Sunday, October 13, 2013

NEW KAZOO DESIGN! THE HOTROD "TUNED" KAZOO


A couple weeks ago I cut out and drilled a 6" kazoo blank with no idea whatsoever how the finished kazoo would look.  From time to time I would look at it and sit it back down while I was working on other kazoos. I finally got caught up in the workshop the other day and started messing around with an idea a totally new kazoo design that I now call the Hot Rod Kazoo.

There are several things that make this a totally new design.  First this kazoo actually starts out with four separate parts.  As in a standard kazoo there is a kazoo body and resonator cap.  Unlike a standard kazoo there is also a vent hole air "scoup" shaped like the hood scoup for an automobile.  Next there is a mouth hole size reducer.  The scoup and reducer are permanently attached to the kazoo body.

This kazoo starts out with an over size mouth hole similar to my Spirit Chaser Kazoos. This also enlarges the air chamber beneath the resonator cap.  I then install the mouth hole reducer which results in a standard size mouth hole.

The air scoup is also permanently attached  over the vent hole at a location which provides the best sound and control.  This kazoo has the vent hole exiting the bottom of the kazoo so the scoup also prevents the vent hole from being accidentally covered when playing the kazoo.

When positioning the air scoup over the vent hole I discovered that as I moved the location of the scoup in different locations over the vent hole there was a dramatic change in the quality of the sound produced when I hummed and moved the scoup.  Once I identified  the location that provided the best sound it was permanently attached in that location.

I compare this effect with that of having "tuned headers" on an automobile engine. Where the headers are providing the optimum exhaust pressure for engine performance my kazoo scoup does the same thing for the air passing through the vent hole.  So in terms of tuned performance this is an "old kazoo maker tuned kazoo"!

ROUGHED IN HOT ROD KAZOO
The Hot Rod Kazoo is also designed to fit a Hohner Harmonica (HH01) Harmonica neck holder.  It will also fit most standard neck holders.  I hope to have this kazoo available next week!

Please be sure and stop by  the Kazoo Factory  and Doc Kazoo Facebook Pages to see what's new in the workshop.  Each morning a workshop plan of the day is posted and each evening a Workshop End of the Day picture is posted show the status of all kazoos being made.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-AsWeGo-Kazoo-Factory/168109906556127

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Doc-Kazoo/141120789324160

Happy Kazooing!
Doc Kazoo