November 2007
Beginner
190 pages
8h 3m
English
Build a fun, one-stringed instrument that packs a mighty twang.
You will need: A cigar box, 6′ length of ½"×¾" wood, 8′ of 20-gauge wire, 2 eye screws, wood screws, L-bracket, scraps of wood, drill, saw, screwdriver
A 1951 book called Radio and Television Sound Effects, by Robert B. Turnbull, shows how to make a “boing box.” (It’s reprinted at bizarrelabs.com/boing2.htm.) I made a modified boing box using a wooden cigar box and some scraps I had around the house.

Photography by Mark Frauenfelder
1. Drill resonator holes in the cigar box as shown. Screw an L-bracket to the neck, then screw the neck to the cigar ...