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Post by BigBadDom on Feb 7, 2008 17:44:35 GMT
Hi, Anyone else been bitten by this bug? Cigar Box Guitars (CBG) are a return to simple things. Back in the day when getting hold of (ie affording) a 'proper' guitar wasn't so easy, folks built them out of what they had lying around. Empty cigar boxes were commonplace and so with some scrap wood or a broom handle for a neck, they built their own guitars. Each one was unique and some argue it's the authentic sound of early blues. There are numerous stories of how some of the 'greats' (Lightin Hopkins, Muddy Waters) started out playing a CBG. This is my first effort using some scrap pine from the shed, nails and other odd bits of hardware I had lying around. The bridge is an allen key and the top nut is a bolt! The only 'proper' parts are the tuners and strings: It's tuned to GDGB (the middle 4 strings of open G). I've uploaded a short demo on my MySpace page at: www.myspace.com/domfreestoneAre there any other diy er's out there? I've got 3 more cigar boxes on the way. One will be a 3-string and one will be a paint-lid resonator and the other... well, I don't know yet! Having only 3 or 4 strings takes your playing in a different direction and it's a great way to own a unique instrument built to your own specs and taste. Cheers, Dom
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Post by pascal on Feb 8, 2008 11:52:04 GMT
Very good! It's ... resonant !!! You are a fine player too.
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Post by maxxengland on Feb 8, 2008 12:45:44 GMT
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Post by petermontague on Feb 8, 2008 13:42:27 GMT
Dom, I would not have believed that sound could have come out of that guitar. Really,really good! Good playing too. well done. Peter
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Post by Michael Messer on Feb 8, 2008 14:05:48 GMT
Hi Dom,
Your sound clip of the cigar box guitar sounds fantastic. I am amazed at the tone you are getting from it.
Shine On Michael
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Post by BigBadDom on Feb 8, 2008 17:50:26 GMT
Thanks for your encouraging comments. I thought it would sound awful as the top is not even solid wood. It looks like thick cardboard! It's quiet but it's got tone. The recording is with a condenser mike with only some ping-pong delay and reverb added. I'm dead chuffed with it.
I've just finished another CBG from a tea box (so I guess it's a TBG?) with a solid wood top, which in theory, ought to sound better but it hasn't got half the tone of this first one.
I'm off on holiday tomorrow and have just looked at the map where we're going - it's in Yorkshire half way between Rosedale (Abbey) and Red House (Farm)! How cool is that - and yes... I'm takin' my rider by my side... and the house is over yonder!
Cheers, Dom
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2008 6:51:03 GMT
Hi Guys, I've made loads of Cigar Box Guitars (nearly 100 of 'em!), 3 string, 4 string, 6 string, fretted, fretless, piezo pickup, single coil, humbuckers....pretty much all sorts of combinations. They are great fun to make and play, but the only trouble is, I can't get enough cigar boxes to satisfy the demand.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2008 1:26:31 GMT
Hi Big Bad Dom, Chickenbone and the rest out there. I got the CBG disease when I was first researching resonators. I know you're going to choke on whatever beverage you're consuming but in a strange way, to me, CBG's are in the same category as resonators. From a purist luthiers point of view, they're both rough versions of what they think a proper instrument should be! For many luthiers it's all about the tonewood etc (good old ply and lumps of metal just won't do) and as my old headmaster told me when refusing to let me study music - "Bass guitar! That's not a proper instrument. You will have to learn to play an orchestral instrument before you can study music for "O" level." Strange that, I thought that music was about expression and only twelve notes! So back to my point. CBG's and resonators by their very nature absolutely demand expression from the player but at the same time without imposing many rules and strictures. Whatever you fancy is good so long as you mean it. You can take the man out of Africa, enslave him, take away his freedom, rights and possessions but you can't take away his need to tell the world what's happened to him. Long live the CBG! My 9 year old son had to make a simple instrument for his school holiday project so he made a one string "Diddley Box" in about 2 hours (a length of 1"x1" hardwood with a small cigar box on the end and an older machine head) and it sings! Mind you, I think the other kids with the fairy liquid bottles with rice were a little pissed off! If I can figure how to add pictures, I'll post a couple for you. Bird5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2008 1:38:40 GMT
Chickenbone
I was in contact with you about 18 months ago and had lost you contact details.
