How to Make a Cigar Box Instrument

I came across this great poster which details how to build a cigar box guitar (or any instrument).

Remember it is basically made from 3 materials:

1. A cigar box
2. A stick of wood
3. Strings

 For more information on or where to purchase this unique one-of-a-kind Americana instruments visit Cigar Box Ukulele's

Easy Method to Play Guitar and Sing at the Same Time Part 2

Many Cigar Box Guitar builders and players will find this article interesting. It fits well with How to Make a Cigar Box Guitar. This is Part 2

Once you have selected your song to give your attention to (and
it's best to only deal with ONE at a time!), spend as much time
as you need and practice until you can play the guitar part
back-to-front, up-and-down. Don't just think about your fretting
hand, either. Pay attention to your right hand: the rhythm
patterns and your strumming technique. Practice, then practice
some more without singing until you have learned how to play the
guitar part and built up a kind of "muscle memory," meaning you
can play the song without looking at every chord change or
slowing down.

Learn How to Sing Your Chosen Song

Next is to move on to learning how to sing it. Your first step
here is to commit the lyrics to memory. Do NOT try to play
guitar and sing at the same time just yet! Simply study the
lyrics and listen to how the singer hits certain notes, holds
other notes (and the length), and communicates the emotion of
the piece.

When you've got "the vibe" of the song and you have memorized
the lyrics, you may have to record yourself singing with the
music. Sure, the idea of that probably sends shivers down your
spine, however the fact is you might want to know how your voice
sounds and where you could do with some further focus and help
if you're ever planning to play guitar and sing at an event.


How to Put It All Together! Singing and Playing on Your Cigar Box Guitar!

Okay, now you are ready to sort out combining the two halves,
playing and singing. Be aware of the bizarre thing that may
happen: You'll start making mistakes within the chord changes,
you will forget the lyrics, you will trip on easy sections of
the song... All of the parts that you had completely under
control just before, they're going to now be tough again. Weird.
It's going to seem hard at first (and, it's not a simple thing
to do), as if your hands and your mouth just will not work
together!

Take a breath. This is just a small adjustment and by slowing
down and practicing in a very deliberate and careful way, you
will begin to get it fairly quickly. The risky thing here is
that you might get frustrated and bored. Do NOT quit at this
point and begin learning to play a different song. Stick to the
plan and pretty soon you'll find that you can play guitar and
sing at the same time!

Coming Soon to a Website Near You!

I am currently working out the bugs on a great How To Make A Cigar Box Guitar eBook!

It should be pretty cool, with a lot of close up detailed photos and plenty of step-by-step detailed easy to understand information!

How To Make A Cigar Box Guitar will cover everything from the amazing history of this unique instrument, where to find quality cigar boxes, tools needed to build your own and the best darn directions ever seen by man!

Big Sound Cigar Box Guitar youtube

I thought you would enjoy this rendition of the classic song John Henry produced and performed by Moreland and Arbuckle.

These 3 fellas put out a whole lot of sound with some microphones, a set of drums, a harmonica and a 4 string cigar box guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyTrbH16LZg

Enjoy the great vocals and root style music offered here. Pay particular attention to the great playing and sound of the cigar box guitar. After listening to a promo posted on http://www.cigarboxnation.com/ I found out this CBG has one bass string which is plugged into a bass amp along with three guitar strings plugged into a regular guitar amp. You can clearly hear the bass notes!

Update on Cuesta Rey Cigar Box Guitar Build

I had hoped to have pictures of my latest Cigar Box Guitar build the Cuesta Rey to post on this weeks blog, but alas two things happened that prevented that:

1) the fret nut did not turn out the way I wanted it at all, so I am retooling it
2) my wife was at a travel conference and had the “good” camera with her

Here's a picture of a bit of the Cuesta Rey art

Overall I am very pleased with the way the Cuesta Rey turned out. What first caught my eye was the amount of artwork on the box and the vivid colors. What I really like is how the colors came even more alive once I applied a protective top coat.

