Originally published in 1886, these cigar box banjo plans are some of the earliest ever discovered.  They bear a striking resemblance to the Daniel Carter Beard plans originally published two years prior.  John Richards plans, as printed below, utilize the same broomstick neck with a separate one-piece fretboard/headstock.  

We have reprinted these plans, exactly as found when they were published on March 20, 1886 in the St Joseph (MI) Herald newspaper.  A few notes have been added alongside the illustrations. 

Archived Feb 22, 2016 by Shane Speal.  A special thanks to C. B. Gitty for sponsoring the historical research, time and resources necessary to bring these plans to the public.

A Cigar-Box Banjo.

A Home-Made Instrument, and How It May Be Manufactured.

By John Richards, in Harper's Young People, and published in the St. Joseph (MI) Herald, March 29, 1886

A cigar-box banjo is something which most boys have heard of, and same have attempted, with more or less success, to make.  Possibly their older relatives have ridiculed the home made instrument, and it has to contend against prejudice, which, as we know, is almost fatal to success.  Nevertheless such a banjo, if carefully made and properly strung, can be made to give forth very musical tones, and where the "real thing" can not be had the combination of cigar box and broomstick makes a good substitute.  If you would like to try your hands at it, I will tell you how to go to work.

Procure a cigar box, eight and a quarter inches long, four and three quarter inches wide, and two and a quarter inches deep.  Thus is the ordinary size of a box used to contain fifty cigars.

The bottom of the box forms the head of the banjo, thus allowing the cover to be opened or shut.  In each end of the box, cut two round holes, three quarters of an inch in diameter, half an inch from the top and an equal distance from the two sides of the box. 

With a lead pencil mark off, on a piece of soft wood nineteen inches long, four inches wide and half an inch thick the shape of the handle as shown in FIG. 1.  Before sawing the handle out, the four key holes should be bored, each hole being a quarter of an inch in diameter.  Then shape the handle according to the outline of the diagram and across the top of the handle cut a groove three-sixteenths of an inch wide and equally deep (A, FIG 1), this is to hold a small bridge to keep the strings from touching the handle.

In the side of the handle drill a hole half an inch above the angle (B, FIG 1) - this is to hold the fifth key, and just below the angle a grove three sixteenths of an inch wide and equally deep should be cut for the purpose of holding a small bridge for the fifth string (C, FIG 1).

From an old broom cut a piece of stick twenty four inches long, whittle this flat on one side and on the other side, eight inches from the end, cut the stick away so that it will slope and become flat at the end (FIG 2).  Eight and three quarter inches of the other end of the stick must be cut away, so as to fit snugly the holes in the cigar box, the end projecting slightly.  This broomstick is the backbone of the handle, which is fastened to it by two three quarter inch screws as shown in FIG 3.

Five keys shaped like FIG 4 can be cut out of tough pieces of wood, each piece being half an inch thick, two and a quarter inches long, and one inch wide.  Make those belonging to the keyboard fit tightly in their holes.  The key for the fifth string can be cut half an inch shorter than the others.  Each key should have a hole bored through it, as shown in FIG 4. 

The small bridge is a piece of wood a quarter of an inch high and three sixteenths of an inch wide which is made to fit the groove (FIG 1, A), with four notches cut in to conduct the strings.  A similar bridge with only one notch and a quarter of an inch long will answer for the fifth string.

The large bridge is made from a piece of wood two inches long, five eighths of an inch wide and a quarter of an inch thick.  The shape of the bridge can be seen in the illustration of the finished banjo.  Five notches an equal distance from each other should then be cut in the top edge of the bridge.

The tail piece is the piece to which the strings are attached at the lower end of the instrument.  It is made from a piece of hardwood an inch and a half long, an inch and a quarter wide and a quarter of an inch thick.  Five small holes an equal distance apart and a quarter of an inch from the end of the piece of wood must first be drilled, and through the small end two holes a quarter of an inch apart and three eighths of an inch from the end should be drilled to allow a piece of wire about six inches in length to pass through them.  A piece of tin an inch and a quarter long and three-quarters of an inch wide, bent so as to fit on the edge of the box will be required.  Strings can be purchased at almost any music store.

Having purchased the strings, begin to put the various parts together by fitting the handle through the holes in the cigar box and the small bridges in their respective grooves.  The tailpiece is then fastened close to the end of the box by twisting the wire around the projecting piece of broomstick and staying it.  Place the piece of bent tin on the edge of the box, under the wire holding the tailpiece, thus preventing the wire from damaging the box.  Fit the keys on the keyboard and the short key into the hole in the side of the handle.  Knot the strings before threading them through the holes in the tail-piece.  Before tightening the strings the last bridge is placed under the strings, two and a half inches from the end of the box, and your banjo is finished.  - John Richards, in Harper's Young People.

Views: 6909

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Thanks so much for taking the time to find and present these plans, the modern CBG world is all the more rich for their presence here. I am fascinated by the items that you turn up.
All the best from Bill. :D

Nice work Shane! Seems like John Richard's plans appeared in many places. Copies of these plans are also published in the March 25, 1886, Waterloo, edition of the Iowa State Reporter.

Yep, I found several versions.  This was one of the cleanest of the early versions.  Haven't found the Harper's Youth version yet

As you see in the ad above, I took the scans of the original newspaper story and turned them into a cool 12x18 poster.  Gitty got 'em printed and is selling them for $8.  We're just gonna use the money to continue all this historical research.  I've already got other stories in the works.

shane

ps.  Here's a pic of the poster

I love the history of musical instruments and you Shane and C B Gitty have made this site a treasure trove and exciting place to read about old time instruments.

dude...you have no idea what we've got in our back pockets!  Stay tuned.  I'm working on some serious blues history, re-creating CBGs of legends, etc

I'd just like to add just a note to anyone from the St. Joseph, MI, who may be interested in CBG's or Cigar Box instruments of any kind and anyone in Michigan. We have established a group: Cigar Box Guitar Minded Michigan'ders, who meet every 2nd Saturday of each month at Red Sky Stage in Petoskey, MI from 1 to 5pm. Everyone is welcome. No cost. We also have a face page: CBG Minded Michigan'ders Check us out.....Preston

That is really great have been thinking on box banjo for a while now I’m armed with all the right way to go about it thanks for putting it up .

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you Poorness ! for loving it ! appreciated!"
12 hours ago
Southern Ray replied to Timothy Hunter's discussion just came accross this pickup idea on youtube.
" Very interesting. Thank you Timothy!"
12 hours ago
Kent Thurston updated their profile
13 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Punch Project!

She now sports gold metal CBGitty knobs, speaker and an Artec 2.5 watt speaker. Finished this in…
13 hours ago
Southern Ray posted a photo

Project Punch!

Gonna finally get back on this long-delayed project that is more than half complete. (The matching…
13 hours ago
Poorness Studios liked A.D.EKER's video
15 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Rob (Uker) Porras
"Hope this helps?"
16 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"I appreciate the kind words Papa D! I have always loved the look of these cigar boxes. Glad to have…"
18 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
21 hours ago
A.D.EKER posted a video

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

The recorded History By Alan Lomax for the library of Congres of the Blues, from Mc Kinley Morganfield (Aka Muddy Waters) the in this take recorded Tribute ...
22 hours ago
Papa D commented on Doug Thorsvik's photo
Thumbnail

Dueling Flatheads

"Beautiful..Nice work Doug.."
yesterday
Papa D commented on Papa D's photo
Thumbnail

american1 Sun Glo

"Thanx AGP & Doug..  4 more coming soon"
yesterday

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->