Why I Make Guitars From Junk

I can relate...

Why I Ride A Single Speed Bicycle? Night Commute Bike Blogger

I always enjoy watching this guys videos.

Giving away "Ugly Joe" (2 string cigar box guitar)

I was strolling along Kirkwood a month or so ago, strumming on one of the Cigar Box Guitars that I made from recycled items and old bicycle parts when one of the local street people approach me. He was an older guy, a little older than myself, and he was curious about the instrument that I was playing. I gave him the whole show and told him the history of old blues and the cigar box guitar. He told me that his name was John-John and that he used to have an old guitar that he would busk with but somebody had stolen it. He asked me how much I charged for making one. I gave him the low end prices. Then he ask me if I could make him one and let him use it to busk with, promising to pay me in full for it when he raised the money. This he assured me that he could do in no time with one of my CBGs.
Now anyone that knows me also knows that I am no stranger to life on the streets, so I knew the risk that if I handed this guy something on credit that the likelihood of me never receiving payment was pretty high. I can totally sympathize with the fact that obtaining food, shelter and substances on a daily basis take first priority under those circumstances. Wingnut Bike Works is not in a position to spend any amount of time or invest any limited supplies and resources to charity at these very early stages of operation. I told him that I do occasionally finish an instrument that for one reason or another I don't think is good enough to sell to my customers but that usually sound just fine, and that on those occasions I go out and find someone to give them to. I told him that I would put him next in line and went on walking down the Ave.
A week or so later that same scenario repeated itself. Except for that this time when John-John approached me he asked me if I remembered him. I did, I said, and assured him that I still had him at the top of my list. I was playing a different instrument this time so we took a few minutes to let him admire it. I think that it might have been "Black Betty", my Git-fiddle. After a few minutes I moved on, but walking away I felt like I had to do something for this guy. Then it hit me. I still had the first couple of instruments that I have ever made hanging displayed on the walls of the Works.
When I returned to the Works, there was "Ugly Joe" just waiting to go out into the world and find adventure. Ugly Joe was the second instrument that I made.back when I first became interested in building this things. It is a two string "chugger" style Cigar Box Guitar made completely from trash. No tuners, just old eye-bolts and L-brackets with a couple of wingnuts thrown on top for easy tuning. Jeesh it was a mess to look at, but boy did it have a good resonance. I kept it in G-D tuning to get those deep blues notes really ringing back then, and I played it using an old socket from my toolbox as a slide. I decided right then and there that Ugly Joe belonged with John-John.
So I took old Joe down off it's hook and knocked the dust off if it. I dug around the shop and found that same old socket that I had used to play with and for the next couple of weeks any time that I found myself strumming downtown that I made sure it as Ugly Joe that I was strumming on. I didn't see him at all. When I asked around, no one had seen him. I figured that he either was drunk, dead or in jail.
I had given up on the whole idea and stopped carrying Joe with me when I went out. Then today I was walking to 420 to buy some stink sticks for the Works and there was John-John posted up on a corner and flying a sign. I told him that I had something for him. After getting the shopping done I passed where John-John had been but there was literally no sign of him. Despite this, when I once again was going out on an errand I decided to hang Ugly Joe around my neck, just in case.
It was a good thing that I did because this time out I managed to finally find John-John while having Ugly Joe with me. I think they look right good together.

When he said "Now I still owe you for it!", I told him he didn't owe me a thing. I hope that Ugly Joe serves him well. And hell, he might make enough money busking with Ugly Joe to buy a nicer one in the future. I hope that Joe at least helps to keep John-John fed and warm in the coming cold months.
So if you are ever out and about here in B-town and you see John-John strumming on Ugly Joe, do me favor and throw a little change their way would ya'?
Now get off of the internet and go ride yer' bike!

Hanging around.

Hey folks, I hope that everyone's Halloween celebrations were safe and sweet. I know that things at the Works were spook-tacular!
Over the past week or so two of the one string Diddly Bows (Little Grey Tree and the Sweet Hersey) found new homes and hopefully new players! Little Grey Tree was shipped off to Colorado and the Sweet Hersey is on it's way to Texas. It always strikes me as peculiar when something that I created from scratch, whether it be my "noise makers" or hand made jewelry or my art work, ends up in someones hands or home in distant places. Sometimes those places are familiar ones that I have been to while traveling the highways and byways throughout my life that bring back memories of good times and beautiful people that I met during my adventures. Other times my creations end up in places that I have never been, and when that happens it often stirs up feelings of wanderlust.
Recently a couple of awesome patrons from Indianapolis stopped in the Works to look at a couple of pieces of my art. I was taken aback at how enthusiastic they were about my artwork. The guy was excitedly asking to buy pieces left and right, some of which were, unfortunately, not finished. They ended up taking about a half a dozen paintings with them, and I ended up with a really good feeling that money just cannot buy. Although the money that I received from the artwork did buy my pack and myself some dinner!
Besides, the art pieces look way better hanging on their walls than they did just hanging around here at the Works!

