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Permalink Reply by Wal Callaby on June 20, 2019 at 9:43am

On holiday from the UK, and on Salt Spring Island BC, we visited an ‘alternative’ market. Chap there had three pretty crude homemade three stringers for sale at (I kid you not) C$650- 750. Picked one up- intuitively easy to play, even for an old bloke who never mastered six-stringers, but who- crucially- had just realised that all he really wanted to play was the blues. Got back to the UK and bought one. Bought another from a local maker. Found CBN, and was immediately struck by a ‘how hard could it be?’ feeling. Made a lot of mistakes, but after about a dozen(!) was managing to turn out a properly playable instrument nearly every time. Two years after Salt Spring Island and I’m approaching my fortieth. Currently demolishing a derelict garage in order to build a workshop/studio, meaning that there will be much less wood and many fewer gits cluttering up the house, which will make my wife happy. Me? As happy as I’ve ever been at any time in my sixty-one years, with never a dull moment of an evening or a weekend. Given a dozen or so gits to friends and relatives on various occasions- birthday, Xmas- and just gave the one on the left in the attached pic to my niece as a wedding gift. The one on the right I’m keeping- which is how I feel about at least ten of my builds, which is why I need the studio space. My life has direction, purpose, meaning- all because of a chance day-trip on the other side of the world.

And in the spirit of CBN I pass on the tip, from a highly skilled woodworker and shipwright, that I’ve found most useful- “Why are you building hardwood necks to fit softwood boxes when you could be building your own box how you want it to be?”

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Jordan on June 20, 2019 at 9:59pm

true true.,.,but I still get great joy fashioning a neck out of a tomato stake, then attaching it to a old cigar box.,.,like a 4 year old with his 1st ukulele .,.I like the freedom of not being stalked by Gibson Fender PRS Taylor and the like.,.,I'll just mosey on down the road playing my $6 build.,.,.good story Wal.,.,., 

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Permalink Reply by Wal Callaby on June 20, 2019 at 11:14pm

What I didn’t relate was that, when walking past the chap’s stall a couple hours later he’d actually sold the C$650 one!! £400+ in our money!

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Permalink Reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH on June 20, 2019 at 11:46pm

To quote W C FIELDS "There's a sucker born every 60 seconds!"

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on June 20, 2019 at 1:13pm

Hi Wal, your last paragraph range so true to me , as that was exactly my first thoughts before I started building CBG's. I made, and still do, my own boxes for years before I tried an actual cigar box just to see what they were like. I can also show customers the origins and the difference in sound [acoustic] of the different instruments.

My wife and daughter thought they were doing me a favour when they presented me with a collection of cigar boxes they had bought for me, I could only use half of them to make decent sounding instruments. 

What was annoying is they shelled out $70 for them. But, its the thought that counts.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Wal Callaby on June 20, 2019 at 8:41pm

Maybe we should petition Ben and Shane to change the name...

Seriously, there are just many many more options if you make your own boxes. I can go poplar plywood ‘all round’, which gives big resonant boxes, and tops you can cut with a craft knife, allowing for fun sound holes (otters! dolphins!), thin hardwood tonewood over a poplar box, thicker hardwood with inch-and-a-half pine sides- which are great for mounting pickups- and of course wine box guitars- stout cedar top and bottom, again with pine sides. But they’re still ‘cigar box guitars’ because they’ve got three strings. Except the basses, which have one or two. Perhaps we DO need a new name.

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Permalink Reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH on June 20, 2019 at 11:50pm

'Renegades' comes to mind.

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Permalink Reply by Wal Callaby on June 21, 2019 at 2:16am

Actually, this is a subject for a whole new thread. I shall go and start one forthwith.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on June 22, 2019 at 9:40pm

Found this site some years ago. Really liked the idea and possibilities. Went to the first CBG fest here in ST Louis and bought a fretted three string. Took it home and had no idea what to do with it. Played a six string for years. So this new three string guitar was a new challenge. Now I haven't touched one of my six strings in years. 

Not much on building but I have two that turned out. Because of my lack of woodworking skills i use store bought necks. Need to make a few more. Not just to have them. I play stuff in different tunings and keys. Kinda get tired of restringing just to play something. So I guess I can be classified as someone who plays constantly. Builds only when needed. 

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