Blogs

I tried to post a link. Dont think it worked. But, on ultimateguitar.com, if you search: The Challenge of Studenthood, the article is there. I have a hard copy in my song book that I read from time to time. Just to keep things in perspective. 

I have a touch of PPD today (post project depression). The bench is all cleaned up, but nothing pending. The plan is to focus on playing for awhile. I am excited for that. These 4 string tenors are for me to play. Custom made, set up for me, the action, strings, and tuning. How cool is that, right?  So Ive been doin chords and scales for awhile and picked some songs to work on. Alot of them are songs I learnt on 6 string acoustic. Im tuned Chicago, so the transition is pretty easy. Plus I found a chord chart. Here are a few Im working on:

Bad Moon Risin' & Lookin out my back door  by C.C.R.

Blue on Black by Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

Free falling by Tom Petty.

Lucky Man by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Battleship Chains by Georgia Sattilites.

I am also lookin at Ain't No Easy Way Out, by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The slide in that is crazy good. One of my tenors is going open tuning, but Im gonna get the rythum parts down before that. 

On top of that,  have the new looper pedal to learn to use. ( I think I can, I think I can) But musicianship before showmanship, I say. 

Still miss not having a project going (hmmm. If I had a bass, I could put a bass line in the looper.....)  

Next Time I will give my first impressions on PEAVEY's 20watt VYPYR VIP-1 Amplifier. Variable input amp for electric guitar, acoustic, and bass! Found it on the amazon $149. Dont get me wrong, I like my little 9v amp I built...

A great market today at Mama Pearson's Soaporium.  A ton of vendors crammed in a couple of parking lots (45+ from the looks of it), great weather, and some friendly customers made for a good time.  Sold a CBG that I made last night.  Now, I'm looking forward to the next one in the spring.  If you or a loved one is into handmade soap, lotions, or manly beard care products, check out Mama Pearson's at https://www.mamapearsons.com/

Details: https://gkaiser.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/why-not-fresh-diddley-bow/

Fall festivals are upon us here in the Midwest.  I had a ball selling at the Cumberland Bridge Festival in Matthews, Indiana.  I was the only vendor doing cbg, 8 string guitars, and music-related accessories including pick wall art and guitar neck coat racks.  The customers were really receptive to the handmade stuff. 

Sold plenty, including the prototype for my shovel guitar builds.  Along with the 3 string guitars, I sold cbg kits for folks with the diy attitude.  Those were great for folks who weren't up for paying the asking price of a handmade instrument, but were up for getting their hands dirty and building one themselves.  People are more invested in an instrument that they build.  Getting ready for the next market this Saturday.  Planning on a pair of crutch guitars as attention-getters.  Gotta have something to get people to stop and look.

--------------- It's finally out, a new download of all cigar box guitar music!

This is an album of old time amped up Twangy Blues and Slide cigar box guitar music.

If you enjoy listening to slide and 3 string guitar recorded in Lo-Fidelity, this album is all cigar box guitar music with NO regular guitars. 

It is also a great album for learning how to play cigar box guitar, as the old saying goes,"listening is learning" and it is the best way to pickup new licks and riffs.

.....But instead of me talking about " music" with endless words, you can just listen to it right here right now or you can download it to your computer to listen to it later on your phone, tablet, computer or any mp3 player.

This album is free to listen to right here ( click the play button)  give it a moment to load

- you can toggle the songs forward and back in the lower right hand corner

or you can download it for 14 dollars, I sure did put a lot of work into it, I hope your enjoy it and listen to it many times

it is here at this link https://cigarboxguitar.bandcamp.com/album/zz-twang

Click the play button above and listen and thanks for your interest.

This is one of those stories that you just can’t make up. It happened yesterday afternoon and I felt the need to share it with all of you. I was sitting at the computer watching some videos on Cigar Box Nation when my dogs started scratching at the back door. I let them out and thought to myself, “how long has it been since I fed the chickens?” I decided to go check, so I slipped on a pair of flip flops and headed out to the coop. I decided to top off their water and as I was dragging the hose over, my wife came outside to tell me she was going to get her eyebrows done. I’m not even sure what that means, but I nodded and she was off.

