Don't toss out that old silverware box

[Matt Haugen]

I find it very exciting to step away from the seriousness of guitar making and let loose with silliness on occasion. This is my most recent build made of a disguarded silverware box. I guess this was mostly a practice of inlay and pearl cutting.

[Tim Mace]

And I thought I wasted w00d! Naw it's a better cigar box....or a nut bin ... no wait I know!!!A boxtar.Pway utha
twane thong!

[Matt Haugen]

Well, maybe I don't understand what you are writing, but to clarify. This is one heck of a nice sounding old box. She is loud, resonant and a very easy player. For my total investment, I could never find a guitar that would sound as nice for the price.

[hobocaster]

Thumbs up to silliness and good fun! Here's a picture of something that took probably 5 hours to build.. and it sounds way better than alot of the junk in the stores these days..

haters beware!

[Rob Mercure]

Year ago a friend had a great theme for a party - you had to bring a home made musical instrument to get in. Most folks just brought comb/tissue "harps" and such but having a pretty good junk pile I brought the "slide can-jo." This mess consisted of a round cookie tin of about 12" with an old cherry neck from a lap dulcimer that was never finished (not my project) jammed in and held with a drywall screw. For the bridge I had an old whammy bar assembly from a '60s Japanese electric guitar (guitar's probably worth a mint now) that I put on the can with a tail piece to hold it down. It had four strings and I tuned it in an open chord - G I believe - and played it with a slide all night. It was the hit of the party and I donated it to the host when I left. But I wish I'd kept it as it's made a great story over the 20+ years since I cobbled it together. Hey, fun goes on forever!

Rob

[Cliff Morris]

There's a video on you tube of a guy (I assume in England) playing slide blues on a "biscuit can" slide guitar...you missed a golden oppertunity!

[Jim Strange]

Hmmm...does it have a boxy tone? :D

[Cliff Morris]

Ya know it was actually pretty cool. Kind of a Dobro sound but without all the cone parts and stuff it was sort of distorted. Certainly "blue" sounding

[Matt Haugen]

This has actually become my favorite guitar to play. I thinned out the top from the inside and I put in a rosewood bridge plate, but left out all other bracing. The resonance is really something. It sounds better then my 50's LG1 and it is just as loud. I am currently working on a few more of these.

[Rick Homan]

I believe it! Some great luthiers have argued that it's the builder, not the materials. And some have proven it: Torres with the papier mache guitar, Benedetto with his construction-lumber archtop, and so on. The most interesting aspect of your experiment is to take on the "rule" that a guitar must be shaped like a guitar in order to sound like one. I have heard elaborate "scientific" explanations of how the curved sides and unequal-sized bouts create the sound we recognize as a guitar. Your experience would seem to say otherwise. Any chance you'll be at Healdsburg in August? I would love to try one. At the very least, I am encouraged to experiment. Thanks!