-by Shane Speal
"Ain’t nobody never told me nothin’ in my life, never showed me anything. And the first guitar I ever had in my life I made it myself... Out of a mandolin neck and a cigar box. That’s the truth, that’s the truth. Put six strings on it
Read more…Glenn Watt has taken the classic Grateful Dead song, "Friend of the Devil" and transcribed it into three-string TAB format. He has put the whole thing into one PDF document for you to download, print out and learn for your next open mic!
Learn a n
Read more…Cigar Box Nation member, Gary Sheldon started an amazing discussion on cigar box guitar building hacks. We just had to share a few nuggets with you:
Glenn Kaiser was one of the first musicians to meld hard rock with Christian theology in the 1970s, fronting the Chicago based Resurrection Band (later known as Rez Band).
Lately, he can be found here at Cigar Box Nation, trading building secrets an
Read more…Steve's back with his beat-up 4 string cigar box guitar. Check out this excellent solo version of his song "Bring it On."
Hey everybody! I don't know where to put this, but I did want to share with the community how building CBGs has helped me in other ways. Now my story isn't as dramatic as someone like Glenn Watt, but maybe somebody can relate to it in any case.
I wa
Read more…Steven Bruce sent these pictures and descriptions of an improved 2x4 lap steel design, based on the free plans posted in Cigar Box Nation.
PHONO JACK:
The phono jack is attached to a 3/8 inch Fender washer. I recessed the washer a little with a
Youtube star, Rob Scallon is known for his shred and djent metal guitar videos. However, his most bombastic vid features an electric one-string guitar made from a shovel. (BTW, we also found the video on how this guitar was built. It's also posted
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Mathias Duplessy is a French composer of film soundtracks along with music for theater and dance. He has also created one of the wildest combos we've seen, "The Violins of the World." This "speed Mongolian fusion" band features
Mathias Duplessy
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It's always great to see Luther pickup a cigar box guitar and crank out Mississippi Boll Weevil. He started out playing Lowebows made by Cigar Box Nation member, John Lowe:
Since then, he's amassed a large stable of cigar box guitars made by oth
Read more…Aaron Lewis and Shane Speal perform Billie Jean using acoustic guitar and cigar box guitar. The cover tune is featured on the album Holler! by Shane Speal's Snake Oil Band.
Ever show up to a gig and realize you don't have enough mic stands between the band and the sound guy? Here's a sturdy...and simple way to hold an amp mic using just a wire coathanger. Quite honestly, this could replace bulky mic stands completely,
Read more…The video was made from archive footage filmed by the Ford Motor Company around 1917, for a film titled "The Making of a Ukulele". Around that time, Ford made many educational films showing scenes from the U.S. and abroad, and this was one example.
Check out this cool DIY upright bass from Brian (YouTube name, bmiranda2645). It features a 1x3 plank from a hardware store. Other parts include:
Swedish inventor and musician, Martin Molin has created the mind-bending Wintergatan Marble Machine, a complex Rube Goldberg machine that synchronizes 2000 falling marbles to play various instruments. The instrument contains a full xylophone, vario
Read more…Here's a fun little vid posted by Mr. Dream On himself! Steven Tyler is sitting on his bed, playing his cigar box guitar that was built by Cigar Box Nation member, Matty Baratto.
Tyler just gets a riff going (we love that distorted tone) and even m
Read more…Soldering the back of a pesky volume pot!
Have you ever had to wire up a guitar and struggled to solder those black wires onto the back of the volume pot? Nation member, Jon Lesley posed the same question here and got some great responses. Here's a