I get stoked every time someone send me pics or a video of my creations in their lives! Thankfulness and gratitude to, not only these folks but, everyone who has taken the time and finances to show your appreciation of my work and for bringing a little piece of me and my world into yours. Thank you all so much.

Happy Halloween 2016!

7 Magnificent Ways To Mount Your Bicycle

For your viewing pleasure....

Down in the Dumpsters

I went shopping in the dumpsters of B-town again while on a morning bike ride. These are the treasures that I found in the trash.

1. A display mannequin neck.

(It will be great for displaying Wingnut Bike Works hand made jewelry on.)

2. Some small painted canvases that I will reuse.

3. A USB charger and backup battery pack.

4. Art eraser.

5. Assorted jugs of artist paints.

(Whoo! Hoo!)

6. An artist pallet.

7. A large white artist canvas.

8. Assorted cans of high quality spray paints!

9. One of those large, white plastic folding tables.

10. More assorted can goods.

11. A couple of nice Hoodies and an old trench coat.

12. A large artists easel.

13. A heavy duty spotlight with a red filter.

14. Some wire storage racks.

15. A stack of stereo equipment and high quality speaker and electric cables

It wasn't my largest haul, but it was a really sweet one. I get super stoked when I score any kind of art supplies from the trash.
Then we come to the REAL score, FREE FOOD!

I only shop in the best dumpsters of B-town to stock my cupboards, and boy what bargains I find. There was canned veggies, beans, soup and Tuna. I also picked up a number of packages of rice, pasta, mac and cheese and more than a few pizza kits. Why spend money on expensive multi-vitamins and dietary supplements when you can get them for free? Then there were the sweets like organic pancake and waffle mixes, full jugs of peanut butter, cooking oils and sprays, hot chocolate, protein supplements, packs and packs of Ramen noodles, huge assortments of teas and yes, lots of free coffee including this Death Wish coffee and matching mug.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Everything from paper towels and toiletries to a fresh set of threads can be obtained for free from societies waste if you just dig around in the dumpsters a bit. Now hit the power button on this device and go RiDe YeR BiKe!

Punk Tees

When I was a kid growing up concert t-shirts were part of my daily attire. As I began to listen to more independent punk bands I discovered that most of them did not even have a tape or record available, let alone any merchandise or Band T-shirts. So us kids decided to make our own.
I remember swiping a bunch of those clear plastic sheets that were used in overhead projectors from my middle school to cut stencils on. Us kids would sit around smoking low grade marijuana while listening to crappy cassette tapes of our favorite punk bands and draw out what we thought were the most rad designs ever to promote our musical idols. Then using a razor knife that I had pilfered from my step-dads toolbox we would proceed to slice and dice us up some stencils from the clear plastic sheets for the projector. With a little spray paint and practice all of our old stained and torn t-shirts were transformed into kick-butt band shirts! Also, since we used spray paint, the shirts lasted longer than most of the Band Shirts that we had bought!
Years later I would graduate to an air-brush and create lots of cool shirts as well as murals on cars, boats, motorbikes, and even a train. I think that I owe that time I spent behind an air-brush to those old DIY spray painted band shirts that I made as a kid. Now I have went full circle and am making old school DIY punk style spray painted T-shirts. Mostly, I have been just giving them away around town here to the people I meet on the streets,  but I think that I might throw a few out in the Etsy shop for $5 bucks a piece and see if anyone is interested.

The above shirt is one I sprayed using an original stencil that I designed to be used to create some canvas artwork, but I think it looks great on a Tee as well. You can find the original artworks at the Etsy shop .
Thanks for stopping by, now get off of the internet and go ride your bike!

2016 PA Cigar Box Guitar Festival - LIVE

Wishing like hell that I was there. I am going to take some of Wingnut Bike Work's stinged things there next year even if I have to pedal them there on my bike!

Cluttering up the Works.

Greetings good peeps, and welcome to the Works. It is in this small two room studio in Bloomington, Indiana that I create all of the unique things that are featured at Wingnut Bike Works. That includes the stinged things, such as diddly bows and cigar box guitars, that I hand craft utilizing recycled materials and old bicycle parts.

The Works also serves as my artist studio where I enjoy painting when I get the down time to do so. I love the location, as it sits right on "restaurant row" in the central downtown area but space is always an issue in such a small place.

Oh, and did I mention that I also repair and build bicycles at the Works? This is another challenge when it comes to actual work space at the Works.

