When times are tough, artists will find any means necessary to engage their passions. This holds true for musicians, who composed instruments from even the most basic of materials in order to play their songs. One early blues instrument is the Diddley Bow, a one-stringed instrument made from a cigar box that is strummed like a guitar. Used to make blues, bluegrass and country music when regular guitars were not available, the Diddley Bow can serve as a fun craft project.
Instructions
1. Lay the cigar box open on the table, so that the lid opens to your left. Line the end of the project board stick up with one end of the box, centered from right to left and with the top of the stick lined up with the top edge of the box. Lightly trace the end of the stick onto the side of the box, creating an outline of the end of the stick. Repeat directly across from your first outline, on the other end of the box.
2. Cut out the outline of your stick from the box with a box cutter. Lay the stick into the holes with 2 inches protruding from one end of the box. Close the lid of the box over the stick.
3. Drill a small hole in the middle of the stick that protrudes from the bottom of the box. Drill a small hole through the stick and cigar box lid just on the other side of the box from the protrusion, and another just before the edge of the cigar box on the other side. Insert the large screws into the latter two holes and screw them into place with a screwdriver.
4. Line up the guitar tuner with the end of the stick so that the tuner post faces down (opposite of a normal guitar). Mark with a pencil where the screws from the guitar tuner touch the stick. Drill holes for those screws, and then screw the guitar tuner into place with a screwdriver. Drill another small hole about a 1/2 inch below the guitar tuner.
5. Tie the end of a string (such as fishing line or guitar wire) to a small washer. Thread the other end of the string through the small hole you made in the protrusion of the stick through the cigar box, and pull it until the washer is about 2 inches from the end of the stick. Measure to where the string meets the top of the stick, and cut off any excess string.
6. Glue the small bolt just under the hole beneath the guitar tuner. Glue the large bolt about 2 inches from the bottom of the box, near the protrusion. These will serve as the nut and bridge for the guitar.
7. Pull the string tight over the bridge and nut. Thread the string through the small hole just under the guitar tuner, and tie it to the tuner on the bottom side of the neck. Tighten the tuner until the string makes a clear note when plucked.
8. Drill four 1/4-inch sounds holes at the corners of the cigar box; do not drill through the stick again, as this will ruin the sound.
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