Electric Guitar Technology 101 Part 1

By: Kenny Auyoung
It is a curious paradox of the music industry: guitarists, particularly rock guitarists, are often thought of as trendsetters when it comes to fashion and culture; but when it comes to their instruments, they are notoriously conservative (I don’t group PrimRock folks who play cigar box guitars in with conservatives). Innovations such as active electronics, guitar synthesizers and Steinberger's intrepid steps into the field of headless instruments in the 80's have failed to make much of a dent in the market.

Gibson and Fender continue to dominate the electric guitar market much as they did in the 1950's and 60's. Even with the entry of new competitors into the market over the years such as Ibanez, Paul Reed Smith and Charvel/Jackson, the electric guitar has remained essentially unchanged with one to three magnetic pickups and a mess of wires connecting them to the controls. But things may be about to change!
In the last couple of years a few innovations have come along that have totally turned conventional wisdom - or at least conventional guitar electronics on its head. The first is the nylon string solid body electric guitar. I first saw one of these in the hands of metal ace Yngwie Malmsteen and was blown away by the sound.

For any artist who is trying to incorporate elements of classical guitar in his or her repertoire, this instrument provides the mellow classical tone of a nylon stringed guitar with the comfortable feel and action of a traditional solid body axe. This has been made possible through the tremendous advances made in recent years in the field of Piezo pickup technology. When learning how to make a cigar box guitar you will see Piezo mentioned a lot.

Without going into too much technical detail, the Piezo differs from a traditional magnetic pickup in that the Piezo element vibrates with the string, sending an electrical signal of that vibration to a preamp within the guitar for processing, rather than capturing an electromagnetic representation of that vibration which can then be sent directly to an amplifier, or to an onboard preamp if further shaping of the signal is desired.

The Piezo eliminates the need for steel strings, which would otherwise interact with the magnetic pickup, and also produces more satisfactory results for players with a lighter fingerstyle technique. Lest you think this is just another passing fancy, Parker has produced a nylon string version of their famous "Fly" model and another up-and-comer, Sadowski Guitars, is producing a Telecaster style model employing the same technology.

Author Bio

Kenny Auyoung is the webmaster at www.GetMeABand.com – Online musician search network with thousands of musician & band profiles. Find musicians, start a band, and play music.

We value your comments! Please post them below!!

First Annual Pennsylvanial Cigar Box Guitar Festival

Event Description:

Get yourself a cigar box, jam a stick into it and nail a wire for a string... This is the legendary instrument of blues and folk legends, and now it’s in resurgence.


The First Annual Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival will take place on Saturday, August 28th from 10am-5pm at the grounds of the York Emporium bookstore in downtown York, PA.


The event features five performing acts, including Purgatory Hill, a gothic blues duo featuring pAt mAcdonald, former lead singer of Timbuk 3.


Vendors will be selling handmade instruments, accessories and other musical items and a second stage will feature a revolving open-mic for other cigar box guitar performers. The concert takes place on the same weekend as the YorkFest art walk and is located just two blocks away from the art festival.


The PA Cigar Box Guitar Festival presents rock, folk and blues music in a MacGyver setting with artists who have built their own instruments from cigar boxes, sticks, hack-wired electronics and a deep do-it-yourself philosophy. “We’ve built our own guitars from things people have discarded,” says festival organizer, Shane Speal, “and we’ve found a deeper music in the process.” The music, sometimes called PrimRock (or primitive rock) is a mixture of folk, rock, blues and even jug band music. “There are no rules in building a cigar box guitar,” says Speal, “and there’s no rules to this music. We’re creating something fresh and exciting.”


The headliner of the event is Sturgeon Bay, WI duo, Purgatory Hill, an act that features pAt mAcdonald, former lead singer of Timbuk 3, the 80’s act that scored the hit, “The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades).” Purgatory Hill performs dark, swampy blues rock with a double-neck cigar box guitar. This is Purgatory Hill’s second visit to York after first performing at the First Capital Dispensing Co. on St. Patrick’s Day this year.


Other artists include:

• New Jersey singer/songwriter, Gerry Thompson (featured on several White Rose Community Access TV specials).

• Telford, PA musician, One String Willie, the master of the one-string diddley bow.

• New Jersey roots/blues band, April Mae and the June Bugs

• Chicago blues and folk singer, Stacy Puckett.

• Cincinnati punk blues duo, 7 Hills Stomp (featuring The Joker)


In addition to the Saturday concert, a pre-fest concert with Shane Speal and 7 Hills Stomp will be held at the First Capital Dispensing Co. in downtown York on Friday, August 27 at 10pm.


The PA Cigar Box Guitar Festival is the brainchild of York native (and self-proclaimed “King of the Cigar Box Guitar”), Shane Speal. Speal runs the top website for cigar box guitars, www.CigarBoxNation.com and is the central figure in the upcoming PBS documentary, Songs Inside the Box. The cigar box guitar is currently making resurgence with articles in Premier Guitar Magazine, Make Magazine, myriads of websites and the upcoming PBS documentary. Speal’s CigarBoxNation.com website currently has over 3,000 members worldwide.


If you want to know How to Make a Cigar Box Guitar this is the event!

We value your comments! Please post them below!!