Hello everyone,
I am new to the forum. I'm a french canadian from Sherbrooke, Québec and my english is not very good but I will try to write in english the best I can. I joined this forum to learn more about the making of cigar box guitars. I will start building my first one in a few days and I need more information. I looked youtube videos about the making and plans online so I know the basics about how the CBG are made. I am an apprentice wood worker, almost two years in cabinet making but I don't have any wood working tools at home yet... Only hammer, axe, screwdrivers, drill, etc...
I love playing guitar and I want to try a cigar box guit, never played on that before, it sounds great and I travel alot so it will be easy to take on the road.
Can you guys please tell me what kind of basic tools will I need and what type of wood for the neck? How many strings is better to start with between 3 and 4 or so and if it's possible to make kind of a ''resonator cigar box guitar''?
I have a small budget and like I said no woodworking tools.
Thank you very much guys!
Mart
Replies
Welcome Mart,if you scroll down the page,at the bottom on the right,you'll find the 'knowledge base' tips,might help you
Welcome Mart. Excellent advice from anonymous pick. He makes wonderful guitars (plus he's Canadian). I love maple, cherry and walnut for necks and 3 strings are my favorite guitars. An instrument can be made with not much more than a hand saw and a drill. If you can get a cigar box and a piece of 3/4" hardwood about 24" long and 1 1/2" wide you don't need to do much cutting at all. Just drill 3 holes for tuners (about $1 each) and figure out a way to attach strings at the box end and you can play away with a slide. No frets needed! Lots of good advice on this site and lots of other places too. Good luck!
Thank you Jim Morris.
I like to know if the PDF on this website about HOW TO BUILD A BASIC CBG is good to start with and do the excat same thing, except cutting a hole in the boxe to put a dog bowl for a resonator
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/page/free-plans
If this is what you're talking about then yes, a good starting place. Nice thing is there are lots of ways to do this and any changes you make to satisfy your own skill level are all fine. Some people start with very simple one string canjos and work up to more complicated builds. Other people start off at a pretty high level and it works either way. The hard part is to stop making them!
welcome mart , i offer my opinion as to 3 stringers with a poplar or harder wood neck , # 3 , 4 , and 5 strings from a pack of 10's or meds . . being a good choice to start . and indeed reso cigar boxes are possible and many make them here . people use anything from dog bowls to licence plates and beyond to make them . you can search the site by any keyword (such as reso ) et..c in the very top right of any page to see some great examples . this can all be achieved with basic hand tools , and maybe a drill and scroll. jig/ bandsaw .
good luck . welcome to the addiction .
Thank you anonymous pick for the reply and tips. I think using oak or poplar for the neck. I am not sure yet if I will fret the guitar or using it fretless. If I am putting fret on it, do I need a fretboard or I can put the fret right on the neck? And I want to know if there is a good plan for building a cbg on this website... a plan for a beginner builder and not to complicated but that can do a good cbg.
you can fret just on the neck itself , but you would need to recess the body area enough that the fretted area is atlest flush or higher than the body top . many times it is easier to add a fretboard to achieve this .
as for an easy build .. cant get much easier than this one . http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/easy-to-build-cigar-box-...
not a reso , but easy peasy .