Cigarbox uke basics

so ever since I first saw one on youtube, i've been fascinated by the cigarbox uke. my mom has some old wooden cigar boxes she said she'd hang on to for me so I can play around with this. my question to you guys is this... other than decent strings, how important are the other components on a home made cigar box uke that would never be sold, just used to show off to my friends. what i mean is, should I fork over the cash for decent individual parts (i don't have woodworking tools at my disposal at the moment) or would I be ok just buying a cheap uke and dismantling it?

also, i've seen some where the sound hole is under the strings like on my current uke and others where they are off to the sides, and some even have multiple... what is the significance of this? thanks!

My advice - be creative, experiment, old boxes made of cedar and redwood resonate better, but even plywood can sound alright. Keep in mind, it is a cigar box, not a Stadavarious treated sitka spruce soundboard.

There are a few luthiers that incorporate a lot of skill and traditional building techniques into thier instruments, and they end up sounding unbelievably great (ie. Black Bear).

If you check out the Cigar Box Nation, or Handmade Music Clubhouse, You will find a lot of advice on building techniques. On top of that there are a gob of do it yourselfers (including yours truly) eeking out some sweet sounds from home materials - cans, galvanized steel washtubs, even tennis rackets, using garage shop building techniques.

The home made music movement is picking up speed it seems, so have at it!! Have fun building and playing. In the end even if your instrument doesn't sound like the greatest instrument you ever played, you will still get satisfaction from building it and may learn a little bit in the process, and you may actually end up building something that sounds phenominal!!

Well, you have lots of options. Taking the neck and fretboard off an existing uke is one that we've opted for and had success with in the past - but they were not what I would call "cheap", although they were "inexpensive" due to minor optical flaws. So, yes. That is certainly a viable route to take.

By the way, when you go about prying the neck and fretboard off...

1) Check for dowels, screws and other "obstructions" first and as you progress. I once pulled a bridge off, which I have done numerous times before, but in this case it resisted like nothing good. Anyway, after a lot of yanking and swearing it finally popped off - and what did we discover? It had been screwed on from underneath! Please don't ask me how this is possible or how it was done... Lucky thing was that the screws pulled out of the bottom of the bridge and not right through the top.

2) If the neck is glued on with (normally) wood glue or (even better) hide glue, then it's not that bad to get it off - we've done it enough times with a blow dryer and a couple of old (not too sharp) butter knives. That's all you need. The knife is not supposed to cut, just pry.

3) If the neck is mounted with a dovetail joint you may have to use a saw and forfeit the dovetail, i.e. cut through from the bottom right at the joint and stop when (or just before) you get to the fretboard, then heat the joint between top and fretboard and carefully pull it off.

Hope this helps,
Erich

depends on your finances, but in all fairness, without any tools I think I would just buy some parts from mainland...price would vary slightly with size, but its a simple, easy start to seeing, understanding and learning some of the processes involved.

Keep in mind though that for about the price of a junk table saw, a drill, and a fair share of trial and error, you can on the road to regular building. It's just a matter of what you're wanting to do. Although our starting point is often determined by our financial situation at the time, whether from scratch, or slowly working your way there...there is no right or wrong- the experience and journey of the process is priceless.

as far as the details of design...put an appropriate sized hole in it and call it a day to start (like a 2 inch hole or thereabout). Everyone's different: I like to use the top of the box to keep the cool cigar brand logo, other people like the bottom. Consequently I use an off-center hole to not mess up the design in the middle. You can use the back and put it in the middle like alot of ukes...for what you're wanting right now, it doesnt matter.

drop me a line if you have any questions, and good luck

Listen to cornfedgroove, his instruments sound terrific. If you've got a hand saw and a file you can carve a nice neck out of quartersawn poplar and order a fretboard and tuners. Stradivarius made instruments out of poplar... and it's super cheap. I really like the stuff, it makes a really nice feeling neck, underrated in my opinion.

On the other hand, you can't beat the price of a Mainland Uke neck, and they're very very nice. Much better option than butchering a cheap uke.