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Cigar Box Guitars


Jehle

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Well, I've got several on the bench at the moment. Making them up as I go along. I know that most of y'all don't care for the cigar box guitars at all, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of making them.

First one is going to be a 4-string Dobro thingy... No clue of the string length yet. Probably 18" or there abouts.

P1030080.JPG

And this little fellow, measuring in with at a minute 14.5" string scale is going to be some sort of mandolin / ukulele thingy... I got vetoed on the box. The buyer didn't want any "men in tights" which the Romeo Y Julieta clearly does. Alas. I'll have to use a Corina Larks here instead.

P1030082.JPG

Enjoy. I have to finish these before Christmas.

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Wow! Some cool stuff you have there! The dobroish one is really interesting, I'd love to play something like that. Very unique, at least to me. I think these Cigar Box guitars are just as interesting as normal or other guitars, they're just smaller and perhaps a bit stranger looking.

Either way now I want to make one!

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The dobro guitars, from what I've heard other people play, have a really wicked nasal sound, just like you would expect. Electrified, they sound freaking awesome. I've got a link around here to Jim Frets playing on one of his. Hard to believe that all that sound comes from a cigar box.

Sound clips will be made of these before I ship them off. Don't worry. I had to rush to get the ACID out the door so I only have the photos of that one. It sounded killer and I should have recorded something, even something stupid like Smoke on the Water or something like that would have been okay just to give an example. Alas.

The little mando/uke is the one that's going to blow your mind. With the short scale, those little guitars have a chime all their own. Really, it's probably the best thing to make out of them because that's the note range where they are the loudest. There's some higher math that proves it somewhere (please spare me from Helmholtz frequencies) and I'm waiting for that book to arrive. :D

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Well, I've got several on the bench at the moment. Making them up as I go along. I know that most of y'all don't care for the cigar box guitars at all, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of making them.

Well I care, these are interesting to make and I think just as creative. I am very interested in box type guitars in general, not just cigar ones. They have a certain appeal that I don't have in my standard shapes that I own, i.e. Gibson LP Std, Burns Marquee, Martin D28 and a bunch of others. In spite of owning these lovely examples I love to create a unique instrument. I guess that is what drives many of us on this forum to build our own whatever it is we build.

See my Artbox brocoilli build for my current project using parts I already have. The dobro variant really appeals...sound clips pse when available.

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Busy, busy day today on the workbench. The little mandolin sized 4-string CBG is close to being finished. Here's a few shots to show you what's going on inside the box and with the neck...

Shot #1 is the neck (notched out to fit the box top and rest on the heel block).

P1030098.jpg

Shots #2 and #3 just show the neck held in place by hand so you can see what the final CBG will look like.

P1030102.jpg

P1030104.jpg

It's actually all together now, strings and tuners on, all that. I need to work on the nut and bridge a little more to get the action right, and I have to shave down the neck more (it feels a little to clubby at the moment).

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Thanks for the kind words on everything.

That headstock shape has been gradually taking shape over the years. It started with just the simple S curve on the end of a 1x2 for those first cigar box guitars. When I needed more room for the tuners I just had to push out the sides a bit, gave that a little curve, and presto... A headstock design that's my own. It's not too unique though. I've seen loads of similar designs since then. Coming up with a unique headstock shape is difficult. Well, to have it functional at the same time.

I will say that the po-boy's scarf joint is something that I have not seen anywhere else. More on that later because I know y'all will want to know about that.

Ah, the f-holes were copied off of an old violin (presumably dated to the 19th century) that I picked up for cheap over in England. I copied the shape using the old pencil trick, scaned that, enlarged it for the cigar box and went from there. My template has gotten a little worn out so they keep getting larger. :D

I just have to shave the neck down a bit and rub an oil finish on it. It sounds REALLY good now.

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I certainly care, I always check out your threads and am always amazed at your cigar box guitars. :D

You are completely innovative at what you do, and I love innovative people who break the rules, who go over the edge, who make a whole new catagory, who actually show real creativity and break out of the box of what everyone else is always trying to do.

I think the cigar box guitars are a catagory all unto themselves, and you basically are the grandaddy of the art at this point.

Innovation can be a lonely affair sometimes until everyone else finally catches on.

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I certainly care, I always check out your threads and am always amazed at your cigar box guitars. :D

You are completely innovative at what you do, and I love innovative people who break the rules, who go over the edge, who make a whole new catagory, who actually show real creativity and break out of the box of what everyone else is always trying to do.

