The electric guitar is a sophisticated and highly evolved instrument. But, you can make your own out of a few bucks worth of junk and parts. Learn to wind your own guitar pickups and build them into a simple one- or two-string junk guitar with a surprisingly nice sound. Depending on your ambition and experience, you can make your junk guitar as simple or as sophisticated as you want, but everybody is guaranteed to go home with at least a fun twangy noisemaker.

(Note: Like any electric guitar, your junk guitar has to be plugged into a guitar amplifier to be audible. You can get guitar amps for $20 and up (for example, at Guitar Center); you may also be able to plug your guitar directly into your home stereo or laptop to hear or record it).

Bring a nice sturdy wooden beam (1x2 or 2x2 is good, or a wooden broom handle) or a fairly straight stick (at least 1" diameter), 2-4 feet long, to use as the neck of your guitar. There will be amplifiers in class for trying out your guitar; we may have some little ones available for purchase in the class. All other supplies & tools will be provided.

Materials provided include:

• guitar strings (steel, not nylon) - available at most music stores
• magnet wire
• sewing machine bobbins
• a strong rare-earth magnet
• hardware: wood screws, eye hooks, L-brackets, etc.
• audio cable
• bamboo shish kebab skewers (optional) for making frets on your guitar

Absolutely no skills required except use of basic tools (drill/saw/screwdriver). Basic soldering skills are helpful but not necessary. No guitar-building or playing experience is needed!

This class will be led by Ranjit Bhatnagar, from Handmade Music Night. A word from Ranjit: "I've been making junk instruments since I was 4 years old strumming rubber bands and those springy doorstops. These days I teach courses in sound sculpture and performance with handmade instruments at Parsons School of Design in NYC. Last February, I set myself the challenge of making a new instrument each and every day, during which I came up with the simple electric guitar pickup we'll be making in the workshop.

All NYC Resistor classes are for people 18-years and up.  Sorry, minors.