This book presents the authentic stories of American DIY music with step-by-step projects, photo studies of antique instruments, interviews with music legends, and historical accounts. Shane Speal, the “King of the Cigar Box Guitar,” shows how anyone can build amazing musical instruments from found items.
The author of Cigar Box Guitars shares his amazing photo gallery of handmade musical greatness. Cigar Box Guitars, 2nd Edition includes a new step-by-step project for building your own tenor ukulele, and instructions for playing homemade guitars using both innovative and traditional techniques.
Hand-making musical instruments is part of a growing trend that even celebrities such as Jonny Depp and guitar legend Jack White are taking part in. It doesn't require a lot of money or an expertise in woodworking and electronics, all it takes is a little creativity. In Handmade Music Factory, handyman Mike Orr guides you through the construction of eight of the most unique and imaginative instruments found anywhere - from a one-string guitar made from a soup can, to a hubcap banjo, and a stand-up lap steel guitar made from a vintage ironing board. There are also directions for an amp that can be assembled using inexpensive parts from the local electronics store. There's no shortage of inspiration to draw upon in creating an arsenal of instruments that look good, sound great, and deliver some foot stompin' fun!
Cigar box guitars have never been more popular and now crafters can learn to make their own. All they need to do is follow the author's step-by-step instructions for making three different styles of guitar. They're fun (some would say addictive) to build and even more fun to play.
In the past few years the market for electric guitar kits and parts has exploded. For every two enthusiasts, there are four opinions on how properly to fill woodgrain. In this book, Will Kelly cuts through all that noise and shows how, with a little patience and some inexpensive tools, the average person can turn a modest investment into a gig-worthy instrument and perhaps even a lifelong hobby. Kelly presents guitar-building in a progressive fashion, beginning with a simple Stratocaster-style kit with a bolt-on neck and continuing on to a "relic'd" Telecaster-style build, two Gibson-style set-neck models, and a custom double-neck mash-up. Because each build is more involved than the previous, the reader builds on his or her skill set and acquires only the tools necessary for the reader's level of interest. Kelly shows how to apply finishes, choose and install hardware, wire electronics, execute the final assembly, and set up the finished guitar for proper action and intonation.
Based on scores of interviews with the artist's relatives, friends, lovers, producers, accompanists, managers, and fans, this brilliant biography reveals a man of many layers and contradictions. Following the journey of a musician who left his family's poor cotton farm at age eight carrying only a guitar, the book chronicles his life on the open road playing blues music and doing odd jobs. It debunks the myths surrounding his meetings with Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander, his time on a chain gang, his relationships with women, and his lifelong appetite for gambling and drinking. This volume also discusses his hard-to-read personality; whether playing for black audiences in Houston's Third Ward, for white crowds at the Matrix in San Francisco, or in the concert halls of Europe, Sam Hopkins was a musician who poured out his feelings in his songs and knew how to endear himself to his audience--yet it was hard to tell if he was truly sincere, and he appeared to trust no one. Finally, this book moves beyond exploring his personal life and details his entire musical career, from his first recording session in 1946--when he was dubbed Lightnin'--to his appearance on the national charts and his rediscovery by Mack McCormick and Sam Charters in 1959, when his popularity had begun to wane and a second career emerged, playing to white audiences rather than black ones. Overall, this narrative tells the story of an important blues musician who became immensely successful by singing with a searing emotive power about his country roots and the injustices that informed the civil rights era.
Lured South by tales of buried treasure, Milkman embarks on an odyssey back home. As a boy, Milkman was raised beneath the shadow of a status-obsessed father. As a man, he trails in the fiery wake of a friend bent on racial revenge. Now comes Milkman’s chance to uncover his own path. Along the way, he will lose more than he could have ever imagined. Yet in return, he will discover something far more valuable than gold: his past, his true self, his life-long dream of flight. ‘A complex, wonderfully alive and imaginative story’ Daily Telegraph ‘Song of Solomon...profoundly changed my life’ Marlon James INTRODUCED BY BOOKER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR MARLON JAMES **Winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow award for achievement in American fiction**
Provides instructions on building a pickin' stick, a simple instrument to build and play. Provides exposure to the fundamentals of stringed instrument building such as building a sound box, fretting a fingerboard, installing an instrument nut and saddle,installing tuners, and stringing an instrument.