Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
A friend who is into bluegrass and Appalachian music ask if I could make the music box. . We did some research on these rather crude instruments and made this one for her. There is no common size. They were made from whatever was on hand. The box sides were often old window frames, the frets fence staples, the tin in the strumming area and the peg end was often from snuff tins. the pegs for tuning were old screen door eye screws. This one is made of Poplar, fence staples, the tin is roof flashing, etc. The brown peg is to hold the string against the fret for the melody. The strumming is done with a Turkey feather. 3 of the 4 strings are strummed and one is for the melody. I do not play any instrument and made this from research and guess. Size is 29” x 10” x 4”.
It was fun to hear her play it. Better than I thought it would be. A very basic music box.