Gurkha Khukri Cigar Box Guitar Build

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Aug 26, 2010
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Well! What else are ya gonna do with a Gurkha cigar box? Store cigars? Nope. Not me:D
A friend of mine had a bunch of cigar boxes she was selling for like $5 each and i really wasnt to interested until I saw this one:

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Now theres no way I was gonna let this one go so I traded her an arrowhead I was making for it on the spot. I wasnt even done with the arrowhead. So here goes nothing. My first guitar. Lets see how this turns out. Its going to be a three string slide or maybe even fretted guitar. I have a piece of oak for the neck and a piece of poplar for the fretboard. They were dirt cheap and other than that all i got into it is an arrowhead.

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Its a very Khul box with brass hinges and well made. Its not as wide as most cigar boxes so I might even have to electrify it if the acoustics arent good enough. We will see when done. Heres the plan:
Im going to slip the piece of neck through and affix it to the back of the box and carve out a bit on top to allow the lid to vibrate and make better amplification. When done you should be able to open and close the lid when unstrung to update and change out parts.

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I think it will look pretty cool once done.

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You see I had to add a piece underneath the neck at the bottom since ill be carving out parts of the neck there. It also makes a nice heel outside the box. After some careful measurements a scarf joint is made to fabricate the headstock. Since it only has three strings it dont need to be very big.

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That should work. I also had to clamp another piece onto the sides to make the headstock wider but I forgot to get a pic of that. Anyway it came out as planned.

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Now this part gave me a bit of stress! Finally I figured out a way to get the neck straight via belt sander. I dont have a planer but its on the list now. The two straight pieces of steel kept me from intruding into the wood I want to keep.

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Thats pretty much were im at now. I have the fretboard glued on now but aint got no pics uploaded yet so stay tuned.
 
That's super way cool. I don't know nothing about guitars or making them but sounds or at least looks like your on the right track.
I'd love to find me a cigar box like that, just cuz. I can see how you could never pass up that box at any cost. Looks incredibly well made.
Must be very old?
 
Can you tell what kind of wood the Gurkha box is made from? The sides and lid look like maybe pine , but photos can be misleading.

This might turn out even better than the AK Bowie folding knife, though that set a very high bar.

I look forward to further installments.
 
Well Bawanna i never played a three string guitar so I got some learning to do. I figure it must only be half as hard to learn than a 6 string. I need to ask Aunti Yangdu if she knows any Gurkha guitar songs she likes and id have to learn them eh?
David: Im not sure what kind of wood it is but its a light white wood similar to pine but has much tighter grain. Strangely enough it is solid wood around the sides and ribs as well. The top and bottom have a veneer of the same wood maybe a half of millimeter thick and the core is cardboard. Hopefully the acoustics will be acceptable.
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After I learned about the cardboard and the fact that it was a bit smaller than a normal cigar box then I may need to electrify it. Thats khul tho. Im thinking of making a small cigar box amplifier that works off a battery too. Mainly I wanted something I could throw in the car and take anywhere I wanted to and not worry about messing it up. Im not taking my strat to the beach ya know. This one might turn out to be crap but in the end I learned something and id surely make another. Cant beat the price!
OK I did some more work on it tonite. Time to cut out the headstock.

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Well! What did you expect? I think you can see where im going with it now eh?
Next I have to positively determine where to put the nut. Thats where the strings start so I can measure and position everything on the other end so I can fix that end permanently. It has to be very precise there but I can do a few things on that end to adjust for it on each string.

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I think this will work. I carved out a groove on the fretboard end to deposit a brass nut to retain the strings. The threads should hold the strings in position as im wolloping out the national anthem aka Jimi Hendix. Might even be Pete Townsend safe...:rolleyes:. I thought id leave the head on just cuz.

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Now that cross piece will interfere with the strings so I got to do something about that. Hmmm? Gotta rid of it but dont want to mess up the look? Ill cut it off and grind it down flush with the top of the fretboard and maybe that will work. If and when I decide to put an electrical pickup on it then this would be a perfect place to do it so it will hide all them spots.

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For now ill just whack it off, sand it and glue it down and call it done. I dont want to mess up the original finish so i sanded it from down under.

