Canjo
What Will You Make?
A single string guitar that uses a tin can to amplify the sound.
What Will You Learn?
You will learn basic woodworking techniques and how to build a simple musical instrument.
Building a Canjo
Cut and measure
Cut a piece of your board to about 36″ long. Measure 3/4″ from the bottom and then 2-1/4″ from the bottom, making points in the middle of the board.
Measure and drill
Measure another point 1″ from the top and mark it in the center of the board. Now drill the 3 points you marked. Make sure to use a backer board to avoid drilling into your table.
Drill your can
After cleaning out your can, measure a point 3/4″ from the bottom and another point 2-1/4″ from the bottom, and then drill them. Drill a small hole in the center of the bottom of the can.
Add the bolts
Place your two 1/4″ bolts through the board and into the can. Secure them using 2 washers and 2 nuts.
Screw the eye bolt into the top of the stock. If it’s hard to turn the screw, thread a screw driver through the eye for extra leverage.
Secure the bolts
Secure the eye bolt with a nut on the bottom and then hot glue the 3/8″ bolt across the board about 1″ from the eye bolt.
Make the string
Using your guitar string or wire, thread a knot onto the string. Twist the wire tightly together to keep the nut on.
String the canjo
Cut enough wire to reach the length of the guitar plus an extra foot. Thread a washer onto the wire and then thread the wire through the hole in the bottom of the can. When you reach the top, thread the wire through the eye bolt.
Tie the wire
Make a few loops of wire around the side of the eye bolt, then thread the wire through the loops and pull it tight to tie it on.
Tune the canjo
***Wear Safety Glasses***
This is the dangerous part! We are going to tighten the string so it will make a tone, but overtightening can break the string and make it whip around. Wear safety glasses.
Tighten the wire while plucking periodically. When it begins to sound the way you like, you’ve got it. Cut off the extra wire and your canjo is complete!
What Is Happening Here?
The history of the canjo
The canjo is based on an older instrument, the diddley bow, which ran the string over a glass bottle and used two nails to secure it. It was played in a similar way as a slide guitar. It first became popular in America in the 1930s, though its roots can be traced back to West Africa. The diddley bow is significant to blues music in that many blues guitarists got their start playing it as children.
As cans became more popular musician makers replaced the glass with metal, giving us a new easy-to-play instrument with a great “twang.” The canjo is attributed to an old-time instrument maker, Herschal R. Brown of Jacksonville, NC, who added a fret so the canjo can be fingered more like a banjo or string fiddle.
Brown freely shared his design with anyone who was interested in building canjos, and is said to have made thousands of them for children everywhere. Mr. Brown loved the idea of making an instrument that anyone could learn to play, and refused to copyright his canjo design. His son has continued the tradition, and has sent canjo’s to the soldiers serving in Iraq.
Acoustics
When the string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating through the can, resonating through the air of the body, and finally producing sound from the hole. Different metals and can dimensions will affect how the sound vibrates in the can, making each canjo’s sound unique.
Larger stringed instruments like the guitar work the same way, but over have a larger wooden body and multiple strings of different thicknesses that produce different vibrations, and therefore different pitches of sound.
What Is Next?
Make it electric
Try tuning your canjo using a free guitar tuning app for a smartphone. Adding a piezo pickup can turn your acoustic canjo into an electric guitar.
Materials:
- 2"×1" hardwood board
- Can of Spam
- 1/4"×2" bolts (2)
- 1/4" washers (3)
- 1/4" nuts (3)
- Eye bolt with nut3/8"×2" bolt
- 22 gauge picture wire or guitar string
- Saw
- Drill
- Yard stick
- Hot glue
