My Home Made Slaptop Cajon

This is my new home made slaptop cajon. I just had to make this cajon after watching movies about the slaptop, which is a brilliant idea, if you ask me. I always ended up with muscle pain somewhere after playing on a normal cajon for a while. I took me about 2 full days to make this slaptop cajon, using left over plywood from an old cupboard, a PVC elbow pipe as a bass tube, a strap from an old bag, and some extra percussion. The woodblock sound is made by slapping two pieces of hard wood together, that are mounted to the side of the cajon. The snare is made from springs used in organs (no animals were harmed during the production of this... just kidding... I mean the instruments). The top sheet of plywood is glued and separated at 1/3 from the right, so you get 2 chambers, one for the snare and one for the low notes, without the snare sound. The cabasa can be placed either on the left or right depending on the type of rhythm. I like it on the right, next to the wood blocks and the tambourine. I expanded on the original design of the slaptop, by making it bigger and wedge shaped, so it fits nicely between the legs, providing a very comfortable playing position. It has a nice, rich, deep sound, which wasn't picked up well by my camera's microphone, but hey, you get the idea.

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

See the new version kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSqoad4ptBseLc

[@seshquatch]

This is like the ultimate version of the kid at the of the class drumming on his desk

[@Merciful2u]

I wish that was my desk at school. Though I would be kicked out of class. Hahaha

[@richkane1977]

I REALLY like the added belt/strap. I have a Meinl slap top. I wish their engineers had thought of this. It doesn't really stay in place on my lap the way I think it was intended.

[@deividevangelistaoficial368]

Esse é o mais equipado que já vi aqui no KZbin

[@seanobrien6689]

Very cool idea adding all the extras. That's one thing I'd love to add to my cajon, a decent hihat/ride sound without having a large piece of extra equipment to lug around.

[@MatGurman]

This is tooooooo coool! You will always be working. Sounds GREAT!

[@sophiaspapi2003]

Such imaginative and creative playing. This guy clearly loves what he does!

[@Gk2003m]

Nice job! The strap is something needed for these

[@glennryzebol4472]

looks great. sounds great. well done!

[@truscorpion4383]

its pretty and sounds unlike any cajon I've heard!

[@caswellvanwhervin7064]

Great job looks good sounds nice!

[@raykent3211]

Very nice job! It's the first I've seen with a bass pipe, but I get the general idea from bass-reflex speakers.

[@christopherkouri2317]

That is fantastic!

[@gladejustglade]

This is really great! Nice work, man.

[@mikeroberts9734]

Hi Andray, Just love the sound and would love to build one. Are you able to provide the autocad drawing and possibly the screenshot with dimensions? I'm keen to get this underway and would really appreciate you sharing your design knowledge. Many thanks. Mike.

[@imkuna3559]

Amazing

[@UncleDanBand64]

Nice work sir👍

[@jackchandelier]

Yours has better bass than the Meinl version! I want to buy one of theirs but really wish it had better bass, so I was looking into building one and came across your video. Fantastic! I too would love to see some plans for your build!

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

jack chandelier Sorry, i have no plans. Made it all on the fly, from scrap wood. One thing though, the secret to the base is a peace of drain pipe in the hole. ;)

[@elisevangelder1169]

Nice

[@Neilquinny]

I like the design and the sound, Ingenious. Would u mind sharing plans I'd like to make one for my girl too.

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Thanks for the compliment. I don't have plans though. I just looked at the design of the Meinl Slaptop Cajon and improved it a bit, changing things as I went along. It was a trial and error thing, customizing it to fit between my legs and give me the sound I wanted.

[@miguelmonforte]

Wow!!

[@philsznyck3576]

WOW! I was thinking to make a Cajon for me, but now I changed my mind: it will be a slaptop, thxs! What was the snare type you used? And the top is fully glued, isn't it?

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

+Melipe Szyfanski Yes the top is glued all around, it has two compartments, separated at about 1/3 from the right. The snare is a bundle of 4 thin springs, used in old organs.