I have a supplier of boxes in Birmingham (no more than 50p each) so get in touch if you want details.
Bird5
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Post by maxxengland on Feb 25, 2008 10:41:17 GMT
Chickenbone! I used to work for a company that exported loadsa stuff, is there any point in suggesting you hunt around export packers and pick up their waste and offcuts of ply and timber?
See you in Cotteridge on Thurs, will bring terrible cheap acoustic guitar and demonstrate my inablility to sing.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2008 13:08:17 GMT
I've got a wokshop full off offcuts and stuff..and skip-hunt regularly for hardwood...but it's those cigar boxes I can't get enough of....and I go to the tobacconists pretty well very week.
Looking forward to seeing you Thursday at Crossroads Blues Club...cheap guitar and all....that's my sort of style.
Mr Chickenbone
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Post by chriskendall on Feb 25, 2008 20:52:35 GMT
Pardon my extreme ignorance, but is there a reason - neck loading perhaps - why they are always 4 strings or less. I dont think i have ever heard of a 6 string CBG
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2008 21:23:17 GMT
Hi Chris
I'm no expert so forgive me if I'm completely wrong about this - most of my understanding has come about through my own discovery building and use of these beauties. When you consider that I'm not a luthier, carpenter or joiner and I can't play very well but I think I truly understand music and how expression is more imprtant than anything else (happy to argue that point with you!).
I've seen quite a few 6 string versions around but I think the reason why they are in short supply is fourfold:
1. 6 strings mean significant tension and would require some sort of truss rod (adjustable or Martin type bar) which adds significantly to the cost and difficulty of build.
2. 6 machine heads will require either a widened headstock or one very long which is complex to make, makes the instrument seriously unbalanced and out of keeping with the small body (box).
3. The ethos of the CBG was that people with very little in the way of possessions and money could make a perfectly functional instrument out of scrap so out of necessity they were very simple.
4. 3 and 4 strings are very simple to play so any old Tom, Dick or Harry could express him/herself quite simply.
A lot of serious instrument makers began with making CBG's because the principles are pretty much the same as for full size (proper) guitars but most 6 stringers are simply built using old factory made bolt on necks which in a way keeps the tradition alive but I can't take to them. Quirky eccentricity for me any day!! Ha Ha.
My favorite is the three (four) string where the 3rd string is missing. I tune it to the middle 4 of open G without the fourth string (D) - that's the 3rd on the CBG. Did that make sense? Ok, like this:
B G space G
Just like Seasick Steve's "3 String Trance Wonder"
It's all good!
Bird5
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Post by Michael Messer on Feb 26, 2008 10:34:34 GMT
Kurt Schoen is building 6 string cigar box guitars. When I first saw the letters CBG I thought it was a three string tuning!!!! So I guess a 6 string version would be called a CBGCBG ;D
Check out Kurt Schoen TURBO DIDDLEY guitars
Shine On Michael
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Post by maxxengland on Feb 26, 2008 12:34:51 GMT
I've got a wokshop full off offcuts and stuff..and skip-hunt regularly for hardwood...but it's those cigar boxes I can't get enough of....and I go to the tobacconists pretty well very week. Looking forward to seeing you Thursday at Crossroads Blues Club...cheap guitar and all....that's my sort of style. Mr Chickenbone Next question - does it have specifically to be a cigar box? And what else can be used? Are steel strings "standard" or can you do it with nylon? And I congratulate you on your new business, the "wokshop".
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