I fed/watered the birds, did a few other miscellaneous tasks, and then headed indoors to resume my video watching. When I attempted to go inside, I realized my wife had accidentally locked the back door and stranded me in the backyard. My keys and cell phone were inside the house. Our property is surrounded by a 7' privacy fence with two locked gates. My first instinct was to call her but wait… I don’t have a phone. My neighbors have a key, so I could call them but wait… again, no phone. I don’t have the keys to open either gate, so I can’t go around to the front and check the front door. I guess I could climb the fence and walk to the neighbors but… I’m wearing flip flops and shorts. That doesn’t sound like a good idea. Besides, I’m not even sure if the neighbors are home. Ugh. I’m stuck.

Well, at least the workshop is in the backyard. I figured I could start working on a new project to pass the time. Ironically, I had just bought an old motor oil can earlier that day. I wasn’t sure what I was going to make with it but it was only $5 so I grabbed it and set it on a shelf in the workshop. I picked it up trying to decide what I could make with an oil can. A fuzz pedal? No, I don't have the right transistors. A tiny amp? Nah, I'm missing the LM386 chip. Hmmm. Then it hit me. A couple weeks back, I bought one of those pre-fretted canjo necks from CB Gitty with the idea of making a cigar box dulcimer. I had set it aside due to other projects, but I rummaged through the parts pile and found it. “Time to make a canjo,” I said to myself.

I started looking though the rest of my parts and realized I had everything else I needed, 2 long shaft tuners and a handful of screws. I didn’t want to make this a traditional single string canjo, so I decided to build a two stringer. I drilled a second set of tuner holes through the headstock, cut the nut and bridge notches, and then slapped a little stain on the neck. I let the stain dry for 15 minutes or so before I mounted the tuners and nut. Unfortunately, my phone was locked inside the house so I don’t have any pics of the build process.

Once the neck was ready, I went to work attaching the can. I used some construction adhesive, then I drilled two angled holes and viola, instant canjo. I also decided to electrify it using a piezo and a jack. I used hot glue to attach the piezo disc and drilled a hole in the side of the can for the jack. After that, I used an scratch awl to make two small holes in the back of the can. The strings will go through these holes.

Up until this point, I hadn’t really thought about how I was going to tune this canjo. I decided to use two .013 Ernie Ball strings I had in the garage because: 1) I had them on hand and 2) I thought it would be cool to have a drone string and a melody string. I put a small washer on each string before threading it through the hole in the can to prevent it from denting under tension. When I started to tune her up I realized the strings were naturally trying to pull towards the middle of the neck, so I filed a couple small grooves near the tuner holes. I also used a few small screws to help guide the strings.

My wife came home just as I was stringing it up. She realized what she’d done and was apologizing like crazy. Clearly she felt awful for locking me in the backyard. “But look what I made,” I kept saying as I held up my accidental canjo. A wiser person than me once said, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I say, “when wife locks you in the backyard, make a canjo.” I’m not sure mine has the same ring to it.

You can see/hear a demo of this instrument here: https://cigarboxnation.com/video/the-accidental-canjo

  Received my kit today ,everything seems to be in box. I will probably drill an access hole in the back panel to access the volume pot& cable jack. I look forward to selecting a paint scheme for the stains i will use on the Box. Will use Linseed oil on the neck.  Years ago i assembled a Carvin kit Bass gtr & a pro Bassist liked it so much he bought it! I used 5 coats of Tung oil on that.  Happy grooving,,CW Solomon

Woke up a couple of hours early and did some work to get ahead on the day.  After a couple of hours, I decided to stop and just check out what's new on CBN.  I absolutely love to see what other people are doing.  There is nothing like encountering cool and unique ideas.  Some of them, I adapt to my builds.  Some just sort of rattle around in the back of my brain until a light turns on and I come up with a progression on the idea or it leads me in a direction I wouldn't have gone otherwise.  My hat is off to all of the folks who take the time to get the pics and videos posted showing their work!

I’m seeing the whole CBG revolution as being:

• Historical
• Collaborative
• Innovative
• Experimental (Building on history, collaboration and innovation)

In that spirit, and given I have my own soapbox blog on CB Nation (yay!), I want to introduce a link for an interesting fellow in the UK, that somehow fits into the whole CBG Esprit de Corps:

Tom Fox

https://vulpestruments.com

Some of his work might be another world away from CBG, but was interested to see some of his work parallel to Shane Speal’s own discussion, “Piezos from Outer Space!!!”

In particular, I appreciate  Tom’s thoughts and words  on Faraday’s Law, and his post on his Mini Drone Machine:

https://vulpestruments.com/2018/01/12/mini-dronemachine/

Just sayin’, just thinkin’...