As I progress in my enjoyment of building CBG’s I find it is a journey of discovery. Discovering the history of the instrument, new sounds, new like minded people, new enjoyment in my own life and different techniques for building and finishing these fantastic instruments.

As an example, CBG’s started becoming popular around 1840 simply because that is when the small cigar box was first manufactured. Before that cigars were shipped in large crates. For a more detailed history visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_box_guitar

You will discover just how versatile this fine little instrument really is, from a gutsy blues to country to mellow ballad to rock. You can play it all on a Cigar Box Guitar. Shane Speal is bringing to light some of the old one string techniques and something he calls the “stubby slide”. Very cool stuff!

I have found so many like minded people across the globe that are building and playing CBG’s. A good place to meet Cigar Box Guitar folks is at http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

One thing I have always enjoyed is music, I love it! Another is working with wood. Building CBG’s gives me great enjoyment and a feeling of accomplishment. 1) I built an instrument and 2) it makes great sounding music

I don’t know about you but I find that when I’m interested in something my creative side comes alive and questions I may have about something seemed to get answered as I work.

Since I have been building CBG’s I have discovered I like to sand the plain wooden boxes down (being careful not to disturb the lettering), use varying coats of stain rubbed into the wood and natural oil or paste to finish it. While on the papered wooden cigar boxes with the beautiful artwork I prefer to use a spray poly as a top coat to protect that artwork.

One more discovery that ties it all together for me was with the need to retool the nut. After work I dropped by our local hardware store. Mind you it is not one of the big box stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot. Family owned since tools were invented. I’m telling the guy I need a large brass bolt for the nut.

He’s showing me what they have and not coming up with anything big enough. I asked what he would suggest. He yells over to the boss and the boss says sounds like you need a brass toilet bolt. Perfect and just the right size!

As I’m checking out I see the boss sorting through a box of old brass knobs and drawer pull handles. I mention how great those would look on my Cigar Box Guitars. One thing leads to another and he tells me how he used to collect old wooden cigar boxes from garage sales. They were closing so I said I would be back.

The CBG discovery trail has opened up a whole new source for friends at the local hardware store, antique brass parts and potentially a source for some antique cigar boxes!

Official Cigar Box Guitar Fest 2

A message to all members of Cigar Box Nation
The very first Cigar Box Guitar Fest happened five years ago in the Kentucky mountains. Since then, the Cigar Box Guitar Revolution has grown worldwide and fests are popping up everywhere.

Announcement: The Official Cigar Box Guitar Fest 2 is slated for Saturday, November 7th, in Walla Walla Washington, USA. As with the first CBG Fest, this is being organized by Kurt Schoen of http://www.schoenguitars.com/ Here’s the details I’ve received so far from Kurt:

CIGAR BOX GUITAR FESTIVAL II - Sat., Nov. 7 in Walla Walla, WA.
There is a warmup jam Friday night at Merchants Cafe, and then during the day Saturday, open mike performances at the Walla Walla Village Winery, Sapolil Cellars, and Morrison Lane Vineyards.

Yeah, there is a ton of incredible wine to be had in this town - one glass costs about as much as your guitar, but that’s okay. Evening performances at the wineries for a cover.

We’ll have t-shirts available here in about three weeks. Other than that, everybody can figure out how to get to Walla Walla and make travel arrangements. I will just be brokering performers amongst our winery venues this time, making the press release, and hanging posters.

Sign up for the open mikes will be at the warm-up Friday night, and at the venues
themselves on Saturday.

If you would like to be one of our evening performers, please e-mail me through this forum, or contact the Cigar Box Guitar Fest 2 friend link on Cigar Box Nation.

Help get the word out! November 7, 2009 - Walla Walla!

Kurt Schoen
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profile/CigarBoxGuitarFest2
http://www.blogger.com/www.schoenguitars.com

Visit Cigar Box Nation at: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

Johnny Depp and Cigar Box Guitar

Thought you might enjoy this picture I gleaned from the Cigar Box Nation http://www.cigarboxnation.com/ of Johnny Depp and his Cigar Box Guitar!

