How to Make a Stringed Instrument

Stringed instruments are a major class of musical instrument. They may be plucked or played with a bow. The movement of the strings produces a sound often amplified by means of a sounding box. Common stringed instruments include guitars, violins and harps. Let's see how.

Things You'll Need

• Small wooden tub
• Plywood
• Light wooden beam
• Thin wooden lathe
• Small screws
• Strings

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Instructions

• 1

  Begin by constructing the body, or the portion that contains the sounding box, a hollow chamber that permits the sound to resonate when the strings are moved. For your sounding box, you can use a small wooden tub or similar vessel. The earliest stringed instruments often employed gourds. Take the wooden tub and turn it upside down. Cut two long slots just to the right and left of the center of the tub. Make them "s" shaped if you like. They should extend across most of the diameter of the vessel. The slots allow the sound to enter the chamber.

• 2

  Choose a thin wooden beam as your instrument's handle. Match up the end of the beam to the base of the top side of the sounding board. The top side of the sounding board is the end, above where you began to cut the slots. Trace the end of the handle on the base of this top side. You are going to be making a three-sided cutout through which to insert the handle of your stringed instrument. Once you have traced the shape, cut it out. Make sure the handle fits. If not, adjust it until it does.

• 3

  Cut a piece of plywood to make the back of the sounding board. You may do this by tracing the shape of the sounding board on the plywood. Trace it and cut it out. Glue the piece of plywood to the open end of the tub. You should have a sealed box with the two slits on the front face and a cutout for the handle on the top. This is the body of your stringed instrument. Insert the handle into the cutout. You can either glue it in place or use wooden screws to secure it to the body from the back.

• 4

  Turn the sounding board back over, so the slots face upward. Select two thin wooden lathes. These should be about as wide as the area between the two slots. Place the lathes together and cut some narrow slits along the width of both. These will be for the strings. Make as many slits as you like. A guitar commonly has six strings. Take one of the lathes and stand it up on the face of the sounding board. It should go a little below the ends of the two large slots. Make sure the open ends of the slits on the lathe point upward, away from the sounding board. Glue the lathe in place.

• 5

  Take the second lathe and glue it on the upper part of the handle. Next, select a number of small screws. You will need one for each of your strings. Insert one set of screws a little below the lathe on the sounding board. Each one should be directly below one of the slits. Take the second set of screws and insert them on the handle a little above the other lathe. Get some taut string. You can use nylon or catgut or even steel wire. Securely tie a string to one of the bottom screws. Thread it through both lathes until your reach the screw on the handle. Tie it around that screw. Repeat the same process with each string. Your stringed instrument is ready to play.