Mikala

I had some electric stove burner covers from when we bought the house. The small ones are 8" in diameter and I figured they would work out just fine. I have it tuned dgbd and to my ears it sounds great, almost like it is being played through an amp.

Now I need to learn how to play.

Anyone have some building plans and scale templates for a diatonic canjo?

Trying to come up with a simple, easy to build, an inexpensive one for a bunch of elementary school kids (maybe twenty of them) to build and decorate. One stringer, no frets, and a hardware store eye hook (or something similar) for a tuning peg. Need to keep cost way down. I'll probably pre-cut and pre-drill everything, and mark the fret positions, then they can paint or decorate the neck themselves. Might use dowels, or 1 x 2's for the necks.

If anyone has spare strings (any gauge) or tuning pegs they would like to donate, comment here, or email me at quikclik@hvi.net.

I'll be doing this for free as a volunteer at the local library, and there is no budget available at this time, so material donations are welcome.

Thanks,

Jack Murphy

This past weekend, I made a trek to York, PA and attended the 10^th Annual Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival. It was a heck of a good time and I drew a ton of inspiration from the folks in attendance. In fact, as soon as I got home, I started my first electric washboard build. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the festival, it is said to be one of the premier cigar box guitar events in the United States. It takes place every year in the parking lot of York Emporium bookstore. With lots of vendor booths, an indoor stage, an outdoor stage, and a plethora of CBGs, there was no shortage of things to see and do.

I was able to see Those Baron Boys kick off the show with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, watch One String Willie perform on his 2X4 diddley bow, witness DIYatronics attempt to start a musical riot, see John Nickel reinvent the one man band, and so much more. It was a proverbial paradise for a Cigar Box Nation member. Additionally, I got to hang out with a bunch of “famous” folks from the community. I spent a lot of time chatting with Preston J Laisure and Sparky37 from the CBG Minded Michiganders. I swapped some building tips with Casey Baron. I even talked to Matt “MajicDaddy” Simpson about washboards and ended up buying one from him. Shortly after I arrived at the festival, I was engaged in a discussion with Lou LaManna, whom I originally met at Speal’s Tavern last November (see my blog entry HERE for more details). Lou gave me a copy of his latest CD, which is great by the way!

At one point in the afternoon, I was shootin' the breeze with Jim Morris and Lou LaManna. We were discussing the resourcefulness of the CBG community, and - right on cue - Shane Speal walked up to ask what we were talking about. Woah! Here I was, a relatively new CBN member from Texas, standing across from three of the Cigar Box Nation’s superstars. The moment made me realize something obvious but profound. The famous folks in this subculture are just guys like you and I. There’s no pretension or elitism here. We’re just a bunch of crazies who like to put a stick through a box and add some strings.

As many of you already know, approximately 266 festival attendees (various sources have quoted numbers between 263 and 268) made it into The Guinness Book of World Records when they set the benchmark for the world’s largest cigar box guitar ensemble. It was incredibly cool to see so many folks walking around with cigar box guitars slung over their shoulders or across their backs just waiting to make their mark on the civilized world. It really embodied the spirit of the Cigar Box Nation. It’s crazy ideas like this which make "The Nation" great. As Shane Speal said back in 2008, “this is our revolution, instead of holding pitchforks, we’re holding cigar box guitars.” I couldn’t agree more.

Check out the full album of pics here: https://cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/pennsylvania-cbg-festival-8-2019

See One String Willie sing about clean livin' here: https://cigarboxnation.com/video/one-string-willie-at-the-pa-cbg-festival

I went all in, buying almost 400 lbs. of defective guitar necks to turn into coat racks.  Selling them at $30 each at fall festivals in September and October.  I can officially say I'm getting tired of making coat racks out of guitar necks, but they sure look cool and I'm excited to see how many I can sell.  I love having something in my booth that you don't have to be a musician to appreciate.  Just a music lover.  Give me a holler if this looks like something you would want hanging on your wall.  I do my online sales through Reverb so customers can use whatever form of payment they want to.   These are great for cables in the music room, too.  I'm thinking about actually securing guitar wall hangers to the necks for an ultra-cool way to display guitars.

Guitar neck coat racks

Okay, so I sell at markets and festivals and such.  One of my big mistakes starting out this year was just selling guitars.  I learned real quick that it's tough to get folks to plunk down $100+ on a guitar when they don't know how to play.  They appreciate what I'm doing, but they don't want to buy in at that high a cost.   could tell, they wanted to buy something.  I simply wasn't carrying items that fell in their price range.  It sent me back to the drawing board and made me think a lot more like a retailer and less like a builder.  Now, I have added handmade items that run the $10-$30 range.  They look cool and they give customers the opportunity to spend some money at the price point they wanted to and is more profitable. 

