If you spend enough time on YouTube, you learn two things: one, that all the famous YouTubers know each other, and two, you can make a guitar out of virtually anything.
Wood, metal, plastic, yes, but there have been guitars made of paper, pencils, giant candies, old skateboards, even… nails.
Tim Sway is a maker and woodworker who makes primarily guitars and basses, and his projects are made of reclaimed wood – why waste it if it’s still good, right?
Well those old boards often come with a lot of old nails, and Sway hangs onto those, too, just in case.
But what do you do with old nails, if you don’t want to throw them away? Let ‘em accumulate until you have enough to make the body of a musical instrument, apparently.
He put together a small wooden guitar frame to hold the strings and pickups, and then started nailing nails into it.
When he ran out of room for nailing, he started welding nails to the other nails until the piece took the shape of a standard electric guitar.
A lot of these types of projects then use resin to preserve what’s inside the guitar and help it keep its shape.
The body of this guitar is just nails.
Sway did make sure to shape them to avoid any injuries, though I’d avoid doing the Pete Townshend windmill arm when playing this particular instrument.
In the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania, the It’s A Wonderful Life Festival is in full swing.
This is the hometown of the movie’s star, Jimmy Stewart, and so along with the lights, games, kids activities and tree lighting, the town’s Jimmy Stewart Museum is showing the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” every afternoon at 1 between now and December 30th.
And remember, every time you listen to this podcast, an angel gets its wings!
Guitar Made of Nails (Tim Sway on YouTube)
So Metal: An Electric Guitar Made Out Of Reclaimed Nails (Geekologie)
