We are all about recycling – especially if a new guitar comes out at the end of it. YouTuber Tchiks Guitars is taking the concept to new levels here by repurposing his old IKEA furniture into a one-pickup electric guitar called the Vecnå.
The self-taught builder from Brussels in Belgium was inspired by Brian May's Red Special here – the ultimate recycled guitar.
Tchiks Guitars originally started woodworking in 2017 and had already built his first guitar two years later. He builds for himself, not to sell, and he's clearly got a gift if he can make a baby's crib, shelves and a chair into a working instrument that might give the Swedish chain an idea into how to make guitars a part of its 'wonderful everyday' product line.
These kind of guitar process videos can be hypnotic to watch, and this is no exception. The original design starts with his daughter's old baby crib being used for the back of the body (and later the guitar's three-piece laminate neck with a fretboard made from an IKEA bamboo picture ledge).
"The guitar started out as a joke," says the builder. "I remember going upstairs and telling my wife, 'I'm gonna make a guitar out of Zoé's old bed.' She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and asked me, 'Why?' Then I immediately thought, 'This is the way'.
The Lace pickup ended up being the only part that was bought separately with even the frets coming from existing spares. So what began as a bit of a self-confessed joke for this self-taught builder tended up becoming an inspirational showcase of recycling.
The IKEA guitar contains the following parts:
Neck : STUVA cot
Body: HENRIKSDAL chair, LACK shelf
Fretboard: MÅLERÅS picture ledge
Knobs: APTILIG chopping board
Jack output plate: LILANGEN door handle
Strap buttons: KALLAX insert knob
24 frets - Lace Alumitone pickup - Split coil push/push (turns on an LED when engaged)
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