Raw Talent on Cigar Box Guitars

I’m looking for video links to other countries of folks playing Cigar Box Guitars. Please post them in the comments section below this article, thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKJtoy0KTwI German Cigar Box Guitar crew!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WFZqFLzK7s little guy shows no fear! Not a CBG player (yet) but worth seeing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wsMZGlMuR4 David Williams gives a musical history of how One String Willie goes to Europe and what he sees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnJ6IZKLX1s Smojo from England. A builder and CBG musician

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7xCrgi2b-Y&feature=related Hollowbelly on 3-String. Maybe my British friends recognize the surrounding scenes?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBHAaoVO_oA&feature=related small box with a big sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USwytBKQCHI&NR=1 not just for slide

I hope this gives you an idea of the versatility and growing popularity of the Cigar Box Guitars…. Get one, get playin’ and get hooked!

King of Cigar Box Guitars Shane Speal to Close at York, PA Fair

Shane Speal the self proclaimed King of Cigar Box Guitars has been asked to be the closing act for the York Fair in York, PA. Headliner for the show is Kelly Clarkson from American Idol fame.

This is clip from Shane’s newsletter: “I've just been scheduled as a closing act at the massive York Fair in downtown York, PA, Sept 20 from 6-9pm. Expect total primal mayhem blues!!!”

Here are a couple little samplers of Shane on a CBG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWZiXQe4EkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caOHwHfuxps&feature=related

For directions to the York Fair grounds visit http://www.yorkfair.org/find_us.htm

For more information on cigar box guitars be sure and visit Cigar Box Nation at
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

Enjoy,

Norm

New Toys aka Tools

A couple of things came into play with my recent tool purchases.

First off let me say I have been putting off buying these tools as I am very frugal anymore with the economy, my wife tells me I’m cheap! Whatever…

Here’s what justified the purchase in my mind:

First on my list is the upcoming Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar I’ve been yearning to build! It calls mostly for hand tools vs. power tools. There are some angles and cuts that are simply better made by hand. From the early days of my woodworking I’ve always enjoyed working with hand tools anyway. Yes, I’m moving myself toward the sale!

I have a small shop in my basement so space is limited. In deciding which power tools to purchase size was a determining motive. So the router table, lathe, table saw, sanders, jointer/planer and band saw all needed to be bench top models in order to maximize my space.

Secondly, and this is the deciding factor, the straw that broke the camels back. After rough shaping the neck of my Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino cigar box guitar on the router table I next moved to the band saw to slice the headstock with the grain lengthwise in order to prepare it for a scalloping effect I like.

All is going well and then it happens. The band saw blade wanders of off its mark! This happens sometimes because the blade on a bench top model is narrower than a larger floor model. Not wanting to ruin my work I stopped and made a choice right then and there to rethink my budget. I had the blade wander on a couple of other occassions and had finally had enough!

I went online to Hartville Tools http://www.hartvilletool.com/ and found the tools I wanted. Having a question I called in on their 800# got my answer and ended up placing my order over the phone.

I purchased the Crown 12” Bow saw which is a traditional English bow saw style. Before the invention of band saws and jig saws this was the saw used for cutting everything from curves to furniture joints. It works on both the push and pull stroke. The blade can be turned to cut at any angle simply by rotation of the handles. The blade is tensioned by tightening a cord. Old School!



This next purchase was a Silky Kenzo 270 Medium 12TPI (Teeth Per Inch) will be used, in my case, for the headstock work. It is a double edged Ryoba-type saw. It has both a rip-cut edge and a cross-cut edge. It has all the advantages of a Japanese saw: fine kerfs thanks to the pull-cut teeth; precise, controlled cutting; and durability from electrical induction impulse hardened teeth.





Last but not least a set of Pax Curved Cabinet Scrapers. They can smooth wood to an unbelievably fine finish. The shapes contained in this set can take care of a wide range of flat or contoured surfaces.

