couldn't get enough flat surface. It was about 3/8 inch short. The smartwater bottle made from the same plastic and is the same height but narrower. That means the curved portions of the bottle at top and bottom are smaller. I was able to get more than enough plastic membrane out of it. Once the strings stretched in the tuning got a lot easier.
I had the same problem, an easy fix was to run a brace across the box where the bridge is positioned. I think the plastic from 2 liter soda bottles is the most stable amongst plastic bottles once you get the heat thing down?
I forgot to mention that I learned about making plastic tension top instruments from Will King when I lived in the Sacramento area. This was a blast to make!