The Daxophone
Soundboxes, Daxes, and Complete Kits
If you like weird sounds, you will love the daxophone. This unusual instrument was invented by Hans Reichel in the 1980s. It consists of a thin strip of wood called a tongue that is usually bowed, and is mounted on a soundbox with contact microphones. Pitch and timbre are controlled by moving a rounded wooden ‘wedge’ called a dax to different positions along the tongue. I have carefully studied and extended Reichel’s design, and describe my approach below.
Click HERE for a short video demonstration of one of my early daxophones with a simple rectangular tongue. Or check out my YouTube mini-playlist SPEAKING IN TONGUES about daxophones and tongues, which was recorded with one of my current models
Probably the most important change I’ve made to Hans Reichel’s design is the use of a subtly contoured soundplate, which is the top plate of the soundbox where the contact microphones are mounted. This greatly improves the sustained contact between flat tongues and the soundbox regardless of where you press with the dax or bow along the tongue.
Some recent examples of my soundbox
With the original flat-top soundbox design, pressing down on the tongue with a dax can cause the tongue to arch up over the soundbox, causing a large drop in volume. Hans Reichel’s solution to this problem was to painstakingly sand the underneath side of every tongue so it was slightly contoured. In my approach using a contoured soundplate, that’s no longer needed, and making your own tongues is made much simpler. The contour I have developed also reduces the likelihood of unwanted buzzing that flat soundplates can introduce, and provides a fuller bass response. You will get consistent volume even for an up-bow without a dax pushing down on the tongue, which with flat soundplates will usually lift the tongue away from the soundbox. Various players have also commented that they find the improved contact with the curved soundplate makes my daxophones easier to play.
I have elected to do away with the fixed tripod used in Reichel’s design and instead use an arca swiss mounting plate on the soundbox. These plates are used in the professional camera/video industry to mount heavy equipment to tripods. The plate attaches to any tripod with a standard arca swiss head. A big advantage of this approach is that you can very quickly mount or dismount the daxophone on the tripod. And if you use a ballhead on your tripod you can also adjust the angle of the daxophone to match your preferred playing style and position (I like low profile ballheads). This is much more comfortable than mounting the soundbox on a table with a clamp, or even on a fixed height/angle tripod that may not suit you very well.
The daxophone is usually played with a double bass bow. A German style bow may be preferable to a French one because it has more space between the wood and the hair, allowing a wider range of bowing techniques and a firmer grip. Many players tape some thin cardboard under the dax to smooth is contact on the tongues. You will also need some bass rosin, and a sense of adventure!
My daxophones are professional quality instruments with careful attention to detail, refined finishing, and using the hardest and most beautiful fine grained woods available anywhere. I have happy customers all over the world, and will make every effort to ensure you are too.
Purchase options ( NEW September 2026)
Soundbox: My custom contoured soundplate is available mounted on a traditional hardwood soundbox, or alternatively on one made of engineered ebony, which is often used for guitar and bass fretboards. Either sound box is available on its own, or as part of a complete daxophone kit that further includes a high density dax (for tonal stability), and three tongues. Both soundboxes use the same hardwood soundplates, which makes them sound sound very similar because the rest of the box material has minimal effect. Click the buttons below to hear any subtle difference, but be sure to ignore any stylistic playing and pitch variations between the two takes!
You can also hear the Engineered Ebony Soundbox being used exclusively throughout my SPEAKING IN TONGUES daxophone and tongues mini-playlist in YouTube
Dax: I have switched to a new “Precision Engineered Dax” that accurately implements the shape developed by Hans Reichel (including its fret locations). It retains the tactile feel of dense polished hardwoods, but is even heavier by about 10% than lignum vitae, which is the heavy wood he used for his personal dax to ensure good note stability. It has a lower coefficient of friction than any hardwood, allowing it to glide up and down the tongues more easily and quietly in case you don’t want to use the usual thin cardboard taped to the underneath side of the dax. It’s also more stable than wood, being entirely resistant to environmental moisture and temperature variations. Having made daxes from many types of hardwood in the past, this is the dax i now personally prefer. I do still have a few hardwood daxes listed until sold out.
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All prices are in Australian Dollars, and are inclusive of free* world wide shipping.
* These prices do not include any duties or tariffs that may be payable upon arrival in your country
* Images below show examples rather than the specific items you will receive. The Tripod shown in some images is not inlcuded. Please contact me if you would like more than 5 tongues or have other specific requirements.
Complete Daxophone Kit W1, W3, W5 : classic hardwood soundbox with contoured hardwood soundplate, dax fretted on one side, and 1,3, or 5 versatile tongues:
W1 AUD$1099 (about $770 USD) Hardwood Kit with 1 tongue
W3 AUD$1249 (about $875 USD) Hardwood Kit with 3 tongues
W5 AUD$1399 (about $980 USD) Hardwood Kit with 5 tongues
Complete Daxophone Kit E1, E3, or E5: engineered ebony soundbox with contoured hardwood soundplate, dax fretted on one side, and 1,3, or 5 versatile tongues:
E1 AUD$899 (about $630 USD) Engineered Ebony Kit with 1 tongue
E3 AUD$1049 (about $735 USD) Engineered Ebony Kit with 3 tongues
E5 AUD$1199 (about $840 USD) Engineered Ebony Kit with 5 tongues
Classic Hardwood Daxophone Soundbox only with contoured hardwood soundplate AUD$799 (about USD $560).
Engineered Ebony Daxophone Soundbox only with contoured hardwood soundplate AUD$599 (about USD $420)
“Precision Engineered DAX” fretted on one side AUD$250 (about USD $175 )
High density hardwood DAX fretted on one side AUD$300 (about USD $210 ) Limited stock.
