The true commitment of a CBG maker is apparent. Take one bottle of boxed wine, drink the wine, keep the bottle and the box. Then take a second bottle, drink the contents and keep the bottle. Use the box to make a guitar and cut the necks off the bottles for soundholes. Anyone care to put a name on the result? Cabernet Box Guitar? Shirazocaster?

The background is my first CBG with piezo pickup. That's it in my avatar. I have two piezos mounted in the box with a switch so I can select between the two. I read about mounting the discs but couldn't really figure out what people were telling works best. So I mounted both of them on the neck (I had clearance between the neck and the top of the box. One was ceramic side up and the other was ceramic side down. They definitely sounded different but not good enough. Mounting…

Hi guys

Last year I moved here in England from Italy. I had been playing r'n'r for years there. Now it's like a couple of years I don't touch a guitar and I feel it's time to start again

Does anybody know where I can try some CBGs in London?

Many thanks

"The Broomstick"

27" scale, baritone cigar box guitar.  Built and played by Cigar Box Nation founder, Shane Speal.  We're featuring this one in celebration of …

http://sincerelyirismusic.tumblr.com/post/89963105380/you-may-remember-this-song-from-my-old-album

It’s hard to believe we’re almost into July! We’ve enjoying a great season so far and it’s been an adventure meeting all kinds of new people. There are many of you thinking of gifts for the holidays and birthdays. Each item is one of a kind so I would like you to consider if you see something you like this week, it may not be available next week. Yes the stuffed animals can be re-made, but many of the other items, like the cigar box guitars, ukeleles and amplifiers are truly one of a kind.…

My first Cigar Box Guitar build will begin this week, but this past weekend, I started working out some issues with this wacky "Electric Racket" guitar.

This is not really a "serious" design (obviously) but I do plan on having some fun in experimenting with different pickups, including the cheap single coil (pictured) and a couple of older humbuckers that I…

Here's my first blog about the upcoming "License Plate Sessions" http://sincerelyirismusic.tumblr.com/post/89656616780/the-stories-behind-the-sessions

fellow CBG players. Darren Brown of Nova Scotia is currently waiting a complete liver transplant and I was hoping to get some fellow DB CUSTOMS owners to show some support for this amazing builder and plan to put together a compilation of songs to help raise a little bit of money to relieve some of Darren's expenses.

The idea is an album full of songs played on DB CUSTOMS Cigar Box guitars by different owners from all over. If you own a DB customs build and…

Lots of people seem to like the bridges I make for my builds, and I've often said they're quite simple to make. It's not really my design - it's similar to a banjo…

Well my first build went well, a pair of Diddly Bo's. (pictures to come soon).

I got the tuner's for free from a lutier who didn't mind thinning out his junk drawer for a good cause, and I got the cigar boxes for free from the owner of the tobacco store I patronize frequently.

They are face mount necks (similar to Uncle Crow's design) which makes it easy to open the box while still strung and staying in tune (I keep my slides inside when not playing).

The first time I…

I am getting increasing demand for  my workshops making simple cigar box diddley bows. in UK at least the cigar boxes are getting harder to find and more expensive.  I have had some success using cardboard boxes intended for computer keyboards. Anybody got other suggestions?

I have changed the name on my page (formally Rob Ritchie) to our new "company name", Skinny Gumbo.  My buddy John and I have gotten a lot of local requests to make some builds for friends, family and friends of friends.  So if you see or hear of a Skinny Gumbo build, you probably saw it here first.  We don't claim to be the greatest.  We just enjoy hanging out together and building.  So any comments or constructive criticisms on our posts are welcome.  We are always looking on ways to…

Headstock design ideas: http://www.warmoth.com/pages/guitarnecks.aspx…

Building the Lady is a step by step guide to the creation of my most popular and basic guitars, the "Parlour Lady".

Many feature guides on various different processes in isolation but here the whole build is featured from a collection of parts to the finished article ready for the road! The process continues over a…

Are you interested in giving bright brass that aged look? How about MULTIPLE ways to do it?

http://blog.yourstruli.com/2008/06/giving-brass-that-aged-look.html

Note: See if your item is truly brass or only brass COATED. Brass coated items may be stripped down to the base metal by some of these processes.

You can take brass all the way down to BLACK, if you so…

Part 2

Hi y'all and thanks for coming back to see my progress.....

As I mentioned previously, I got 2 boxes. I thought, as this was my first build, I'd leave the nice one aside and use the basic Romeo & Juliet Box. 

It was not in the best of condition and the Irish Government Health Warning was very unsightly. I decide to strip it back. I removed all I could by hand. …

Some of you may have seen my other huge blog here, I see threes.  If you did, I want to ask you to suspend all of that knowledge for a while as we explore an alternate approach.

Like that blog, this one is intended to be a living document, I'll be updating and…