I have been collecting stuff to build my first Cigar Box 3 string... however...
I was in "the big city" yesterday and on the way home, I was going to pop into Guitar Center and pick up some strings (for my 6-stringers), but ran out of time...
...so I rolled the dice and dove into Fry's Electronics.. picked up 2 packs of Gibson's 11's (which I would normally never buy, I'm and GHS Boomers guy)... but next to the strings was...
Yup the Blues Box Guitar Kit..
I'm still going to build one... I guess you have to start somewhere...
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The mistake you made is thinking, " I can just buy this one and be done woth it. It's harmless."
It's not posible. The instant you start to play it, you are hooked. You start to get these sounds out of it that you've never heard before. You want to make more.
This slide isn't good enough, I've got to get a better one. What if I use bigger strings? Can I amplify it?
Your head starts spinning and you just want more. You put it down and it calls to you. "Play Me! Play Me!"
You're wife starts to complain that you spend more time with that "thing" than you do with her. You start collecting "junk" that you can use to build a cbg with. They start to stack up. There's a stack of boxes in the spare bedroom. The garage is covered in sawdust from the six guitar necks you built. There's one in the vise that you're shaping and one on the bench that you're fretting.
You start searching Ebay for that special guitar. That one of a kind. "I can just buy this one and that will be it. I don't need anymore." You're bidding on four at the same time. You win three. Now you're feeling the rush. You buy a custom Swamp Witch guitar. A set of CBGitty assorted slides. A custom cigar box amp.........
You wake up in a cold sweat. Your mind is racing as you try and remember what happened last night. Then it all comes back to you. You bought all those guitars, the slides, and an amp!...............................
You lay back and smile. It was just this once. I can quit anytime I want...............................................
I've sinned too, then - to wit:
Cheers!
Rob
As long as your huddling in the gas station restroom with the real thing it's all good. Those room have a great echo! : )
Ha!
Thanks for helping my budding addiction!
That's no sin, you bought it so you could have something to play with right away, now you don't have to worry about rushing your build. Play it, see what you like about it and what you don't like about it figure out what you can do to make a better one.
Now you can take your time and build something special.
If you are like many of us, you are already bitten by the bug and you'll build a dozen more just to try different things to see how that changes the sound or playabilty then you'll build another dozen or so you can have your 3 string, a 4 string, a fretless, an all electric, a resonator... so on and so forth.
That's a gate way drug my friend. Once you go there there's no turning back. You know what happens. It's down hill slide. Buying it isn't bad. You can always walk away from it. But that's not what happened is it. No you put it together. But you didn't stop there. You had to play it didn't you. This is a gateway. You know that. Your smarter that that. But still you played it didn't you. And don't try to tell me you only played it once. Ya, you bought the cheap stuff. but your not satisfied. You need more don't you. I know what your thinking. Your wondering what the real stuff is like. I can see it in your eyes. Your going to by a real one. Because the cheap stuff is no longer good enough for you. It's a slippery slope my friend. This will take over. Because you fell for it. Now you'll be playing the real one. And you'll need more.........
: )
Honestly think those things are the best thing that could have happened to the CBG movement. They're awful and flimsy. BUT they're more accessible than the real thing. Provability would suggest that 10 to 20% of those who buy them will seek out the real thing.
Oh yeah, it is nothing to write home about...
...and you are right... I didn't just play it once.. I actually went and got my big-ass brass slide, and that made it sing a lot better than the Pyrex...
I feel so dirty... like I was walking down the street and some dude flipped open his filthy trench coat... "Pssst... Hey buddy.... yeah you.... you wants a CBG... I'm your man for dat fix..."
Next thing is you'll find me huddled in the corner of a gas station restroom.......
They have em at GC, too. You have committed a venial, not a mortal, sin. Your penance shall be...a shrubbery!
Wait, wrong movie.
Send it to me when you're done. We have a pass-around git hereabouts that travels the world; we could do the same with this one. I'll send it on to someone else after a month or so. Really. No joke.
Actually not a bad idea...
We should pass it around and everyone that gets it has to record a tune with it...
I just got it put together, I haven't plugged it in yet, but acoustically... it is ...different.... (Lacking?) with the included PlexiGlass slide, it has no...ooommmph... I'll have to try it with my Brass slide I use on my Resonator...