Our Story

Here at Heavy Fog Guitars we handcraft Cigar Box Guitars with premium exotic hard woods and high quality accessories. We build unique 3 and 4-string electric cigar box guitars. Our guitars are built in Canada at our St. John’s, Newfoundland workshop. Each of our handcrafted guitars is a “one of a kind” instrument possessing an original tone, feel and look.

Our love of music is built into each and every one. Whether you are a beginner or a long time picker these instruments are easy and fun to play, providing hours of musical possibilities. If you are looking for a unique gift, a musician seeking inspiration or an individual choosing a new hobby our handcrafted cigar box guitars are a solid investment.

Our History

Heavy Fog Guitars was founded by Peter Lake on August 10th, 2015 in St.John’s Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada . Since the founding, He has crafted many guitars (played by notable musicians such as Justin Johnson, and the Hub Cap Stealers)

The journey began when Peter was watching the movie “It Might Get Loud”. While watching the movie he saw Jack White build a 1 stringed diddley Bow. Having Stoked his interest Peter began searching about homemade instruments and he came across a man named “Sea Sick Steve” who was playing a “Hubcap Guitar”.  He began to do more research and discovered Justin Johnson playing a Cigar Box Guitar. He immediately knew he wanted to start building his own.

In the Summer of 2013 Peter found an old Ford hubcap laying on the side of the road. He picked it up, brought it home, and built his first “hubcap Guitar”.

In the summer of 2015, Peter decided to build his first Cigar Box Guitar. He was quite pleased with the end result, and decided to post a picture on social media. He was overwhelmed with the feedback. He began receiving messages from friends wanting one of their own, and before Knew it, it became a growing business. He called his business “Heavy Fog Guitars”.

Several months later as the company began to grow, Peter was contacted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for a radio interview, which spread the fog across to its many listeners. Shortly after Peter was contacted by a local news paper “The Overcast” to do an article for their very popular monthly issue. This made “Heavy Fog Guitars” a buzz name in the city of St.John’s.

Finished this custom build for a customer. Used a My Father's Cigars Box, which I have come to like very much. It has a lot of tone. The neck is aspen and the fingerboard is curly maple. Finished in tung oil. Pick up wound to 9.5 ohms.

I can't live without music, and playing music has always been a huge part of my life.

5 years ago, a fight with 2 drunken guys changed a lot of things concerning my musical life. Despite the fact I punched them hard, one of them hit my left wrist with a big knife, cuting nerves and veins. I lost sensitivity in a part of my hand and two fingers often do what they want, the wound having decided I was no more their master. Well, we could say I have two fingers left, but when you've been a kind of local guitar hero, it can be hard to accept. In 2010, I tried to play again but no way. Fastening third and little finger, I could play some solos with the two others, when but no more bar chords. And playing some garage punk/pop/rock, I played a lot of bar chords. As I love delta blues, raw/punk blues, I tuned my guitars in open D ou G, but it didn't sound as I wanted. Demoralized, I sold my guitars (Les Paul, Danelectro), my amps (Marshall, Fender) and bought drums. I liked playing drums, but it wasn't "my" instrument, and you all know than playing an instrument which is not the instrument making you vibe deeply is not the same... I bought a cheap guitar and tried to play with 3 or 4 strings. It wasn't bad but the sound wasn't what I wanted and no one around me understood what I was trying to do. Once again I was demoralized... Then I discovered Seasick Steve and I was happy to see I wasn't the only guy to play with cheap guitar and few chords.

Then, searching more on the web, I discovered CBG.

And my life changed.

The flame, the spark are here again.

So, you'll excuse me when I sometimes yell "I LOVE CBG".

They saved my musical life. Or is it my life ?

Nick

Making my own 3-stringed instrument has been such a joyous revelation!

It began for me when I met an ex-fourth grade teacher from Montana, named Ray Jacobs. We were in California, where he was helping people turn cardboard and scrap wood into something that looked like a 3-string banjo — it sounded just amazing! And it looked so simple! I thought “shoot, I could play that!” (I’ve been guitar and music challenged for years).

