#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

Introduce Yourself!

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We wanna know who you are! Where ya from? What'cha buildin'? This is a place for new members to introduce themselves and old 'uns to show 'em around. I'm Shane & I run the Nation. I'm glad you're here. Come on in and tune up!

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Better late than never...

Started by Crazed Fandango 20 hours ago. 0 Replies 0 Likes

After joining this forum in 2014, I finally have my 1st CBG which my wife bought for me at the weekend (a 4 string from Frethound Custom Guitars). I was never going to get around to building one.Now…Continue

Tags: string, 4

My 1st CGB

Started by Mi Rankin. Last reply by Ian Jan 16. 2 Replies 0 Likes

Just finished my 1st freeless acoustic CBG, based on the #Glenn Watt design. 31inch neck, 25inch scale, 42/32/24 gauge strings. Sycamore neck and a 200mm x 180mm x 45mm box made from 7mm ply. Neck…Continue

Hi, y'all.

Started by HazelFyrebird. Last reply by Ian Nov 14, 2023. 1 Reply 0 Likes

Hi, I'm HazelFyrebird, and I'm a wannabe luthier (I feel like I'm standing up at a Builder's Anonymous meeting...) in Virginia. I'm a bit of a lurker, as I've been reading and reading for a while,…Continue

I Am Blaming All of You with YouTube Channels.

Started by William Bannier. Last reply by William Bannier Sep 25, 2023. 3 Replies 1 Like

This is not so much of a reintroduction as a rebirth so to speak. I joined Cigar Box Nation many, many years ago when I initially developed an interest in more "primitive" instruments, CBGs, mountain…Continue

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Comment by Wal Callaby on October 26, 2018 at 7:57pm: Hi Gerald and welcome!

i think you've just found out why people put "Build, Play, Repeat" on t-shirts. If there's anyone out there who built just one CBG then s/he must be a stranger person indeed...

Comment by Gerald Schwenke on October 26, 2018 at 5:42pm: First off, let me say sorry for the message to everyone in the group. I thought I was posting a comment on the wall. lol.

Hello, I stumbled across this sight while searching the web for building a guitar. I was hooked from the first night of reading and new I had to build one of these. So after a month or two of reading, poking around and trying to decide what to order/use in my first build I finally gathered all my material and built a 3 string Open G out of a nice Padron box. I now have a problem. I really want to learn to play the CBG but the problem is that I enjoyed building it so much that I am already planning my second build. This is a great site with lots of information.

Comment by the anonymous pick on October 19, 2018 at 12:32pm: welcome Danny ;-)

Comment by Danny Connors on October 19, 2018 at 11:14am: Hello y'all! Dannyboy here from upstate NY. I'm totally new to this whole cigar box guitar thing but I'm really fascinated with the great stuff you guys are building. Hope to build one myself soon.For now I'll be looking for inspiration on this great site!

Comment by the anonymous pick on October 13, 2018 at 8:46am: Welcome Freddie , (Texas guitar legend ) ;-) Ooops ..,, I let the cat out of the bag ;-)

;-D

Comment by Freddie Cisneros on October 13, 2018 at 8:14am: My name is Freddie Cisneros I was a friend of Don "Boz" Bostwick back in Viet Nam.

I'm a Service Center for the Martin and Fender Guitar Companies out here in Prescott, Arizona.

I have not built a CBG in a long time but I just got back into the fun.

Comment by Paul Craig on October 3, 2018 at 11:33am: Those are some nice builds John, welcome aboard.

Comment by John Czarnecki on October 3, 2018 at 1:53am

Started building CBGs this spring, so I've been at it for only about eight months or so. So far I've put together:

A 1936 Connecticut license plate guitar on a big cigar box with a slotted head walnut fretted neck. Piezos under the bridge and license plate.
The Black Resonator - a big Camacho cigar box resonator with piezo bridge and a single coil neck pickup, Brazilian cherry neck, onboard preamp, and embedded modded Morgan silver dollar.
The Ammo Can guitar - a USGI .30 cal ammo can with a hand-wound humbucker pickup and Brazilian cherry neck, set up for playing with a slide.
The Blue Bird - a pie pan resonator using a huge mahogany cigar box, a trapeze tailpiece, modified banjo bridge with embedded piezo rod, and a Stratocaster neck.
Dick's 96, a 1966 NC license plate guitar with 3-string walnut neck, piezo under the bridge, and a single coil mandolin pickup in the middle,
Not a CBG - a full-up Stratocaster, with a Canadian spalted maple body with a honeyburst dye job, EMG pickups, David Gilmour electronics package.
The Cigar Box Strat - literally a mahogany cigar box with a poplar solid insert that fills the cavity, Strat neck, HipShot locking tuners, two single coils and a Humbucker at the bridge, and a Gotoh traditional tremolo bridge. This is a work in progress, and I'm hoping to have it done in a week or two.

I was building rifles for a while, and got bored with it, as I found there was no real skill involved.... just like snapping lego pieces together with the occasional tweaking needed. No fulfillment there at all... so I started making guitars, where each and every piece offers it's own bit of complication that results in a rewarding search for solutions.

I've been plugging away at adding pics of the builds... I'm making an album for each one, but the 10 pic per day limit is a bit aggravating. Patience, just like I tell my teen daughter all the time. Patience.

Comment by Paul Craig on September 29, 2018 at 5:01am: Love the old British Bikes myself and just about any other bike.LOL

Welcome to all the newbies.

Comment by the anonymous pick on September 28, 2018 at 4:17pm: lol.. Kev , then ya may like my other passion . Choppin british

here's one of mine in iron horse mag .