I think the cigar box guitars are a catagory all unto themselves, and you basically are the grandaddy of the art at this point.

Innovation can be a lonely affair sometimes until everyone else finally catches on.

Thanks Drak. One of these days, a cigar box guitar will make GOTM. It doesn't have to be me, but that will be a proud day for me anyway.

Just wait until I get the one with the whammy bar working. :D

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So there I was... I had the little mando all finished and ready to do the final photos, record it, and then hand it over to the new owner that commissioned the work. My wife looked at it and said... "It's not done yet. It's too plain. It's not finished and I won't deliver THAT."

Ouch.

On the up side, it sounds effing brilliant. I just have to gussy up the headstock a bit and put more coats of clear on it to "finish it".

The bad news is that there is no way I'm going to finish the resonator by Xmas. Well, maybe I can if I sell my soul or something.

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You should build one with a Bigsby. GuitarFetish has some B5s that are going for pretty cheap.

It's more fun to cobble one together with a door hinge. Oh, it's going to be cool, that one! B)

Very cool work man. I don't know who couldn't care for little instruments like that! Do these get electric pickups like the last one? That could be a cool feedback machine.

No, this one is all acoustic. Those hand wound pickups would add to the price. :D Plus, that magnet wire I have dates back to the 1960's. I picked it out of a trash bin in the 1980's. Yes, I'm a packrat. :D

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Cool beans. Have you tried one of your electric cigar-boxes at high volume? It seems like you could do some crazy feedback.

I sure have. Here's one of my electric cigar boxes run through my 2x12 combo with loads of gain. Playing around with the pickups, gain, and where I stood in front of the amp led to this epic recording...

http://jehle.home.hiwaay.net/guitar-MP3/jehle-the-urge.mp3

Listen through the song as the gain and volume levels go up and up. This was a blast to record. :D

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Okay. The mando is touched up, painted, and all put together. It has a bright tone, and just a little mellow edge to it. It's a great ballance since it's tuned A to a, perhaps higher.

tmando1.jpg

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jehle/photos/tmando2.jpg

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jehle/photos/tmando3.jpg

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jehle/photos/tmando4.jpg

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jehle/photos/tmando5.jpg

And here's a short sound clip.

tMando sound clip

Enjoy!

Feel free to ask any questions, comment, critique, etc.

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Love it!!

But why only 4 strings for a mando?

Just more frugality, or does it work out better that way for a cigar box for some reason?

That's a really good question. I'm glad you asked.

It's more of a matter of string tension than anything. There are no trussrods or any form of support in the neck. Also the cigar boxes can be a little fragile since they have no bracing inside of them. It's a trade off really. The simplicity of the design is elegant for being so minimal.

Keep in mind that the cigar box guitars I've made like this, I've only pushed it to 4 strings. I know that Hitone made one with 5 strings (think Keith Richards 5-string tele), but I think he used a truss rod for that one. For the 6-string models that I make, I build them more traditionally with the truss rod and all the usual fixin's.

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Ah.. makes sense.

Ever think of making a bass, maybe out of a old wooden milk crate?

Ah, another good question. There are two schools of thought (at least two) on cigar box basses. Milk crates, fruit packing crates, any kind of packing crate for that matter is an option for this kind of project.

First is to use a wine box. I've seen a few wine box basses before and they look pretty cool. I actually have a wine box too that I was going to use. They are about the size of an acoustic guitar and about 1/2" thick on all sides. Seriously sturdy stuff. My wine box is a tool box in my shop at the moment so it's probably not going to turn into anything else soon. Which brings me to...

Another way to go is to use another type of cigar box which is really long. Boxes like these tend to be much older and were designed to hold hundreds of cigars rather than the typical 25 or 50 like these smaller boxes do. I have an old (1920-ish) Dixie Maid cigar box that I'm going to put a P-bass neck on. It's going to be a tight fit, but it will just work. If you think to yourself, "OMG! He's going to cut up a vintage cigar box from the 20's to make a bass?!?!" Yes, I feel the same way. I've had ONE vintage cigar box implode on me before. It's not a mistake you make twice. Not at $50 per box.

Since you've asked about it, when I start working on that project, I'll post some pictures here in the in progress section. I think y'all might like to see this come together. You are about the 5th person to ask me about cigar box basses. It's time to take up the challenge. :D

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