Guitar Building 101

Todays project is taken from the book of Make - cigar box guitars and variations thereof. Note the helpful anatomy diagram on the whiteboard.

Dubiosity

Accurate placement of the tuners is managed with the aid of a marking template, but Fiona (who has already established her mad guitar playing skills) is dubious.

Sometimes the Gods of Rock and Roll Demand Prayer

Theo has opted to build a standup cigar-box bass, not realizing quite how much sanding would ensue.

Wax on, Wax off.

The sanding block is your friend, especially if your name is Theo and you have more than five feet of neck to sand down.

Safety First

Follwed by uncontrollable giggling and obscure references to jokes parodied from the backs of juice boxes.

Words of Wisdom

Gever suggests to a few distracted tinkerers that sword-fighting with the guitar necks right next to the delicate drilling operation might break rule #2 (don't injure yourself) and rule #3 (don't injure your friends).

Wood Elves at Work

Fiona and Harlo work through the mathematical calculations and template marking necessary to prepare the neck for drilling. Harlo is sporting the latest look in fashion eyewear for the workshop. The oversized eyepieces harken back to an era of pill-box hats and heroic presidents, while remaining fully functional and oh so stylish.

Coordinated Effort

The guy with his hands on the workpiece would like to think that the guy with his hands on the drill control is watching what he is doing. Later we will discover that the drill control guy was pretending he was driving a car.

An Endless Series of Dramatic Moments

Eight tinkerers, twelve holes per neck - that makes ninty two thrilling times that the drill cuts through the hardwood narrowly missing Gever's hands. Everyone was mesmerized.

More Advice

Nikhil offers Winslow a few tips on how to make things go faster... because he'd really like to go next.

Proper Form

Theo uses precision control to manage the depth of the drill bit at all times, rather than just let it pull all the way up to the limit stop after every hole. He and Gever settle into a rhythym and punch out all six large bore holes in record time.

Proper Form

Note the balanced grip, intense concentration, and proper stance - this guy knows his way around a drill press.

Monkey Break

When the drill line gets backed up, that's the time to take a tree-climing break. Nikhil, Ozzie, and Harlo (L to R), jump from the porch to the tree and get in some quality airtime in the branches of their favorite tree.

One Hand for the Ship, One Hand for Yourself

The oversized safety glasses have become popular (watch for this trend to take over the schools and displace baggy pants than hang down below the knees), but they have some drawbacks - who cares that you have to do everything one-handed? It's fashion!

Supergluing Eight Year Olds

One bottle of superglue, eight kids, and chopsticks - how can you have more fun than that?

Building Bridges

Guitar bridges that is. Tywen, Piper, and Nikhil put the finishing touches on the chopsticks that we will use to keep the strings the proper distance from the necks.

Tuning Schmooning

While explaining the details of a new idea for a scene in our movie in progress (helicopter crashes into a waterfall, dinosaurs, pits of lava, rickety rope bridge over bottomless cravasse), he gets his tuning bolts rigged up.

Also Good For...

Filing your nails, and, sanding a groove into the edge of the table - Nikhil discovers other uses for the last tuning bolt.

Rule #2 - Don't Injure Yourself

Theo picks up the first real injury of this year's Tinkering School when he introduces his forehead to the corner of the table.

Wandering Minstrel

With just her trusty lute/guitar/boxelele, Piper sets out for adventure.

Pilgrimage

What adventures lay ahead for this band of wandering minstrels? What does fate have in store for them? Will it be fortune and fame, doom and destruction, feast or famine?

The Next Yes Album Cover

Dappled mid-day sun catches the gleaming white styrofoam of Harlo's three-stringer as he too sets out on his quest - for lunch.

The Skin is Better than the Fruit

So says Harlo, adding, "just like people."

Scene 1, Take 1

Instead of tag, we decide to make good on our movie idea and begin shooting scenes. Winslow is eager to recreate a scene from the Eiger Sanction - he will be climbing the Eiger (aka watertank) when he gets the call.

Who's Holding the Rope?

The director wants action, the talent wants assurances. Winslow puts his all into the scene and is rewarded with an exciting ride when the rope slides off the side of the tank.

It Takes a Village...

...to pull another kid up the side of the Eiger (aka watertank). And, evidently, much grimacing and grunting is required.

Heave!

Harlo, Tywen, Nikhil (one handed no less), and Fiona, put their backs into it and practically pull Winslow up over the top of the Eiger (aka watertank).

Proper Stance

Demonstrating the technique that help her keep the tug-of-war crown for six straight season, Fiona digs in and leans back.

Scene 2 - Bad Guys in the Woods

Tywen is about to be set upon by masked bandits - it's going to go very badly for the bandits.

Bandit #1

Improvising a mask and costume from a sweatshirt he found in the scrap box, Theo gets into character.

Even Bandits Watch Birds

It's a well known fact that the bandits common to the area are great bird fanciers. Theo, having done his background research, knows this and expresses a deep interest in the feathered kin using only his eyes and posture - great acting like this can never be taught, it must come from that unknowable well within.

A Chair to Match His Ego

Some directors demand towels, or imported beer. Not him. He wants a chair that says "I'm big, and tall."

An Improvised Explosive Device

Nikhil's scene calls for a bomb that must be defused, so it's Piper to the rescue as she quickly assembles a scary looking device.

Attention to Detail

"These wires," she explains, "connect the green board to the explody bits." Note the use of the untraceable wrist watch as the timer.

Authenticity Above All Else

Piper has carefully explained which wires must be cut to disarm the device, then watches all the takes to make sure her instructions have been followed.

Backstage in the Greenroom

Mega-rockstars Fiona and Ozzie, fresh from their recent tour of the Balkans, talk through their next scene with the director.

More Action

Nikhil, the director for this scene, would like to see more "crazy jamming" on the guitars and some "wild head shaking."

Electric Bass in Overdrive

Hijacking the pickup from Gever's tuner, the stand-up bass gets electrified. This turns out to be just the kick necessary to release Theo's inner rockstar.

Play On

Despite a busted middle string, Nikhil gets his groove on.

Those Lessons Weren't Wasted

Winslow's years of guitar lessons finally pay off when he shows us all how to really rock out.

String Banger

With little or no musical talent and a borrowed guitar, Gever is reduced to banging on the strings with a chopstick.

Deconstruction at Day's End

Nothing relaxes you like the methodical and relentless deconstruction of an obsolete computer. Nikhil, Fiona, Theo, and Winslow take the time to separate every component from everything else.

A Nietzsche Moment

Is this our fate as well, wonders Theo. Do we wake up, play freeze tag, make guitars, shoot a movie, eat, sleep, and then die, only to be dismantled by hungry kids? Nah.

Careful Negotiations

In a process that would make the U.N. proud, Piper negotiates a three-way trade of magnet for fan for circuit board.

One More Unscrewing Before Dinner

With dinner moments away, the tinkerers try to get a few more things taken apart before they have to clear and set the table - but time is not on their side and dinner gets there before the hard drives are cracked open. Ah well, more fun for later!

Your Moment of Zen

The poetry of kung-fu, the kung-fu of "House of the Rising Sun" - Harlo and Fiona perform an accidental duet.