Here's Ray and Shirley playing: 

Ray taught fourth grade for 20 years; many of his kids learned to make and play these simple, 3-stringed instruments. He also gave them an old V-8 engine and challenged them to take it apart and put it together; he took them to a local pond to squelch and splash and take buckets of pond water back to class, where they put it in split 55-gallon drums so they could play and learn when their “other work” was done; he shepherded 20 generations of kids into 5th grade, many of them with dulcimers they had made themselves, on which they could all play melody and chords — extraordinary gifts!

I thought, “someone should put this into a book so every 4th grade teacher can do what Ray did!” (I’ve been a “teaching artist” in the Oregon schools, and know how hard is for kids to get good, hands-on activities. Teachers are so bound by schedules, test requirements, and policy that they can’t afford to engage kids in anything not specified in the curriculum. So it takes an outsider to do the creative projects.)

I tried to find someone else to write up Ray's story (he also makes a whole range of beautiful instruments from cardboard, gourds, wood, you name it), but noone was as excited as I was, so when I took the family back east last October, we stopped for a few days with Ray and his wife Shirley (here's a nice little video about them from Western Folklife). He and I put a dulcimer together, and I took notes and pictures. It turned into a book – you can download it (free) here. (It’s also available as a (full color!) $10 paperback at the same site, or on Amazon and createspace.) If you like it, please share!

Les Cigar Box Guitar que nous connaissons et liées à la musique blues ou folk sont indéniablement des réalisations américaines. Celles d'esclaves qui ont adaptés sur le sol américain des instruments qu'ils construisaient et pratiquaient en Afrique. Du Diddley Bow unicorde à la CBG de 2, 3, ou 4 cordes à l'imitation de produits plus luxueux qu'ils ne pouvaient se payer comme la contrebasse, le violon, la guitare à 6 cordes, on peut dire que tous les instruments sont passés par leurs mains expertes pour arriver dans les nôtres aujourd’hui.

Mais ce type d'instruments et leurs constructions n'est pas un phénomène isolé mais bien un processus global, tous les pays, toutes les civilisations ayant un jour ou l'autre fabriquées ce type d'instrument.

Plus prés de nous, ce sont les poilus de 14-18 qui ont durant le peu de temps libre que leur laissait la guerre, revenait à l’artisanat qu'ils pratiquaient dans le civil pour produire, des bijoux, des meubles, des sculptures, des briquets, etc, et des instruments de musique dont ils jouaient aussi.

C'est l'art et l'artisanat insolite des tranchées, ou pour échapper aux horreurs qui les entouraient ces hommes créaient des objets de toutes beauté avec les moyen du bord et en récupérant tout ce qui pouvait leur tomber sous la main. A noter que les soldats allemands en face en faisaient autant ainsi que tous les autres soldats des autres pays impliqués dans ce conflit.

Voici pour inspiration quelques instruments de poilus fait dans des casque, des gourdes voir des masques à gaz!...

English version

The Cigar Box Guitars we know and related to blues or folk music are undeniably American achievements. Those of  slaves who have adapted on American soil the musical instruments they used to built and practiced in Africa. From one string Diddley Bow,  2, 3, or 4 strings  CBG  to copy of the most luxurious products they could not afford as bass, violin, 6 strings, guitar,  we can say that all instruments have passed through their expert hands to be nours today.

But such instruments and their construction is not an isolated phenomenon but a global process, all countries, all cultures have at one time or another , made ​​this type of instrument. 

Closer to us, are  the "Poilus" of 1914-18 (*nickname of french sodiers during WWI we can traduce by "hairy") who during the little free time that they the war left them, returned to the craft they practiced in the civilian life to produce, jewelry, furniture, sculpture , lighters, etc. and musical instruments they played as well.

It is the unusual art and crafts of the trenches, to escape to the horrors that surrounded them,  these men have created beautiful objects with all the things and means they could . Please note that the German soldiers did the same thing and with them all other soldiers of countries involved in this conflict.