Needless to say these are quality tools, will last many years and are sure to turn out some fine instruments.

I am excited about getting my hands on them and putting them to good use!

New 3-String Cigar Box Guitar Started

New 3-String Cigar Box Guitar Started

I wanted to post a couple pictures of my new build. It’s going to be a fretless 3-string cigar box guitar. Fretless in that there will not be regular frets installed. In their place will be inlayed veneer to mark the fret positions which are laid out to a Fender scale.

This layout will be perfect for slide guitar work.

I chose a wooden Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino cigar box from the Dominican Republic for the body and a nice piece of red oak for the neck. I enjoy the artwork a lot with the lovely senorita having red blossoms in her hair and palm trees to the sides. The beautiful dark reds, golds, yellows and blues really appealed to me. The thought of putting sound holes in this great looking box disturbs me somewhat. Oh well, CBG building is all about repurposing, rebuilding and remaking one thing into another.

I used to cut all the frets with a coping saw but I really like the perfection of a fret slotting saw and miter box which I show in this picture.

UK Cigar Box Guitar Festival Announced!!!

This is great! Cigar Box Guitar Festival in the UK!!!

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX – THE 1st UK CIGAR BOX GUITAR FESTIVAL
[3, Oct. 2009]

Tickets are available for either the all day event, including the evening performance (£25.00), or for the evening performance only (£5.00). Ticket sales http://crossroadsbluesclub.bigcartel.com/

CONTACT: John Wormald – wormald.design@virgin.net
0121 429 9996
07957 255 846
Available for interviews, live performance broadcast sessions etc

PRESS & MEDIA RELEASE
Introducing the alternative music sensation that's the hot ticket!!!

In today's economic climate, there's pressure on everybody's finances, and for music-makers, some people have gone back to the old-timey approach of making their own entertainment, and making their own instruments from whatever is to hand…a box, a stick of wood and some strings…and you've got a cigar box guitar!

This has a venerable tradition from the plantations of the southern USA, and many famous musicians made their first instruments the very same way. Thanks to the internet, this tradition has been slingshotted into global awareness through sites like cigarboxnation.com, and now we have organized the very first get-together for these UK music pioneers.


The event is taking place in Birmingham's "Tower of Song" bar. It's a dedicated music venue after the fashion of the classic USA roadhouse…a small no-frills room, atmospheric lighting and great music of all genres, easily spotted from the roadside by the 25 foot high image of Robert Johnson adorning the façade of the building. Here you're likely to encounter people like blues and jazzman Steve Ajao and Birmingham rocker Steve Gibbons chatting to customers and the proprietor Tom Martin, a quiet spoken muso with a passion for genuine, original live music. The event is organised and hosted by Chickenbone John, who, together with bass player Ken Stratford, runs the weekly Crossroads Blues club at the venue.

The event comprises an all-day get-together with workshops for players to learn and swap techniques, and for cigar box guitar makers to `show and tell' about the way they make their instruments. Guitar makers will be bringing example of their work, for display and for sale. There will also be the opportunity for informal music sessions during the day. In the evening, the headline act is Hollowbelly, an amazing one man band performer on drums, cigar box guitar and harmonica…laying down some original tunes in a thrash punk blues style. Support will be from Chickenbone John, and the evening will also feature an open mic session for those cigar box guitar players who feel brave enough to perform in front of a paying audience, so an entertaining evening of energetic and original music is guaranteed.

http://www.towerofsong.co.uk/blues/
http://www.myspace.com/hollowbelly

Royal Jamaica “RJ” CBG

I really like the way my newest cigar box guitar creation turned out! It is a 6-string CBG made from a hardwood box used to pack Royal Jamaica Maduro cigars in. I hand sanded the box and applied several finish coats to it.

The neck is handcrafted from red oak with a padauk fret board. I hand shaped the neck with my wood rasp and plenty of sandpaper. It turned out really well if I do say so myself!

