idle hands is the devil s playground, you know, so i stay busy. robert tetter, incarcerated since the mid 1980s on several sex and obscenity charges, was a general contractor. in prison, he uses his construction and electrical skills to build homemade guitars. okay. the guitar is made out of boat kits. this is 2 1/2 boat kits makes this one. model boat kits are an approved hobby item for inmates in general population. tetter combined his with scrap transistor radio parts. all of these are stood up together, glued together to make this neck like this. the inside of the guitar is all wood. we have one radio. the tone control. have three controls down here, the set of batteries. then we break it down further. we pull this apart. this comes completely out. this is the pickup.
talent inside these walls. reporter: lock up producers only had to walk to the other side of the door at the homan correction am facility to see how right he was. blues, i don t mess with hard rock stuff. reporter: he passes time playing music. that s not what amazed our crew is he builds his own guitars out of the one few recreational resources boat kits. this is what-and-a-half boat kits, these are stood up together to make this neck leak this. down inside of it, we have one radio, the tone control about three controls down here the set of battery, and this one back here is the mic mixer and then we use magnets in the corner to hold the lid on it. [ music playing ] reporter: he always includes one other almost on his guitars,
lockup producers only had to walk to the other side of keith mason s dorm at the holman correctional facility in alabama to learn how right he was. i play blues, country, no rock n roll. i don t mess with the hard rock stuff. while robert tedder passes time playing music, that s not what amazed our crew. it s that he builds his own guitars out of one of the few recreational resources allowed inmates, model boat kits. this is 2 1/2 boat kits makes this one. all of these are stood up together, glued together to make this neck like this. and down inside of it, we have one radio. the tone control, three controls down here, the set of batteries. and this one back here is the mike mixer. then we use magnets here in the corner to hold the lid on it. tedder always includes one other element on his guitars. it s for his muse.
together, glued together to make this neck like this. and down inside of it, we have one radio. the tone control, three controls down here, the set of batteries. and this one back here is the mike mixer. then we use magnets here in the corner to hold the lid on it. tedder always includes one other element on his guitars. it s for his muse. everything i do i dedicate to my wife. the blue heart is because we have been separated for 23 years now. she is still with me. she is sticking with me through this. i always put a blue heart on every letter i mail to her, every card i send to her. i put a blue heart on the case and the guitar. it s just our symbol, being separated so long.
in prison, he uses his construction and electrical skills to build homemade guitars. okay. the guitar is made out of boat kits. this is 2 1/2 boat kits makes this one. model boat kits are an approved hobby item for inmates in general population. tetter combined his with scrap transistor radio parts. all of these are stood up together, glued together to make this neck like this. the inside of the guitar is all wood. we have one radio. the tone control. have three controls down here, the set of batteries. then we break it down further. we pull this apart. this comes completely out. this is the pickup. dowel sticks is used for the tuning keys. it has a mike built into the top of it here and then a mike plug in the top of it and additional plugs in the tail end. ooh, baby, the boogie-woogie do no more