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Who Says I Got no Cajons?
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No Really! Who said it? Actually, it's not what you think it is......I am building what is called a Cajon. I was looking for information on how to build a stomp box or a beat box, something I can tap with my foot as I play along with my acoustic guitar. I found some very interesting stuff, but most of what I saw needed a pickup, which I didn't have and didn't want to spend the money on. Then, I found some very interesting stuff on the internet about something called the Cajon, and saw some great videos on YouTube. There are also some not so great ones, but some of the people out there playing the Cajon are very talented. The Cajon is basically a box made of plywood of varying thicknesses, a hole cut in the side, back, or bottom, and your hands. You smack or tap or beat the box depending on the sound you want, and by moving your hands around the tapa, or the drum head (the front of the box), you can get different sounds. Depending on your Cajon, you can get something very akin to a bongo drum sound. Some Cajons have snares in them, some are even adjustable to take the snare out of play when you don't want it. So...COOL! I want one! They are fairly pricey for a plywood box, ranging $200-350 or considerably more, but hey, I build guitars! I am not buying a plywood box when I have everything in my garage to make it! |
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I had some birch plywood I bought for a Fox-style guitar side bender. I built the basic heat box, several forms, and had a lot of the wood left over. I had some 1/8" birch ply for another project I did awhile ago, and got too much wood. The rest is glue and finish coatings, and I have plenty of that! The basic box I decided to build is 12" Wide, 18" tall, and 18" deep. I put a hole in the back in much the same place and size a guitar sound hole is. Habit I guess. The sides, top, and bottom are 3/4" birch ply. I beveled and glued the edges together to make the frame, then pegged them. I just decided I didn't want screws everywhere, and tried pegging. The pegging its self worked great, but I need some sharper drill bits, brad points, because I had a lot of tear out on the peg holes. I used original Titebond throughout the project, nothing else. The seat is edge-glued Adler board glued to the top of the frame. |
| This is a view of the back of the Cajon, where the sound hole is. For recording, this is where the microphone should be aimed, unless it is in a camera. The hole is in the back because the instrument is designed to be played near a wall. The sound exits the back of the box, and reflects off the wall and gets to the whole room more evenly. The player also hears what the audience hears, unlike playing an acoustic guitar. |
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The tricky part was the snares. I wanted snares, but I didn't always want them on. I couldn't think of a way to do it. Most I had seen had cam-levers or foot pedals, and I didn't have anything quite so sophisticated, but I still wanted the option. I used a 5/8" dowel rod, bought a $7 snare replacement. I cut the snare in half, and then screwed it to the dowel. I made some knobs for the ends of the dowel, and glued them on. Then, I drilled a hole through the side of the knob, and pinned the knob to the dowel. It is a very tight fit, and hard to turn, and I didn't want the glue joint to break. |
I really wanted to keep it tight because, in theory, I will be able to adjust how much attack the snare has by applying more pressure on the snares to the tapa. The wire strung across the back is meant to hold the snares when not in use. Because they move freely in the air, certain beats will cause them to ring out. Turning them backwards and applying a decent amount of pressure on the wire keeps them dead silent when I don't want them. When I do, rotate them forward until they sound like I want.
How does this help me with the guitar? It doesn't yet, except for giving me something to sit on. I have a base drum kick pedal that will help a ton, though. When the instrument is competed, I will show how it all works out. I am sure there is going to be some tweaking. I already took it half apart and redid some things because it didn't sound that great for starters, but that's to be expected. There will be feet on it to keep the bottom off the floor. I have wire brush sticks that add a very jazzy brushed-high-hat sound to it, VERY cool. I am right now debating whether to glue the entire outside to the rim of the box, like the back. The back rings out quite nicely, but the front did not yesterday, so I made a new one. I think I will glue and peg it on, and see how it does. |
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I put some feet on the bottom of it to help keep it off the floor, as I will primarily be playing it in my basement on carpet. I then put my website on the tapa before fixing it to the box. These are just rub-on letters that I applied over the 2nd layer of shellac, and then sprayed with polyurethane. I think I will have a total of 6 coats of poly on there, and will have to be careful when I wet-sand and polish. I won't take it to quite the guitar-quality shine, but it will look good. |
| Here is an image of the snares in play, leaning against the tapa from the inside. I must say, it works better than I thought. It could still use a little tuning, but at least I have the option of using them or not, and did not need an expensive or complicated cam or foot lever system to use it. |
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And there she is! The feet you can see are rubber door knob stoppers, but they are attached to small 1"x2"x2" maple blocks. The rubber feet are to give it a little traction when I play it on a hard surface. You are supposed to tip it back, like leaning a chair back on its two legs, and the maple will slip if I don't use the feet. I might cut a small 3" sound hole in the bottom as well, to help project the sound forward if I use it in a large open space.
I decided to screw the tapa on. I was going to glue it to get more of the drum sound, somewhat like the back gives, but being my first one, I went with the most common method. Besides, should I have to get inside it again, maybe to adjust or replace the snares, all it requires is unscrewing. |
| The whole purpose of building this was to have something to keep a beat while playing guitar. I have a bass drum foot pedal to use with it, and have come up with an idea. The best bass response comes from the middle of the tapa, but it is awkward to play with your foot on the bass pedal directly in front. I think I am going to cut some 9"x12" Holes in each side of the box, and make two more tapas for the sides. That way, I can play the base pedal on either side. It will also reduce the mass of the box, and quite possibly contribute to more tone out of the Cajon. |
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I added a kick plate to the Cajon.....one on each side. This will allow me to use the bass pedal. It works pretty well, either playing solo, or sitting on the Cajon playing guitar, and getting an extra beat. The sound is a very low, muted, bass thump, doesn't ring out like hitting the tapa does, which is really what I was looking for. I found that, because of the way I hold my guitar when sitting, playing with the left leg actually works better. I do have to work on multi-tasking though. I had to modify the pedal somewhat...even the softest felt pedal head is way too hard for this. I unscrewed the pedal head, and put 5 of the felt gaskets on cymbals and top hats stacked together on the shaft, and then screwed them down tight. PERFECT! Stiff enough to provide a good impact, soft enough to keep it somewhat muffled and muted.
I am still getting used to singing and playing together, and adding a kick pedal to the mix sometimes makes for some real comedy. I will post some pictures and video when I have got a better feel for how it all works together. |
| I have also been building a more traditional style Cajon, experimenting with different methods of construction. Here are 4 that sold before Christmas, built very much like my first one, only sized at 12"x12"x18" tall, and no snare. I am in the middle of building nine more, two of them the larger size with the extra kick plates. All of these will have the adjustable snare in them, and I will post photos and descriptions of their differences when they are complete. |
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The Cajons
