Cigar Box Guitars

I was thinking of making these a really cool gift to someone. I wasent thinking anything like selling them and all. Im not sure if I really want to get into that. I was more flatterd of the offer than anything else. Allthough now I may concider selling a few to help pay for my real guitars and equipment. Im like you... I think majority of folks will want them as folk art in the house. I know I will have a few hanging in my jam room...

They're fun to make, they're inexpensive to make, you can be inventive with your styling and if it can make you a few bucks to buy some new guitar gear. That's a major plus. I wouldn't quit my day job tho.... :D

LOL... no doubt about the not quitting the day job thing. Hey the stuff I use is called "The Origional Super Glue Gel Epoxy" part number on the top left front of it is 15213. Its in the normal Expoxy dubble tube set up with a cream color tubes and green push plungers. I got it at Low's in the section with the sand paper and dry wall finish stuff.

Much thanks for the glue info. I got my tuners today so I can measure out the string placement and tuner and bridge holes now. I got 6 strat style tuners so I have enough to make a second one. :D I don't even know how to play a slide lol. I have a glass slide but the action on my other guitars is so low I can't use it. Oh well got to learn some time.....

Hey guys was wondering what type of wood you are using for your neck? I was thinking about warping. With no truss rod and the tension added by the strings I was thinking it would really be a bummer if the neck started to twist or bow. I just did not want to spend all the time on my neck and then have to replace it. I would think maple would be the best bet but figured I better at least ask.
Thanks

Well one site I looked at was using poplar. I'm using Oak on this one but will be using Maple on my next one.

Yea im using red oak. It was the herdest wood I could get my hands on at the time. Think it will be solid enough to hold up. :)

I was thinking more about the issue of warping when dealing with the neck. I guess that as long as the wood has been cured it should be okay. I just wanted to be sure since it looks like the neck is going to be the bulk of the work. I did not want to see all my hard labor have to be thrown in the trashcan if the neck warped. Looked at the pictures again. You guys are going to have some great looking guitars! I have not had a chance yet to start getting my materials together.....Work is draggin me down right now.

Im fealling priety safe with the oak. I seen where folks are making theirs out of softer wood and havent heard any kind of warping problem..... but..... im still new to this as well so I know there is still alot out there I havent seen (or even thought of).

I feel the same on the Oak. Should be strong enough.

I did some work on it today. I did the fret and inlays with a dark wood filler. I figured I would try something different. Looks ok but it's a little hard to see do to the dark grain in the wood. I also drilled everything without using a drill press or using a center punch. Worked ok except for the 12th fret the 2 dots are not lined up nice. Lesson learned. Don't rush. Anyway the neck is stained frets done and the tuner holes are drilled and the washers to reinforce where the strings go though are all done. New problem my tuners are a little tall so I will need to make some type of string trees so they put better tension on the nut. I did put one string on and played it for a second...It's pretty cool. I want to finish it bad now. I still have to cut my nut to size and slot it for the strings. My bridge design will need to be changed. The piece I was fabricating for this is made of chrome molly steel and I cant drill through it... :D Shouldn't be a big deal. Once I have the nut cut and the new bridge done I should be ready for final assembly. Oh ya I have another problem. The 1/4" jack I thought I would just drill a hole and bolt it into the side of the box...Well it's to short so I can.t catch the nut on the outside of the box. I'll have to go to Radio shack and see if these come in different thread lengths or if I need to get inventive.

I'll take pictures when I get a chance..

OHHH crap.... didnt think about the problem with the jack. Fixing to check mine... Looks like you are ahead of me so far. My tuning pegs hasent come in and im not wanting to do any more to the neck till it comes in. I thought of the same thing about the tuning pegs being to high and im going to use some sort of string tree like you mentioned. I seen something at lowes I may be able to use, Instead of like normal guitars where the hold 1 or 2 stings ... I was thinking of something going across the neck for all 3 strings. I kinda thought of this before hand so I left a little ruum above the nut to come up with something. (all that day dreaming about guitars I do before bed finaly payed off....lol) I didnt use a drill press for mine but did use a center punch . I do alot of metal work and I know not to even attempt a delicate cut without knocking a little piolet hole first (learned that the hard way more than once....lol) Well congrats Nick on the progress man.... looking forward to seeing some pics.

Who knows before to long instead of sending pics we are going to be sending sound clips of these little dudes...lol

I got mine working. I still need to make the string trees so for my test I used my capo as a string tree. Hey it worked. Oh I have to tung oil it too. Not proud of some of my craftsmanship. I rushed a bit for no damn reason other than I wanted to see if it worked. The pickup works very well maybe even to well. You get every move and rub against the guitar through the pickup. Also the higher frets are kind of dead sounding when played with fingers. Not sure if this is typical of a fretless guitar or a design flaw. Anyway you can here the first test in the listening post section or click the link below.

Cigar Box Guitar Test

Nick ... congratzzz on getting your little project singing. That was cool as hell. So you say the pickup was a little to sensitive? Sounded really good man! ;)

Where you at with the project Mav? I haven't had a good time to get back to mine. I bought some stainless to make my string trees but haven't been able to try my idea. :mad:

Originally Posted by: MAVERIC777Nick ... congratzzz on getting your little project singing. That was cool as hell. So you say the pickup was a little to sensitive? Sounded really good man! ;)

you HAD to have a phaser effect on or something along those lines... that effect worked very nicely.

Its "ALIVE"... I finally got her to singing today. Here is a little clip of what I did tonight after about an hour doodeling with it. Its not done ... still got to finish the neck and port the holes in the box but I had to see if it worked before I finished. Damn im excited :)

http://www.esnips.com/doc/91cb7d62-54da-4f74-acbb-71f7ad58c9db/first-CBG

Excellent! I noticed the post this morning and just got to listen. Sounds good man. Post some pics when your done. I have to tung oil mine and then take some pics. What string gauges and tuning did you go with? Sounded like "A" to me but I'm not sure.

Ok all done "officaly" today. I think it turned out priety decent... I had it tuned to A but that kept poping the lowest string. Grrrr ... after 3 strings I have it set to G now (I think). Here are a few pics ... camera sucks so bear with me .. I'll try to get some better tomorow.

Man that looks great. I see you have a future rock star there. The fret markers really show up good on that. What did you use around the sound holes? That's a nice touch. Really gives it clean look. I still haven't put a finish on mine. Did you seal the neck with anything (lacquer, Poly, Tung Oil)?

On the neck I sanded the living crap out of it starting with 80 grit. Then went to 120 then 220 grit san paper. Then I put about 7 coats of Semi gloss polyurathane (I cant spell... :) ). Then hit it with 000 steel whool (the finest grit I could find). The neck is like glass now. Smoth as a babys bottom. The gold rings are from a fabric shop my wife found for me. They are the same type used in tarps and purses and such. I would of loved to find a little bigger but I put 2 in to compinsate for the smaller size. Also on the back of the neck where the strings are attached I used small rivets with the nail insert removed. I seen alot of folks making them with the strings run through just wood. You can see where the strings are cutting into the wood and I didnt want that. I was looking for gold rivets but no luck :mad: . I orderd 10 boxes today from a web site so looks like im going to be busey here in the future. You would not belive how many folks want one. (seems more for decoration than anything else) Glad you liked it man. Im really excited about it and play mine every day now. Actually got a few songs going. Its like a whole new world. Ohhh yea ... word of advice.... On the first recording I made I had it tuned A E A .... not a good idea. I mean it sounded good but I went through 4 .026 strings before I relized its not a good idea. I got it tuned in G now and works fine.