I used brass grommets and brass corners to dress it up a bit even though RJ really didn’t need anymore sprucing up.

RJ can be played acoustically or electrically and sounds really nice either way.

Spring Time in Ohio! Finally!

It is finally long last actually spring time in Ohio! What a long cold winter that was! I have the tomato plants in the ground and am holding off for another week or so to let the pepper plants get bigger or the slugs attack them and win.

I did plant some yellow wax bush beans and bush green beans last night. Next will be some spinach and a salad mix I ordered that is supposed to be heat tolerant.

On another note my son Greg’s friend, Jeri, is heading for the mountains of Tennessee for an all summer camping excursion. I have offered her one of my hand built Cigar Box Guitars to take with her to play those tunes around the campfire. I call this CBG ‘Ole Rocky Top’.

Let Go, Let God

For several years now I have have had the thought in my mind, "Let go and Let God". I came across this information and thought I would share it.

The sage who grasps the everlasting nature of the Tao has gone beyond false identification with the ego, and instead has a living connection to the Tao. This person puts others first, asks nothing in return, and wholeheartedly serves. In this way, the sage lives the ultimate paradox of the Tao – by giving without asking, the sage attracts everything that he or she is capable of handling or needing. By putting others before themself, the sage endures just like the Tao. The sage emulates the natural philanthropy of the Tao, and all of his or her needs are fulfilled in the process.

The more you pursue desires, the more they’ll elude you. Try letting life come to you and begin to notice the clues that what you crave is on its way. You’re in a constant state of receiving because of the ceaseless generosity of the eternal Tao. The air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, the sunshine that warms you, the nutrients that keep your body alive, and even the thoughts that fill your mind are all gifts from the eternal Tao. Stay appreciative of all that you receive, knowing that it flows from an all – providing Source. Stop the chase and become a witness – soothe your demanding habits by refusing to continue running after more. By letting go, you let God; and even more significantly, you become more like God and less like the ego; with its lifetime practice of edging God out.
Qouted from Dr. Wayne Dyer's Change Your Mind Change Your Life (excellent read!)

It lives!

After much trial and error I finally have my first Cigar Box Guitar up and running!! I plugged it into the amp last night startled the cats, made the dog bark and woke my wife up! So I guess electrically it's a success. I felt a bit like Dr. Frankenstein when he threw the switch and exclaimed to Egore, "He's alive, he's alive!"

Pics and Utube to follow!

Think it, Believe it, Have it!

A lot of times I think in the future perfect tense. You believe you can do something and then you create that positive energy that enables it to be real.

I like this qoute by Troppe

Save the Trees, Save the Planet, Make a Choice!

Check out this amazing site I just came across in Mother Earth News! It's called Catalog Choice. It is listed in the "Links I Like" section on the right hand side of my blog page.

In a word, it is good for the forest, good for the planet, good for every living thing and good for helping you control the incoming junk mail clutter constantly invading your home!

It's very simple to use. Go to the site; get a user name/password. Don't worry they won't spam you or sell your name and email address to advertisers!

Go to the Choose Catalog page. I found it easiest to click the browse button and start from "A" and go through the names. Once you find a magazine that “invades" your home just click on it and select a choice as to why you don't want it mailed to you anymore and they will be sent a message to remove you from their mailing list!

I'm inspired and refreshed by this very cool site and I hope you are too! Pass it on to everyone you know! This is a really simple tool that has a big impact on the environment and our lives!

Cigar Box Guitar Building

I finally got the last couple of tools I needed to start building two Cigar Box Guitars! I'm pretty excited, I glued up some red oak for the two necks and am letting the glue set.

Check this utube video out of Grammy award winner Marcy Marxer playing her CBG. Her CBG is a nice work of art as well; enjoy her playing ability and the close-ups of her CBG by going to the right side of my blog page to "Links I Like" and clicking on CBG Boogie

Nice qoute: My life is part of every other life
I have no need to control anyone or anything: I can affect change by transforming the only thing that I ever had control of in the first place, which is myself.