CA002 finished

The cajon that I built in a few days is finished. (photos available soon, my camera is out for the moment).

I conducted some different stringing experiments; after two trials with a set of guitar strings (2 wound, 1 plain) and one trial with a snare drum mat, I will now start building a nicer, slimmer, lighter version with the traditional system of three unwound guitar strings cutting through the two high corners of the 'tabla' (sound board). This cajon, CA003, will be a real, playable and polished instrument.

(CA001 is an unfinished box that I've had standing around for some time - it was too heavy so I started on CA002 instead)

More photos of the cajon CA002

Side project: cajon CA002

For some time now I've wanted to construct a CAJON, a South-American percussion instrument also much used in flamenco and gypsy music. It's a fairly easy instrument, in that it's in fact merely a "box" on which you sit. The space between your legs is the "head". Hitting it near the upward edge gives a sharp, short sound with attack, hitting it nearer the middle of the board gives more of a bass sound, hollower and longer. A few strings are strung inside the box, so that when you hit the head it leaves a short singing of clattering strings (like the snare drum of a modern drum kit).

Many different ways of construction and stringing are available on the internet, but there's no standard so some freedom is acceptable. So I started out three days ago with my own design and today it's all but finished. Here are some photos, a description of how I did it is coming up.

Another project

My colleague from work is building an electric Les Paul model guitar. Today he spent some hours in my workshop. Always fun to share some knowledge and methods together!