View Full Version : Cigar Box Guitars
This is not really game related, but I have been involved in building and playing cigar box guitars. It keeps me out of the bars and lets me stay in touch with my love of woodworking.
For pics of the ones I have made, check out my web site at:
www.HumidorGuitars.com
We also have a web site called the Cigar Box Nation that is chock full of pictures, videos, how-to's, lessons, and a whole lot more. You can also get free plans for building a cigar box guitar of your own using stuff you find around the house.
Check it out!!
How to build a cigar box guitar -
Free Plans at www.cigarboxnation.com.
CemeteryGates
02-16-2010, 08:38 PM
Amazing! I hadn't seen anything like that before. :)
The strings look pretty fat. Are they bass strings?
Amazing! I hadn't seen anything like that before. :)
The strings look pretty fat. Are they bass strings?
Nope, for a three stringer, I use 3, 4, and 5, from a standard set of lite gauge strings.
Konrad
02-17-2010, 07:04 PM
Oh that's just too cool.
Do want... If I had the time and resources (and hands that don't shake like mad) I would absolutely make one! But this is way beyond what I'm capable of when it comes to these things.
I was hella proud when I attached a killswitch to my old guitar and that involved drilling a hole and some elementary school soldering.
Of the ones you made these two are my favourites:
http://humidorguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P2010992-Medium.jpg
http://humidorguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/PC040941.jpg
And the second one (my favorite) isn't even that expensive. I imagine the plastic window must not do wonders for the tone though.
Landy
02-17-2010, 08:55 PM
Impressive, looks awesome.
Oh that's just too cool.
Do want... If I had the time and resources (and hands that don't shake like mad) I would absolutely make one! But this is way beyond what I'm capable of when it comes to these things.
I was hella proud when I attached a killswitch to my old guitar and that involved drilling a hole and some elementary school soldering.
Of the ones you made these two are my favourites:
http://humidorguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P2010992-Medium.jpg
http://humidorguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/PC040941.jpg
And the second one (my favorite) isn't even that expensive. I imagine the plastic window must not do wonders for the tone though.
Actually, it doesn't sound all that bad with the plastic window. It has a piezo pickup in it, so you can plug it into an amp. In fact, all of them do.
Wait till you see the ones I am working on now...they will be really cool.
Konrad
02-18-2010, 02:31 AM
Well I'd love to see them. Who knows... maybe ill buy one. :o Make sure to show me whatever you come up with! To be quite honest, I kinda sorta fell in love with these things the second I saw them. Been looking at videos of these things all day. :p
I just wish your shipping wasn't so darn expensive. >_>
Well I'd love to see them. Who knows... maybe ill buy one. :o Make sure to show me whatever you come up with! To be quite honest, I kinda sorta fell in love with these things the second I saw them. Been looking at videos of these things all day. :p
I just wish your shipping wasn't so darn expensive. >_>
The shipping is only 20 bucks in the US.
Konrad
02-18-2010, 02:57 AM
What can I say... I'm poor. :p
CemeteryGates
02-18-2010, 08:43 AM
I wonder what's the shipping for Mexico? :D
I wonder what's the shipping for Mexico? :D
It would be roughly $50.00 USD to ship to a Mexico City postal code.
Landy
02-19-2010, 04:07 AM
Watching these sweet guitars, makes me wish that i actually knew how to play on one.
Watching these sweet guitars, makes me wish that i actually knew how to play on one.
They are tuned to open tuning, so you only need one finger to play them, and you can just press down on all three strings if you want. Very, very easy.
Landy
02-19-2010, 11:38 PM
What i meant to say was: I wish i knew how to play on a guitar.
Konrad
02-20-2010, 05:07 PM
It's never too late to start learning. ;] Though I don't know if a cigarbox guitar is a good starting place. They're easier to play as far as I can tell, but it might hurt you in the long run if you ever wish to switch to a six string.
But, ask Iggy - I've never touched one in my life.
I just built an electric 4 string for myself, and I think it turned out really nice.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/Wotsamattu/GodofFireDone003.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/Wotsamattu/GodofFireDone002.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/Wotsamattu/GodofFireDone001.jpg
Konrad
03-14-2010, 09:13 AM
I too have just finished my cigarbox guitar. Nowhere near as refined or sophisticated as Iggy's but a start. Though I really wanted to make it as simple as possible, so I didn't even bother rounding the back of the neck. It sounds great acoustically and plugged in, so I'm satisfied. Though due to a design overlook, the action is so high it's pretty impossible to play without a slide.
Here are some low quality pics I just took out of excitement:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs411.snc3/24860_405008559552_506224552_4858479_3437299_n.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs451.ash1/24860_405008564552_506224552_4858480_3142525_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs411.snc3/24860_404997214552_506224552_4858439_2606736_n.jpg
Awesome Man!!!
That right there is the essence of a CBG: Home made and fun to play, satisfaction from having built it yourself.
Action wise, the height of the strings at the nut should be about the width of a penny. You should just be able to slip a penny under the strings.
If the action is too high by the body, then you have to adjust the height of the bridge, maybe find a smaller diameter bolt.
Good work!!
Konrad
03-14-2010, 05:03 PM
Heh... Penny. I can with minimal effort stick my pinky finger in there. So I probably used a bolt that's way too thick. I have a thinner one as well, but I went with this one simply for the sake of the fact that I could wrap the eye around my cable jack. It looks beast, that much is true. :p
Making this was fun as hell, if not time consuming (I'd say about three, three hour sessions of casual work.), and I plan to make others as soon as I order some tunings pegs (I had to strip an old guitar for this). This time without the plethora little mistakes I made out of impatience or inexperience, and I'm sure it won't take as long.
Heh... Penny. I can with minimal effort stick my pinky finger in there. So I probably used a bolt that's way too thick. I have a thinner one as well, but I went with this one simply for the sake of the fact that I could wrap the eye around my cable jack. It looks beast, that much is true. :p
Making this was fun as hell, if not time consuming (I'd say about three, three hour sessions of casual work.), and I plan to make others as soon as I order some tunings pegs (I had to strip an old guitar for this). This time without the plethora little mistakes I made out of impatience or inexperience, and I'm sure it won't take as long.
The nut is the thing up by the tuning pegs. The bridge is the thing by your cable jack. First get the string height at the nut lowered to the penny spacing, then change the size of the bridge bolt as needed to alter the height of the strings by the body.
If you play it solely with the slide, then the height is not all that critical.
Konrad
03-15-2010, 01:12 AM
Oh, my bad. I misread. Unfortunately, if I lower the action by the nut any further, my tuning pegs are going to be so high up that the strings won't even touch the bolt. It's cutting it very close as it is. Lowering them with those fancy circular rings (don't remember what they're called) introduces a plethora other problems with getting it all screwed in.
In short, the action has to go down by the bridge most likely. Also will have to sand down a little "ramp" where the neck meets the box, as currently about 1/3 of the neck is useless when fretting because strings just lean against the box.
The neck absolutely must be at least flush with the body, or as much as 1/4 inch higher than the box, or the strings will touch. I made that mistake in one of my earlier builds.
To hold the strings down in the slot in the nut, just cut a little piece of wood or metal and drill 2 holes in it and screw it to the headstock and it will hold the strings down. All of my guitars have them.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/Wotsamattu/GodofFireDone002.jpg
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