OK, I lied. There is no movie.
I know that we are about the building of these instruments but we are all also keeping an eye out for cigar shops. I've got 6 shops that I routinely check and one that I went to once and never will again.
One store just gives them away, one will save boxes for me, one thinks their boxes are are the only ones in town and the others are reasonable with what they charge. Lots of times I go into a cigar shop and there is nothing there I'm interested in and other times I see some really great boxes.
Some times I won't see anything that inspires me for an instrument but there will be some nice boxes for keeping things in like parts for building cbg's.
Yesterday and today I accumulated 5 more boxes. I got a Punch Pitas box, 3 Cohiba Toro's and an Ashton Crystal Belicoso with the Punch being the smallest at 10 5/8" X 6 5/8". Total cost was $8.
The Punch is a "no brainer". It will be a copy of my last guitar, the "million dollar bill" fretless and I don't yet know what the others will become.
Anyway, I thought it is fun to beat the bushes and find new boxes and I don't recall seeing a discussion about it and we all do it. It's probably the most mundane part of the process, but I enjoy looking for treasure.
Comments
........so this man walks into a smoke shop............... would have been less funnier if he used the door........
I found this smoke shop on the way to a Red Molly concert in Scituate yesterday and found these. My wife found the shop on line and surprised me with the stop and then to top it off she let me go inside..... by myself. True love.
The pair of Nick's Sticks with the wooden dowel hinge will make nice amp boxes. Mostly I was drawn to the all wood boxes but I got a couple of papered over.
I'm a cigar smoker, but I typically smoke a smaller vitola than the ones you would want for building boxes. However, I'm a member of a private cuban cigar board and the trading is good!
I've also got quite a few locally.
Same here Charlotte....... not too many boxes but I'm working on it. Two days ago I went to Boston with my wife for the day (Sam Adams Brewery, Old Roads Bikes in Cambridge, and the Blue Man Group) and walked through the North End of old Boston looking for boxes. Couldn't find the shops I was looking for but I did get 2 nice Romeo Y Julieta boxes for free. I get better choices in Plymouth for $2 a box but I'm still looking for the Cohiba type and Punch boxes (that are not black)
My wife and friends also find them for me. Now when I pay for them I get a little picky but I always take the free ones
Charlotte, I'm glad you brought this up. I LOVE box hunting. I hit the two local cigar lounges pretty regularly. They used to charge me about a buck a box, but now the owners and even some of the customers give them to me for free. I too have an irrational collection. Each week, I probably bring home 2-3 that are suitable for CBGs, plus others for amps, or ukes, um ...kalimbas... or as Charlotte said, for holding parts, etc.
U never know where u will find boxes ,, I get em from yard sales ,, cigar stores ,, goodwill ,, church bazaars ...I really not crazy about the Olivia boxes ,, rest seem to make good instruements .. My family and in laws are always on the hunt ,, seem they enjoy finding em also .. Bput to run outa storage space
I've never found more than 3 or 4 boxes at one time and even though I'm like ED with an irrational collection, my primary reason for continuing the hunt is that I've found what my favorite boxes and sizes are and since they are generally difficult to find, I'm wanting to keep the search going.
My favorite of favorites are AF Royal Salute and King B and the Punch Pitas. These boxes are pretty large and if I had a steady supply source for them. I've learned that anything 12+" X 7+" is premium guitar material and they are hard for me to find.
I think storage space is a universal problem, but I have so much shelving in my basement that I haven't gotten cramped yet. My space issues are going to be made even better than they already are by selling some of my sewing machines and upholstery equipment.
I am kind of with Ed on this. My last trip (trip # 2) to the cigar shop, yielded about 14 boxes (see my pics page) @ $4.00 each. I still had 4 or so left from my first trip. It is fun to get them, but I am short for room. The box of these boxes share the closet with my CBG's. Ugh, I really need to get more room, but wife likely won't care for that idea.
This will change shortly as I have Tom Sawyered myself some shop labor. My six year old daughter and a neighbor kid in her class.
Then the box hunting begins again.