Then there is the always rotating inventory of stock that is continually coming in from my daily dumpster diving excursions. Thankfully I have Larry (the furry blue guy) and Rosco (the roadkill raccoon) to keep an eye on things for me.

Despite their efforts, however, those two are no better at getting rid of clutter here at the Works than I am as my "office area" will attest to.

Drinking dumpstered coffee and admiring my chaos, I decided that it was time to clear out some of the clutter in the Works and in my life.

Just take a look around and you will see what I mean. For instance, I have an ever growing collection of cheap sunglasses that I have found in the dumpsters over the past year or so.

Any one who knows me at all knows that I am hardly ever caught without a pair of these babies on, but I am starting to think that I might have a few too many pairs right now.

Additional to my own art work that is hanging and stacked all over the place, I also like to keep a few pieces from other local "street artist" on my walls. The above piece was done by a homeless guy known as "Artist Will". It was done on half of a broken door. I love it!

Even the T.R.E.A.M. garden I am working on out in back is getting a little cluttered. So I took another swig of mud and began to get to work on getting rid of all the things that are cluttering up the works. By the time it started to get dark out I had made some real progress.

To celebrate, and to help get rid of some inventory that is taking up space, I decided to throw a big sale in the online Wingnut Bike Works Etsy Shop!

Of course I have fresh clutter as of this morning, but isn't that just life all over? So if you are reading this then help me out by going to visit the online shop and taking some of my awesome clutter off of my hands? Sorry, but Larry and Rosco will not be for sale! My jewelry and art and unique stringed things will be however and I slashed the prices on everything to get it out the door.

Thanks for stopping by! Now go put something fun between your legs and RiDe YeR' BiKe!

HUGE SALE HERE!

Acid test.

Things here at the Works have been hectic as of late but I did manage to throw together this latest stringed thing from old bicycle parts and recycled items. It started out with a stick of wood and this limited edition Acid cigars collectors tin.

With a little sand paper and a rasps and a whole lotta' elbow grease, I began shaping and smoothing the neck from that stick of wood.

After a couple of hours working the wood I have something that I can use. Digging around in the paint bins I found an old can of green paint. It wasn't an exact match to the camo on the tin, but I thought that it looked good enough together to pull it off.

Next I needed to come up with some tuners for this little two string chugger. So I riffled through the drawers here at the Works and found this little set of tuners off an old guitar. The only problem was that there were three of them connected together and I already had my mind set on a two string chugger, so I got out the trusty ol' rotary tool and began doing a little modification.

They turned out perfectly! Work with what you got!

 Now it was time to put the box onto the neck. Measuring twice and cutting once, I mounted the neck to the tin.

Next I mounted the bridges, in this case a couple of bolts using some gel glue.

Then I secured them down with these nifty little pieces of hardware I found laying around.

Then I used two old chain links from an unusable bicycle chain to mount the strings.

I like the way this here little two string chugger style Cigar Box Guitar came out looking.

And woah doggy can it ever wail! I made a crappy little video to demonstrate it in action.

As always if you would like to bring this sweet little chugger to your home or check out any of the other things I make you can visit the official WBW Etsy shop HERE! Or by clicking the link at the top of this page. Thanks for visiting, now go RiDe YeR' BiKe!

The "Works" has reached Iceland!

Another happy and satisfied customer recently purchased a custom order for 4 of the awesome chain link bracelets to take back to friends that are on a bike team in Iceland. How cool is that?!

Jammin on the TREAM (one string guitar made from trash!)

Chillin' out at the "Works" on a  Friday evening I decided to crank up the mini Pevey amp and plug in the TREAM, a one string electric guitar that I made from old bike parts and trash!

5 Ways To Make Your Road Bike Faster

Build a Diddley Bow in under 7 minutes ( one string guitar )!

The History of The Diddley Bow

Come on and make the noize!

This is the latest one of a kind hand crafted Diddly Bow that I made using recycled items and old bicycle parts. I call this one "Lil' Buck". It is a one string Diddly Bow that I made using an old Buck knives tin, and salvaged items. I added a pickup to this one to make it wail!

This unique one string Diddly Bow style CBG is sharp!

If you would like to make some noize on this little number you can find it up for grabs in the WBW Shop
Or if you are a local to B-town you can save yourself the shipping by going HERE!
Now get off of your ass and go ride yer bike!

