We Will Not Be Silent

“We Will Not Be Silent”... not a political rant this time, but a cigar box guitar build:

The finished guitar is a 6 string, about the size of a baritone uke. The neck comes off with a single wing nut. The pieces are each about 13 inches long – this will fit in my backpack so I can walk on the airline with no checked bags and play a show at the other end. Scale length is 22” and total length 25”.

This is built on a Punch Grand Cru Monarcas box, 11.5”x8”x2” all wood with ply top and back. The back (top of the guitar) was planed down to remove the branded print from it. The neck and carry-through are poplar. Fretboard is mahogany. Zither pins below the bridge. Metal frets with a zero fret. Bridge is made from scrap from the fretboard. The string holes in the head stock and the zither pins are properly aligned so that there's no need for string slots either on the bridge or at the zero fret.

The carry-through started as the same poplar1x3 the neck was cut from. The middle was removed primarily to reduce the negative impact on Helmholtz resonance. Since the neck will rest on top of this, it is separated from the top by three spacers – at each end and under the bridge (approximately) – cut from the same 1x3.

The neck has a big bolt built into it and a dowel pin to hold it onto the carry-through. And, of course the carry-through has corresponding holes.

Here's the top view of the assembled neck (without the fretboard, yet). The screw in the side of the neck goes into a hole drilled in the bolt to prevent it from turning.

And bottom view showing the wing nut.

The finished pocket has a 2 mm shim at the heel end. This allows the neck angle to be adjusted from 0-3 degrees just by turning the wing nut. String tension holds the neck steady in the other direction. (This is similar to the set up on a Cumbus which was definitely an influence on this design).

The fretboard was made from a piece of mahogany. Fret slots cut, fret markers added, and then glued to the neck while still square. Then filed down with the same Sureform rasp I used to shape the neck to be flush with the neck. This worked really well and was surprisingly fast.

The fret markers are 1/4” dowel. Stick the dowel in the hole with a little glue, cut it off as flush as possible. File it down the rest of the way.

Since this is tuned with zither pins I need a tuning key... so here's a little clip, glued inside the box to hold the tuning key.

Time for the pyrography... This one was inspired by a recent news story in which a man was prevented from getting on an airliner because he was wearing a T-shirt that said “We will not be silent.” TSA's problem with the shirt was that it said it in both English and Arabic and they were afraid that the Arabic might be instructions for fantasy hijackers... can you say Keystone Kops?

Well, anyway, it turns out that this phrase was originated by German journalists in WWII, who wanted to make sure the German people couldn't pretend they didn't know what their government was doing... they were beheaded for their heroic action.

In addition to pyrography, I tried an experiment with wood stain on this one... staining the wood to show shadows around the mask and to highlight the words. It kind of looks like blood, which may be appropriate for this piece. But I need to work on the technique some more.

The instrument plays great although the action is a little high on the upper frets. Good but quiet acoustic sound – making the scale 90% of the total length required a compromise on bridge position. Bur no problem through an amp where it just sounds great.

Indie Venue Bible

I picked up the Southeast and Northeast volumes of the Indie Venue Bible. Using them to book both regional shows and a tour in October - to early to say whether I'm getting shows from them, but I'm certainly finding venues I didn't know about.

And the best thing is all the listings are color coded for genre. That saves a lot of time.

Now if I could just figure out what genre "rough edged songs on quirky homemade guitars" is, lol. Well, I've been looking for venues that book both blues and singer/songwriter - most of what I do fits into one or the other, so if a venue books both, maybe they'll like it.

What do you think? About either the Indie Venue Bible or the right genre for Doctor Oakroot?

Tic Tac Box Kazoo

I play a kazoo made from a Tic Tac box in my shows... recently, several fans at shows have asked me how the kazoo is made. And I know that at least one has made his own kazoo.

Well, maybe you want to make one too. Here's how:

	1. Start with a Tic Tac box.
	2. Cut a hole in the flap at the top, stretch a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper over the opening and close the flap on it to hold it in place. Don't stretch it too tight - you want it vibrate. Be sure the plastic/paper blocks all air flow.
	3. Drill (or break) a hole in the bottom of the box. This picture is of the prototype and I just broke the hole in the bottom. Now, when I make one, I cut the hole with a small knife blade using a circular motion - it produces a smooth round hole.

When you play this kazoo, put the hole end in the side of your mouth so you can blow past the hole as you hum - if you don't leave space for the air to escape, you may break the membrane by pressurizing the box.

There it is. Build one and have fun with it.

Cinco de Mayo at the Juggling Gypsy

photo: David Smith	Played a place called the Juggling Gypsy Hookah Bar to celebrate cinco de mayo... well, there wasn't anything particularly Mexican about it, but still a celebration. In keeping with the Hookah Bar theme, the outside of the place has kind of a middle eastern look to it.
photo: David Smith	Check it out - I'm right there on the chalk sign outside with a star next to my name... pretty cool
photo: Rebekah Smith	This is a place where you can kick back with your friends and enjoy a hookah (legal smoking materials only please). It's a place where you can bring your dog. I don't smoke, but Rebekah enjoyed a hookah session after the show.
photo: Rebekah Smith	Justin Lacy opened the show. He's a local student (UNCW) who plays and sings. That night he was blowing off studying for his exams to be there. Hope you aced 'em anyway Justin.
photo: Rebekah Smith	Next up was Jon Creeden of Ottawa, ON (Canada). Jon is traveling across the US with his friend David. He brought along his guitar and is playing shows whereever he can arrange them. He plays with an intense percussive style - very primitive... he should be playing a CBG. Jon's friend David manned the door and collected the cover for us all night, so big thanks to David.
photo: Rebekah Smith As usual, I had several cigar box guitars along for the show. From left to right, these are The Cyclops, The Goblin, a 3 string built by George Borrelli, and the TransAmerican Hobo CBG. I also brought a one string to give away - strung with electric fence wire - but for some reason it's not in this photo. BTW, the bucket is there to catch the water drops leaking from the roof. It was interesting making sure I didn't kick the bucket as I moved around stage. Jon wasn't so lucky - he kicked the bucket several times.
photo: Rebekah Smith	Got on stage a little after 10pm with a crowd already worked up and ready to go, thanks to Justin and Jon.
One feature of the show that night was the TransAmerican Hobo - this is a cigar box guitar, built by Nick P of Long Island, that is on it's own tour of the continent. It's been to Canada, Arizona, and some other places. Came to me in NC, played a show in NJ on May 10, and is now in PA. The guitar is shipped from musician to musician - each of us plays it, records something, uses it in a show, etc., and then ships it to the next one on the list. Rebekah shot this video, of me playing a new song on the Hobo:
photo: Rebekah Smith	George Borrelli and his lovely wife Brigitte traveled all the way from Germany to attend this show... I think that's the furthest anyone has ever traveled to one of my shows... OK, they were actually in NC visiting their daughter, but they still drove quite a ways to be at the show. And I really appreciate it. George brought along a beautiful cigar box guitar he made. It's got a hand wound pickup and he built a case for it that includes an amp and speaker. Well, I borrowed his guitar and played "Come on in My Kitchen" on it... totally unrehearsed in a tuning I've never used before. Well, I got away with it, but quickly returned the guitar to George, to avoid the embarrassment of not getting away with it a second time, lol.
photo: Rebekah Smith	I mentioned above that I brought a guitar to give away - a regular part of my shows. The guitar was won by a fellow named Rocco. Turned out not to be his real name... The audience prevailed upon him to play a song and he treated us to a totally improvised song about how he got the name Rocco.
Now they put a star by my name... but the real stars of the show are you - the audience. photo: Rebekah Smith