DIY Strumstick Guitars
- 1). Curve a sitka wood measuring 1-foot long, 4-inches wide and 2-inches thick, into the shape of a paddle head using a band saw. Draw a line all round the wood, leaving a one-half-inch margin, and chip off the inside portion of the boundary using a hammer and chisel to make a "resonance" hole. Make a "dovetail joint" at the sharpest point to make the guitar body.
- 2). Take another Sitka wood measuring 2 1/2-feet long and 1-inch thick and make another "dovetail" joint on one end where the neck joins the paddle-shaped body. Apply glue to the "dovetail joints" and join the two parts together by clamping them for two hours. Drill a hole through the joint and spin in a switch screw using a screwdriver to reinforce the joint and make the neck.
- 3). Place the "paddle head"-shaped bit on a cedar board and trace its outline, then cut it using a band saw. Draw a 3-inch diameter circle at its center and cut the circle using a hammer and a small chisel. Make the edges fine using sand paper.
- 4). Cover the resonance hole with the cedar board by joining them together with glue, to make a "sound box." Shape a piece of wood, 2 inches by one-quarter inch by one-quarter inch, and stick it to the soundboard 2 inches from the sound box, aligning it with the neck using glue. Make three guitar-string holes through it, running parallel to the sound box, using a drill with a small bit.
- 5). Screw in place two guitar tuners at the top of the "neck" and one on the opposite side at the bottom to make three tuning pegs. Insert wires starting from the bridge and stretch them to the neck and lastly to the tuners. Tune the Strumstick guitar using the tuning pegs.