Bike Thief Caught on Camera Fail Compilation

Top 10 Things Not To Drink While Cycling

A simple pine box (CBG)

Life isn't all about bicycles, sometimes you just got to make some noise! So when I came across this simple little wooden puzzle box, I just couldn't resist taking it and turning it into a "stanged thang". In this case, I planned on making a simple two string cigar box guitar, known as a chugger. I went searching through the wood pile and found an old piece of scrap wood from another project that would serve well as the neck for my prospected noise maker. Then, after compiling all of the necessary components like tuners, strings, and hardware accessories like nuts and bolts, screws and nails, I proceeded to sand and chisel away to create the instrument. After a few hours I had the makings of a CBG (cigar box guitar).
It was when I decided to electrify the contraption that I ran into a slight problem. I wanted to add a pickup and jack, both of which I had laying around the Works. The problem was that I did not have any electrical wire to use to install the parts. So I did what I always do when I need parts and supplies. I went dumpster diving!

It wasn't long before I came up with something useful. I found this JVC tape deck player that someone had thrown out. Normally I would have kept it to reuse (i love me some old school mix tapes!), but in this case someone had already cut the main power cord off of it, and besides I had other plans for it on that day. I pedaled back to the Works with this monstrosity in tow. Once back at the shop I busted out the toolbox and began dissecting the defunct electronic component in order to harvest it's parts.

It was easy work to remove the screws that held the casing together and pull apart it's plastic shell to reveal the tangled veins of copper that lay inside.

After a few snips, I had more than enough electrical wiring to do the job at hand!

Then it was back to the work table to finish off my latest creation. After some measuring, some drilling, some staining and sanding, I soldered the whole pile of trash together and ended up with this "Simple Pine Box" of a CBG!

 

 It is lightweight and very "clean" looking without a lot of frills or embellishments other than the standard random bike parts that I always like to incorporate into everything I build.

In this case I utilized an old sprocket from the rear hub of a bicycle to accent the sound hole, and a couple of old chain links from a discarded bicycle chain to hold the strings in place.

And when it is plugged in, it sounds like the Devil's music! But don't take my word for it, watch the video of me demonstrating the way it sounds.

If you like what you see and hear then go to the WBW Etsy shop to find out more on how you could bring this sick little number into your life! Thanks for stopping by and until next time, keep pedaling and keep making noise!

Lean and Green! Fix-D single speed!

If I was to sell this ride any cheaper, then I would be giving it away!

FIND OUT MORE HERE!

Happy 4th of July! Red, white and blue Vilano up for grabs!

This is a super light red, white and blue single speed bike just in time for independence day! A lot of custom parts and work have been put into this sweet little ride. Let's start with the 700cc red Xenith tires to give it a smooth ride, then there is the super stubby white hand grips and the sturdy radius brake levers and high performance brakes for those sudden stops in traffic. I also added the matching Bontrager saddle for added comfort. There is some sliight blemishes on the original blue paint job, but all in all this bike is in excellent condition and ready to ride!

           FIND OUT MORE HERE!

700C Men's Fixie Bike, Black/Red and ready to ride!

I have got this sweet single speed/fixie up for sale here in B-town!. This clean little ride is Durable, comfortable and most of all, very Affordable! I am letting this one go for the low, low price of $75.00! This piece of fun is ready to shove between your legs and ride! Perfect for commuting around B-town or for cruising the B-line!

 CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Top 10 Cycling Insults

Google-y single speed up for grabs!

This colorful little ride always reminds me of Google when I look at it. I know it is missing the color red, but still it makes me think of the search engine.
This little number was in rough shape when I came across it. I replaced the chain, grips, seat, and part of the brakes system and greased/oiled it all up and down to make sure that this fun is ready to put between your legs!
Go check it out on the B-town Craigslist!

Top 5 Weirdest Road Bikes Of All Time

Top 5 Weirdest Road Bikes Of All Time

Random post of Dumpstered treasure from the bins of B-town.

Pedaling through the back streets and alley ways of B-town these are the treasures that I found.

1. A "Little 500" bicycle cap from 2016.

2. Small bags of BBQ flavored protein chips.

3. Nearly full jug of protein dietary supplement mix.

4. Full jar of JIFF peanut butter.

5. Assorted canned soups.

6. Numerous cans of Tuna.

(Yes, I eat trash. You should too!)

7. A fully functioning air ionizer.

8. Assorted acrylic paints.

9. Assortment of paint brushes to go with the paints.

(I am always stoked to get free art supplies!)

10. Unopened packs of Pocky!!

11. Some crackers.

12. An awesome cigar box!

(I build Cigar Box Guitars, so this was an added bonus!)

13. Some random laptop cords.

14. Some electrical wire that I have a use for.

15. A nice paper cutter.

I saved the best for last, a bicycle cookie!

Not bad for an hours worth of shopping in the trash. Now get off of this computer and go RiDe YeR' BiKe!

Happy Spring!

The Easter wingnut came by the Works!

And her name was Sharon. Thank you so much for not only the delicious chocolates but for the "Wingnut" action figure as well! It's Dean from the Tick BTW and it will hold a honored place on the Toy shelf. Spring is in the air!