Introduction: Homemade Diddley Bow Electric Slide Guitar (a La Jack White)
Step 1: Supplies
First thing, gather your materials:
Some sort of plank of wood. The one I used here isn't ideal because it is thin enough for the nails to come through the other side.
Bottle
Nails
Guitar string
Hammer
Smaller chunk of wood for mounting pickup
Pickup
Output Jack
Step 2: Setting Up the String(s)
Decide where you want your string to be positioned. Stick a nail in each end of the board in that position.
Place the bottle up against one of the nails, and mark where the other side of the bottle is. Put another nail in this spot (this will keep the bottle in place).
Remove the bottle, and fasten the string around the nails on either end of the board. Make it tight enough that it's quite hard to slide the bottle back in.
Put the bottle in place. Now you've got the acoustic version of the cheapest guitar ever made.
Step 3: Wiring the Pickup
When making this guitar, I wired the pickup first before fixing the pickup in place so I could tell where to put it in order to get a good signal. The pickup I used is a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker, which has five wires for splitting the coils. Since I wanted to use both coils, I doubled up the wires from each coil. If you have a similar pickup, then refer to the pictures for instructions. Otherwise, I can't help you as I really know don't know much about wiring. Please excuse my poor instructions in this step. Here's what I did:
Black and braided wire - attached to tab on output jack connecting to shaft of the patch cord.
White wire - attached to tab connecting to patch cord tip.
Green and red wire - electrical taped over then taped out of the way.
For the moment, I have not soldered the wires in place. If you just want to wrap the wires around their respective connections, it works fine but is not very permanent.
Step 4: Placing the Pickup
Next, take your pickup and output jack, and plug it in to your amp. Line up your pickup to your guitar, and find a good place under the string where you get a nice strong signal. Mark it on the board.
Next, take your smaller chunk of wood, and nail it in place. This board should be thick enough to raise the pickup to the desired height. Screw or nail the pickup to the board.
Step 5: Play It
Now you're finished. Get out your slide and play it. If you want to tune it, hammer in one of the end nails a bit until you've got the right pitch. Also, I've found that the nail holding the bottle in place can be used as a whammy bar. Wicked, huh?
The next thing you could do would be add another string or two and put them in drop-d tuning or something like that. Good luck.
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31 Comments
9 years ago on Introduction
Alright, first of all Jack White did not come up with that design at all. Merely made a cute video about it.
10 years ago on Introduction
You should post a vid.
10 years ago on Introduction
For additional DIY cred, make your own pickup. https://www.instructables.com/id/cheap-and-easy-guitar-pickups/
11 years ago on Introduction
Jack White is one of the best guitarists ever, even though he used very simple means to play. One listen to "Seven Nation Army," and you will believe it.
11 years ago on Introduction
Since I saw this, during watching It Might Get Loud, I want to make one too! :D Tomorrow I'm going to go buy a pickup :)
11 years ago on Introduction
you gotta love Jack White
12 years ago on Introduction
You can get cheap humbucker pickups as well as jack sockets from Janikas Music Shop at http://www.janika.co.uk Steve
13 years ago on Introduction
i made one a few years ago to play bottleneck style. it's made from pine and plywood, with a broomstick neck. it has a piezo pickup under the bridge.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
beautiful...combo diddley bow and cigar box guitar look...got any for sale?...brother-in-laws birthday in Nov
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
sorry mate, i don't sell any of my guitars. it really wasn't hard to make, though.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
Nice job on that one. I imagine having a hollow body would make it sound a lot nicer.
13 years ago on Introduction
not to nitpick, but this is a diddley bow. cool make, though. you could also use a soup can, instead of a bottle, and play it unplugged.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
semi acoustic maybe? how would it sound with the soup can with a pickup?
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
like a piezo attached to the can? i dunno... i would imagine that it would sound sort of like a banjo with a piezo pickup played with a slide. in other words, strange and demented in the most delightful ways.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
yeah i figured there was probably a better name for it. thanks for the tip.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
no problem... i just checked and wikipedia's got a decent article. it's not very in-depth, but there's some interesting factlets. (like lonnie pitchford's headstone having a playable diddley bow on the side of it.... road trip, anyone?)
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
im down. so is bo diddley named after the guitar or the guitar after bo diddley?
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
double response... i just checked wikipedia and it's completely made up because his birth name was "bates" and he was adopted by his aunt (i believe, dang short term memory!), so he took on the last name "mcdaniel" before changing to the stage name. P.S.- his first name was "ellas", so that might explain why he chose to go by a pseudonym.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
judging by the times for each being named, i'd guess that the man was named after the instrument. i'd have to check to see, though, if his last name was "diddley" and the nickname came from that (or was named by parents that had a sense of humor), or if it was a stage name that he created from whole cloth.
12 years ago on Introduction
I wonder about using an actual machine head for tuning