Here's for inspiration some  instruments made ​​from  helmets, gourds and even gas masks! ...

Et voici une photo des soldats (Allemands) avec leurs réalisations (et deux "cigar box")

English version

And here is a picture of soldiers (Germans) with their instruments (and two "cigar box")

Et  ici un Diddley Bow d'un soldat Canadien.

English version

And  here a Diddley Bow of a Canadian soldier.

On pourra aller jeter un œil sur les sites ci-dessous ou il y pas mal d'instruments référencés et de superbes photos:

• l'artisanat de tranchées
• les objets de tranchées plus général mais on y trouve des instruments de musique
• le superbe  site de Claude Ribouillaud, sur les instruments de musique de facture amateur, et qui en retrace l'histoire. On lira en particulier la section: La lutherie sauvage : art des solutions et message latent trés intéressante sur les instruments des soldats de 14-18.
• Soldier's orchestra montre des photos de ces orchestres avec des instruments improvisés.(ci-dessous)

English version

You can have a look at the sites below where there are a lot of beautiful instruments referenced with pictures:

• l'artisanat de tranchées (the craft of the trenches In French)
• les objets de tranchées (The objects of the trenches in French) more general but there are musical instruments
• The superb  site of  Claude Ribouillaud (In French), on musical instruments imade by amateur, and which tells their story. We recommend to read in particular the section: La lutherie sauvage : art des solutions et message laten (The wild lutherie : art solutions and latent message - In French) very interesting and about soldiers instruments in 1914-18.
• Soldier's orchestra shows pictures of these bands with improvised instruments. (here below)
  

Blues Guitars France is an attypical shop in France 17 rue Duperré Paris 75009 in the well known quarter of Pigalle. we only sell instruments handmade with differents luthier through the world , Indonesia, Usa ...We get our own brand Stlouis..We Make differents  electric guitars, Custom, Relic, Art.. the ART model are paint by a famous French painter named Julius Baltazar

Musicians love to come visit our shop to try out guitars to jam out on!

so give the shop anf the website a visit!!!

joel Poupeau

http://www.blues-guitares.fr

Hi.

I now have a little website up at:

www.roadkillmusic.co.uk

Please feel free to pop in and have a look. Comments welcome. If you like it enough to spread the word I would be grateful for that too.

Thanks and all the best.

John

Q: Who were or are you main musical influences?

Kevin: Many would probably laugh at the vast array of music that I love and has influenced me. The British band The Electric Light Orchestra epitomizes my typical hybridizing of musical styles and genres, with Jeff Lynne's always reliably captivating slide guitar work sealing it for me. I learned a lot from Lynne and the band about songwriting and arranging and unusual vocals and symphony, even something as "trivial" as the drumbeats Bev Bevan used in their songs. Besides that, I would have to say John Denver was a huge influence. Don't laugh! That man was a fantastic songwriter and vocalist. I wept the day he died, because we lost a fine artist. How to write excellently crafted songs and melodies I learned listening to his music. I've been influenced by rock and roll artists more than blues artists, which may surprise some, given my passion for cigar box slide guitar. But I'll tell ya: I love the blues! I'm obsessed with slide and bottleneck guitar. Since I couldn't play lead guitar worth spit, due to having stupid fingers, I picked up slide guitar. Actually, the truth is, I was an insomniac for a lot of my life. A chronic one. Because of this, my fine motor skills, which I would have used to learn blistering slide guitar, was chronically challenged. I couldn't get my fingers to work the way I wanted, no matter how much I practiced. So, under the tutelage of Lynne, Dwayne Allman, Joe Walsh and other rock sliders' tracks, I picked up slide guitar--and did so like a fish to water. I can indeed play the Allman Brothers' "Statesboro Blues" riffs with him. I'm soaked with sweat and exhausted by the end, but I can do it! (laughs)

Vocally, John Denver, Sam Cook, Russ Taff, Sherman Andrus and Daryl Hall start a lengthy list of singers I reveled in.