I did make a relief cut on top of the neck as you can see to keep it clear so the top can vibrate as it pleases. Being a small box I need all the vibes I can get!

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Next I will cut a brace to support the back of the neck on the rear end. Back soon!

Oh wait a minute! I got a triangle box in the mail so just for scale Ill post a pic. The Butterfly knife next to my new axe!

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Awesome blade! just love the weight and balance. This thing will KEEL!
 
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Very cool! Once again we have similar interests, Kamidog. I have been making a fretless 5 string banjo from walnut. Just got the pot in place and the goat skin head is next. My family used to make them down in Missouri many moons ago.
 
Man id love to see your progress there! Doing the goat skin must be a neat thing to see! Im prolly goin to have to electrify mine because the box lid may not vibrate like a skin but im going to try it as is as an acoustic first anywayz. I decided tonight to go with frets. I ordered me some fret wire tonite just cause its easier to level but I was thinking of using them spring metal strips you find inside windshield wipers. They are already spring tempered etc and work well I hear but im ready to start playin. Walnut is some pretty stuff. That will look nice! If I ever make it to corn patch ill bring my CBG, some guinness, and Butterfinger! That'd be a great time for sure! Feel free to post some pics here if ya get around to it! Banjo is 4 string right? Thats another toy id love to learn!
 
Man this is going to be cool, Danny you sir are killing it!! cant wait to see more.
 
Danny, careful on the frets. It is soooo easy to get them in the wrong place. That makes it sound a little funny when the strings get plucked during playing.
 
Wish I had something good to contribute to this here project.

Wait....... I could pull a few hairs of ole Jaspers tail and send em down. Reckon they would make fine strings. Course if you electrify it, the burning hair stench might be a tad unpleasant to say the least.

Perhaps I oughta reconsider this idear.
 
Danny, careful on the frets. It is soooo easy to get them in the wrong place. That makes it sound a little funny when the strings get plucked during playing.
I hear ya Doc! Im being very careful marking them. I already made a shallow cut to mark them and they match my stratocaster exactly so we will see. Im going to use a floating bridge so I can set the intonation. I got the string height pretty much figured out and added two degrees to the neck tilt. Other than that Im waiting on tuners and fret wire to arrive from the cigar box store. Ill update soon as I get something to show. Im sanding the neck to shape as well. I put an edge on the Khukri head stock so I got to be careful with it now:D

Oh Man! That was awesome Howard. Thats a lot of work on that table there! Thats a real short fretboard. ...and one more string. I dont have a clue how to play one of them.

Man this is going to be cool, Danny you sir are killing it!! cant wait to see more.
Might need some pants when im done:D
 
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OK where'd I leave off? OK. Since the last episode I cut the fret slots and did some more reshaping of the neck

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and headstock.

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Here is my first fret job! Whoohoo! Well? I sort of messed it up a bit. Hard to see in the photo but i figured id better sand and finish the fretboard before I put the frets in because otherwise it would be next to impossible to polish and sand around them. I was right but where I was wrong was I didnt pay much attention to the fact that i rounded off the edges and now the frets stick up on the ends. Dooooh! No matter how you sand them they still snag on your fingers as you slide up the board.No way to fix that cept doing it all over.

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So here is my first re-fret job:rolleyes: I removed them all and sanded the fingerboard down flat again and polished it with sandpaper using my flat diamond stones as a sanding block being very careful with the edges. I had to dig out the nut on the Khukri end since it now stuck up too high but all is well now. It feels real good now and glad I did it over.
Time to bore out the tuning peg mounting holes.

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After they are drilled they need to be tapered using a special reamer.

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One hole reamed and ready for test fit. Ideally they get a slight press fit for best performance.

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Once you get them fitted you can drill out a small hole and screw them down for even better fit.

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Top side mounted and ready to go! The little screw eyelets hold the strings down so they can be positioned without sliding around on ya when playing. I cant wait to oil the wood and see what it really looks like. Most everything is sanded to 1200 grit.

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Next step is reinforcing the box to mount the neck. Im still figuring out how I want to retain the string on the butt end but I think i got it figured out. More later my friends! Thats all I got today! ENJOY!
 
I'm sitting here applauding your progress :thumbsup: - big smile on my face :)

Cheers - Ray
 
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