[@fabinhomusicox]

muito bom...faltou aprofundar o grave

[@Sortarius]

About the three tiny metal things on the side, can I buy those somewhere? Thank you.

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Rosewood Mahogany - try your local music store. I got it at the latin percussion department.

[@michaelhealey1611]

Andray, how did you mount a strap on there?

[@FretsNirvana]

Nice job! I know you don't have plans etc. but could you maybe describe the thickness of the wood that you used for the top and frame ....as well as any bracing that you might have employed? Thanks!

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Thanks! No bracing needed, it's all holding together nicely. Plywood all around, 1cm thick, 3mm for the top. A 10cm hole with a tube, to enhance the bass. There's a separation inside on 1/3, for high/low.

[@FretsNirvana]

@@AndrayTheDutchman Thanks. Wow that is really thin wood on the top then. When you state a separation inside ...do you mean horizontally or vertically? Impressive and well thought out!

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

@@FretsNirvana the seperation is vertical, to make 2 chambers inside, left and right. They are not completely airtight though, there's a hole between them. The top is glued all around, which makes it tough.

[@FretsNirvana]

@@AndrayTheDutchman Thank you again for that prompt response!

[@FretsNirvana]

@@AndrayTheDutchman One last question if I may ...can you share dimensions of your build? Thanks.

[@germanpinzonjimenezmusic]

Hello there. I was looking at Nino's percussion and how to make some of their instruments for my nephew. This kind of instruments are not only un-find-ables in the stores and to order one will double the price of it. What kind of plywood did you use? 1/2 inch for the structure i guess will work, but, what about the top... did you use solid wood or 1/4 inch plywood? or did you use a thinner wood top? Thanks for sharing you video.

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Hi. The thickness of the top sheet shouldn't be too much, it's like a skin of a drum, but not that thin though. It should be thin enough to vibrate, but thick enough not to break when you hit it hard. I used 3mm thick plywood for this one. Hope this helps.

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

O, and it should be glued airtight all around, when using that thickness. For stability in sound and structure.

[@erozas90]

How can I do it?

[@Adrian-dl9nb]

Hello, did you cut a normal cabasa's handle? I really want to do that too since the cajon cabasa is too expensive. Any advice?

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Hi. Yes it is a normal hand-held cabasa. Just screwed the handle off and gave it a wooden hook to fix it to the side of the cajon.

[@josea.benitez6421]

Padre

[@dissonantiacognitiva7438]

Is there a hole in the cajon? You need to compress the output Something similar to a cajon port, I did mine with a 1£ soda bottle, actually made 2 ports, one for deeper umpf(longer) and one shorter

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Yup, I used a 10cm diameter drain pipe ;-)

[@dissonantiacognitiva7438]

@@AndrayTheDutchman what's the whole size?

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

@@dissonantiacognitiva7438 diameter 10cm and 25cm long

[@dissonantiacognitiva7438]

What about not having a port, but having the same round hole, however having a second plate about 4-7 cms with a forward facing opening only? This plate and hole would be at the bottom

[@dissonantiacognitiva7438]

Damn, I need my power tools back 😁

[@tinag4373]

can. you do a video on how to make

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Tina G, no, sorry.

[@joeyurbanic7366]

Where did you find the small tambourines?

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Bought this one in a local store, but the LP Jam Tambourine is quite similar. The other one is called a cabassa.

[@YoungOldNeverApart]

Sooolid!

[@tushardasgupta5601]

tutorial plz

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

Never made one, sorry. There are other that made turorials though. I used them to make this one.

[@tushardasgupta5601]

any link?

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

A combination of these: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4DSfmmwh8yhr6M kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5SliZijnNCnoJo Of course there are lots more. And I just let my imagination go... ;-)

[@xb5883]

Why not nust beat on the table

[@AndrayTheDutchman]

🤣🤪

[@TomeRodrigo]

sounds weird.like cheap wood...