let's see... how to begin...?

I'll start by saying that my dad was a strange combination of inventive, unconventional and um, frugal. So when The Beatles popularity left me wanting a guitar, here's what dad came up with:

1) He took a metal gasoline can and fastened a piece of aluminum tubing from a discarded TV antenna to it

2) then he cut a sound hole in the can using tin snips. Since in his world, smooth edges were for sissies, the sharp snipped metal edges were left intact (which is more than I can say for the skin on my fingers after trying to play it)

3) He took a roll of #10 electrical wire, stripped off the sheathing and screwed it directly to the can with sheet metal screws. (apparently this was to be an ELECTRIC guitar)

4) for a headstock, he screwed a sawed-off piece of 2x4 to the other end of the aluminum tube, and hard-wired the other end of the electric wires to it. No tuners. I had to be satisfied with whatever frequency it generated when I plucked the, um, strings.

Sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm as serious as a heart attack. Mom must have talked to him, though, because eventually a store bought guitar showed up under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, it was almost as unplayable as the gas-can-tar.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0