Electrified Cast Iron Frying Pan Guitar

[CarveOne]

Here is an unusual project for the guitar fans here.

This one is made from an old, well used, 8-1/2" diameter cast iron frying pan that I have had for many years. Construction is essentially completed, but there are some issues to sort out with the nut and bridge/saddle that need to be improved on. It tunes to DGB ok but the string slots and heights need a little more tweaking. When amplified, it sounds normal enough though. The output level is low, but was ok before the adhesive cured. Need to work on that some more. The neck has red oak, padauk, and a piece of cocobolo in it. The fret board is curly maple. The nut is padauk, and the bridge/saddle is made from counter top material. There is a US Quarter inlaid into the sides of the neck just in front of the pan. Head shows on one side, tail on the other side.

The wire lugs are held in place with 3/4" long mobile home sheet metal hex head screws. The wire lugs are not quite long enough for the strings to clear the edge of the pan so I temporarily used a piece of bamboo skewer to raise the strings off of the pan until I can find a better solution. Maybe a larger size wire lug.

The neck strap was hand woven using two colors of parachute cord. Zip ties are temporary until I find a sliding sleeve that works better for length adjustments.

All of the holes in the frying pan were made with sharp drills, cordless drill, and file. FYI - Cast iron drills better at low rpm. With proper setup, this will sound pretty good when amplified, but it has low sound level without an amplifier. That was to be expected. You can hear it though.

C.B. Gitty supplied the fret wire, tuners, strings, decal, and piezo electric pickup kit.

CarveOne

[highpockets]

Very creative! I'm beginning to think an electric guitar can be made out of just about anything

[Xxray]

Interesting, never heard of a 3 stringed guitar before.

[scottp55]

Neither had I until these guys turned me on to Ths;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-ltPsbw9g
Of course CarveOne prefers Samantha Fish
NICE Job Richard!
Of course it's going to be the dickens to season that fry pan again!
scott

[CarveOne]

Very creative! I'm beginning to think an electric guitar can be made out of just about anything

Yes, they can. Look up Terry Johnson's YouTube videos. This one used an automotive air cleaner: https://youtu.be/ErMU_bUKDe4

His version of House of the Rising Sun is pretty good. Six string.

http://www.cbgitty.com has a new Customer Gallery that shows lots of weirdness being built, and http://www.cigarboxnation.com is another source for information. There are online calculators for calculating fret spacing like the one I use at http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

Building one is "easy" but learning to play one. I DID finally get a book to learn how to play one yesterday - not that I can read it yet. Looks like hieroglyphics to me.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Interesting, never heard of a 3 stringed guitar before.

A broom stick with a single string is called a diddly bow. 3 and 4 string cigar box guitars made with a cigar box (wood or cardboard) are very popular. They first appeared during the US Civil War and were made with anything they could get a tune out of for entertainment around camp fires.

Then there are the "found hardware" stuff like this one I just posted. Gallon gas cans, bed pans, axes, spade shovels, aluminum frying pans, cardboard boxes, oil cans, you name it. I machined the neck with my CNC wood router. When I searched the web for "cast iron frying pan guitars" I didn't find a single one, but aluminum frying pan guitars did show up. I have also never seen wire lugs used for a guitar tailpiece, so I tried them on this project just to see how it works. They work ok on this project, but they would work better mounted horizontally near the end of a wooden cigar box so the strings don't lay on the plastic sleeve, Will do that on a future project.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

I modified the lug locations higher up on the pan so that the strings don't touch anything. This works much better, and if the lugs give any trouble I can use the 6-32 threaded holes to mount something stronger than copper there.

I added frets number 20 and 21 and will add new fret markers as appropriate. I removed and remounted the piezo disks with a white silicone seal that has worked well on other guitars.

CarveOne

[ChrisInEstes]

That C.I. pan & shovel guitar are great. A couple of the coolest things I've seen in a while. A friend of mine collects, restores, and sells cast iron pans... I'll see f I can get him to do a team build with me.

I don't play, but I figure with only 3 strings, it should be only 60% as hard to learn to play as a 5-string, right?

Chris

[CarveOne]

As I understand it Chris, learning to play music with a slide (a common wrench socket that fits your finger will work fine} is easier since you don't necessarily work with finger positions and frets. I might try some of that style first. A larger frying pan might make a higher output level, but I went with the 8-1/2" pan to keep the weight down. A rod style piezo pickup glued to the bridge might also produce a higher output level to the amplifier.

CarveOne

[ChrisInEstes]

As I understand it Chris, learning to play music with a slide (a common wrench socket that fits your finger will work fine} is easier since you don't necessarily work with finger positions and frets. I might try some of that style first. A larger frying pan might make a higher output level, but I went with the 8-1/2" pan to keep the weight down. A rod style piezo pickup glued to the bridge might also produce a higher output level to the amplifier.

CarveOne

I don't have a musical bone on my body, but I do have a tool box full of sockets... I may need to start with a 1-string...

I've been asked a several times if I can make electric guitars or guitar bodies. I'm interested in it, and that 3-string "cigar box" style seems like a good place to start. What electronics did you use on that one? I suppose somebody sells a cigar box guitar kit... I'll have to look around. Where do you like to get your guitar parts?

Thanks!
Chris

[CarveOne]

The C. B. Gitty website has all mechanical and electrical parts, fully built instruments, complete instrument kits, cigar boxes, and laser cut box kits. The prices are very good. Look through their website. I use the piezo electric pickup kit that has two piezo discs, potentiometer, and phone jack for $13.99. They have fret boards that are already cut if you don't want to bother with that on your first guitar. I tune mine using a smart phone app (PitchLab) and there are many others available.

CarveOne

[ChrisInEstes]

The C. B. Gitty website has all mechanical and electrical parts, fully built instruments, complete instrument kits, cigar boxes, and laser cut box kits. The prices are very good. Look through their website. I use the piezo electric pickup kit that has two piezo discs, potentiometer, and phone jack for $13.99. They have fret boards that are already cut if you don't want to bother with that on your first guitar. I tune mine using a smart phone app (PitchLab) and there are many others available.

CarveOne

Thanks for the links and tips. Those parts are cheaper than I thought. I'd tackle the neck/fret board myself. Yet another thing on the project list

Chris

[CarveOne]

I cut the necks and fret board with the CNC machine and Aspire. Any decorations on those and any other parts as well. A Zona saw with 0.20" kerf works fine for manually sawing the fret slots, but 0.023" diameter fret slot cutters are available that takes all of the manual work out of it. I use a Whiteside #1540 60 degree Vbit to cut 0.030" deep marker grooves that are spaced accurately in Aspire, then manually saw the slots to depth with the Zona saw.

Heaps of fun ...

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

As an afterthought, I decided to add two labels in case I ever learn to play this thing well. It seemed appropriate to me anyway ...

CarveOne

[highpockets]