Plank Guitars
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Cigar Box Guitars and Diddey Bows

Made from wooden cigar boxes or aluminum cookie tins with 1, 2, 3, 4 strings. Play!

Recycled Materials?

Got some old wood? We’d love to give it new life. Look at some of the unique instruments created off scrap materials.

Workshops

I can teach you how to build your own simple 1, 2 or 3-stringed instrument like a Diddley Bow or Cigar Box Guitar out of recycled materials.

Hand-made, unique pieces

On this site you can browse the gallery of the unique stringed instruments I made

Custom Designs

Have you got a custom guitar body shape or design in mind that you’ve always wanted?

Made from antique collectables

I give old objects a new life and dignity and turn them into pieces of art.

Canjo's

The simplest guitar: with only one string you can't go wrong!

“Instruments made with Love from Recycled Materials.”

Cinegrafie

Cinegrafie

Made from an aluminum tin which resembles those 'pizza' boxes for films. In reality it only supposedly contained a T-Shirt with a quote from a movie. I got it from a thrift store, without the T-Shirt. It says that the quote was from 'Blade Runner' (one of my favourite sci-fi movies). The neck of the guitar is local (Italian) chestnut wood - a leftover from the costruction of a door at the farm. The fretboard is old flooring wood I got in Holland from a place they were renovating. 4 Strings, can almost be used as a base. Unique piece. It is electrified. Contact me for information.

Regalia Antique Cigar Box Guitar

Regalia Antique Cigar Box Guitar

This guitar is made from an old cigar box from the Karel factory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Not sure about the age of the box itself, but I guess it’s from the ’30’s. Scale length: 25 inches. Unique piece. Available Now. Contact me if interested.

sold
Old Dutch Windmill cookie tin guitar

Old Dutch Windmill

A beautiful aluminum tin (probably a cookie tin) with a white and blue dutch style painting of a windmill. The fretboard is made from a recycled piece of mahogany (floor). The result is very classy. Bright sound. Scale length: 25 inches.

available
Plank Canjo

Canjo's

This is a funny little instrument – ideal for taking on holiday and not worrying about it fitting in the car or getting ruined on the beach – worries that come with those other expensive and delicate instruments that ‘normal’ people play… Scale length: 20 inches. I make these on demand in different base colors. It can take up to 6 weeks depending on current availability. Contact me if interested.



I give old objects a new life and dignity and turn them into pieces of art. They all have stories to tell and songs to sing.
Flower Power cookie tin guitar

Flower Power cookie tin guitar

A beautiful aluminum tin of octagonal shape. 4 strings. Tilted headstock. The keyboard is made out of a rare type of walnut. The volume pot is realized out of a playing dice. Very lightweight. Scale length: 25 inches. Unique piece. Available now. Contact me for information.

Cellocan cookie tin unfretted guitar

Cellocan

The following is a Cookie tin guitar I built almost completely out of recycled materials (only the tuning pegs are new) – it looks beautiful (albeit on the ‘rough’ side) and it’s a pleasure to play. It is unfretted, so you need a slide. Unique piece. Available now. Contact me if interested.

Plank Telecaster

Plank Telecaster

This is a replica of a Telecaster and it's the first electric solid-body guitar I ever made from a plank of pine wood that my landlord had to spare. The neck is bought and made industrially, as a the time I didn't yet have experience in that. The electronics and pickups are original Fender Vintage sound designed for a Tele. Unique piece. Contact me for information.

sold
Santa Muerte wooden box guitar

Santa Muerte

Not really a ‘cigar box’ guitar – this was made out of a wooden Tea box that whose original paint has been sanded down and then the box has been cut, re-painted and a ‘Santa Muerte’ image has been applied with decoupage technique. It all started from a ‘harmless’ tea box. The fretboard goes above the box and it’s crazy long. The first 20 frets have been installed, the rest is fretless.

Plank Techno Diddley Bow

Techno Diddley Bow

These are simple Diddley bows (one-string instruments) that I make out of old Cigar molds. No two ones will be identical, but will be all pretty similarly built and decorated. Diddley Bows aren’t just for playing Blues! I am experimenting with blending these instruments into more modern /technological styles of music. Contact me to order one (it will take me a few weeks to make it).

sold
One-String Diddley Bow in a (Coffee) Box

One-String Diddley Bow in a box

Needs to be played with a slide. Availability: I can make these upon request given that we can find the right box. It can take up to 6 weeks depending on current availability. The box might not be exactly identical, as it depends of what I find in that period in second-hand stores, but will be pretty similar. Contact me if you would like to buy this or have special requests (electrified, etc).

Electric Guitar Custom Designs

Custom Designs

Have you got a custom guitar body shape or design in mind that you’ve always wanted to see come to life? Your design can turn into something real! I can make it happen with you but consider that building a whole wooden electric guitar with a custom design represents multiple weeks of (wood)work. This means that the prices in this category aren't cheap. It is also possible that you have a famous/iconic shape in mind, and we can work together to recreate that or make a variation. Contact me

Hand-made with Love

Hand-made with Love

On this site you can browse the gallery of the stringed instruments I already made or those I can make again on commission. You can ask for a custom build with a box you already have or you can take a look at some I have available. For tin cans and cigar box guitars, consider that metallic boxes tend to sound louder than wooden ones. Contact me for information, ideas and quotes.

Green Energy

Green energy

All of the electricity that I use for the power tools to build guitars is provided by solar panels. In fact, all of the electricity we use at our farm is generated by either sun or wind power.

Recycled Materials

Recycled Materials

Do you know that old IKEA cupboard that you wasted recently? Chances are it would have played beautifully, if turned into a guitar body. Or at least pretty decent. This concept is also what inspired the name ‘Plank’ – when, for my first guitar build, I used just a plank of some wood that was left forgotten by my landlord in his garage, years ago. If this sounds well – I thought – any plank can. We live in a society that more and more and more just produces and ‘throws away’ stuff; it’s good if we can make our items live longer.

Restorations (broken guitar neck)

Restorations

I can take a guitar that looks like a piece of junk, repair it and make it look and sound better than it ever did. Or maybe, more simply, you have an old guitar you have not used for a while, or something has broken: it’s likely possible to repair it and increase its life! Let me take a look at it. Contact me.

Workshops (mongolian yurt)

Workshops

You could consider coming to stay in our mongolian yurt in the middle of nature for the weekend or for a holiday, eat some delicious Italian food, and try out the guitars in peace and quiet, and learn to make a Canjo or other simple instrument. Even with your family and kids (in fact that's even better).



Play

Maybe you are looking for a specific sound?

I could build that special instrument just for you or teach you how to do it...
...or you could come and visit and try out which instrument you like

I am based in Soriano nel Cimino, Viterbo, Italy, where I live with my family. I understand you don't come around here very often. It's in the countryside, on a lovely hill, with lots of hazelnut trees. If that's far away for you, you could consider coming to stay in our mongolian yurt in the middle of nature for the weekend or for a holiday, eat some delicious Italian food, and try out the guitars in peace and quiet.

Reach out and let's talk!
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