What kind of accessories and related products do you sell?

Spent some quality time at the Indiana State Fair.  Things I learned.

1.  You can mount pretty much any food this side of pudding to a stick, fry it, and it will sell at the Indiana State Fair.

2.  You cannot buy Coke products at the Indiana State Fair.  Part of some deal they made with Pepsi.

3.  The shortest distance between any two points at the Indiana State Fair will be blocked off by the biggest crowd of humanity you have ever seen in your life waiting on fried food.  Generally fried food on a stick.

4.  Everything that tastes good will taste better battered and deep fried.

5.  Don't eat the free popcorn next to the $2 bottles of water.  It's only free if you can eat a bag of salty popcorn without getting thirsty.

6.  It's not cheap, but it's a fun day.  Can't wait until next year.

7.  Donut burgers are a thing.  A very, very tasty thing.

My dad always said the same thing when he saw something marked at a way better than average price:  "how much for all of them?"  I have learned that you can buy 200 of something for just slightly more than 100.  If you're willing to buy all of somebody's stock, they will REALLY make it worth you're while as long as they are a halfway motivated seller.  I recently walked into a cigar shop with a table filled high with empty boxes.  $4 each or 2/$6.  I bought them all and saved a ton.  The owner was happy to see them go and I had what may possibly be a lifetime supply of boxes from one trip.  Everybody was happy.  Honestly, it was worth it to me to not have to keep stopping in local shops hoping to score 2 or 3 boxes if I got really lucky.  The time saved was worth storing all those boxes over the years and having plenty to pick from for new builds.

So, the next time you're buying parts, just ask yourself how mad would your spouse really be if you had a 5 gallon bucket overflowing with guitar tuners in the corner of the garage?

note:  I will candidly admit I bought 3 trash bags full of little bags of Easter grass for $5 from a grocery store 4 months after Easter..  2 1/2 bags went to goodwill 6 years later.  

It was still a good deal. . .

I've jumped in with both feet and bought shellac chips and mixed my own shellac.  It's easier to make than I thought.  I used the advice and instruction from Stew Mac videos and it was a great experience.  It's more labor intensive, but you can have a gorgeous finish built up in 2 days.  I've used shellac in the past, but it was from the can.  It took a lot longer to dry and cure.  The stuff I mixed myself dried completely in an hour and cured within 24 hours.  Nice.  

Give it a shot.  You only have to mix up enough to do the job at hand and the flakes don't go bad as long as you store them in a cool, dry place.  I mixed it with denatured alcohol and it worked great.  You can use everclear, too.  No fumes but it's a lot more expensive.

I've never done a blog before, but the ones I have read have been rather long-winded.  I'll try to keep these short.  Plus, I'm pretty sure nobody will ever read this that's not related to me.

I know it is ugly as sin but it is able to be tuned. So I am happy with it, she has already gone a few changes. The parts were ordered through cb gitty after I purchased Shanes book. I had 3 cigar boxes but they ended up being made of card board. So I made a box using the dimensions of a john ruskin cigar box. I made the guitar to be played right handed and without frets. The dark wood under the bridge was the bridge and the oak fret was not in place. I had about 3/8ths of a inch in action at the 12 fret. 

I guess you have to understand I have no clue about music and certainly, most definitely, how to use a guitar to make music. I tried pushing the strings down to the fretless fret board and dang near ripped a finger nail off. So I say to myself, self you need to raise the frets to the strings. I did not have any plans or measurements for the fret scale. So I did the divide by 17.817 thing with my calipers. Later when I got the gitty fret layout scale I found out I was very close to the 25.5 " scale, within a pencil line on a couple of frets at the end near the body. Glued the fret to the neck redid the bridge and nut. And it still did not feel comfortable in my hands.

Oh  kay Heres the dumb or dumber part. I made a right hand guitar annnd I'm lefthanded. I have to say it never dawned on me not to follow the directions in chapter 2. Normally I follow guide lines and the rest just comes by gut feel.  Could be I felt a little intimidated that I would try to make something that plays sounds or music. Well what ever the reason I flipped the high string with the low one. An did the same with the nut and bridge, so it now feels better. If you look at the box you will notice volume and jack, yep had to move them to. that's the reason for the 2 pennies they cover the old holes. Enough blathering here's the picture of my first: