Saturday, July 14, 2007

A new cigar box guitar in the pipeline

I'm coming out of the creative darkness, the job still sucks but I need to feed my soul. Haven't even played my CBG's for a while. I picked one up last night to play and the bug struck me again. I'm "cheering myself up" by making a new one.

It's going to be pretty cool. The box is a nice yellow Cuesto Rey cigar box. The neck is light oak and I've stained the fretboard very dark. The headstock will be painted yellow on the face to match the box. The fret markers and dots will probably be done by cutting shallow grooves and drilling shallow holes to expose the light colour underneath. It will have the usual 3 string set-up and a piezo pick-up.

I'm taking my time and savouring the project. The body and electrics are made, the neck half made. I'll post a photo when I have something to show.

update Aug 25th :- Just finished it and it's one of my best so far. Just a couple of minor tweaks and then I'll photograph it and put it on here.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

David, coming out of creative darkness... hmmm coming out of that myself! Keep blogging, keep building! I spent several years as a 911 dispatcher. It wasn't so much the job as the leadership that made it dark. I am now in a less stressful line of work and becoming less creatively oppressed again. CBG's are a great expression of life!

Unknown said...

I really like what was done on the head stock here. watch the video through to the end and you'll see a quick close up. plus you'll enjoy hearing grammy winner marcie marxxer play guitar boogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA1Fy-zgI9Q

David said...

Thanks Norm. Now that's my kinda woman! :

The guitar looks real nice but - is it a cigar box guitar or a guitar that happens to have a cigar box body? Not the same thing. Marcie's playing is great but I guess it's no different or harder than playing the same piece on a Les Paul. How does she fare with three strings, no frets, a pick-up made from a buzzer and a piece of radiator pipe for a slide. Not dissing her in any way - just food for thought.

Unknown said...

Yes it's more of a hybrid. But I was inspired by the looks of the head stock. I've noticed in one tobacco shop I frequent for boxes that I will come across a larger box and a smaller box with the exact design. Some really nice reds, greens and yellows! I've been stocking up with the intent to try that decrotive method out. Looks sharp without much work or cost involved.

David said...

I like that idea too but haven't tried it yet. Sometimes you get a paper cover inside the box. I normally keep them as they sometimes have a nice design and might be used for an idea like this. I also keep the thin cedar wood sheets with the intention of using it in some sort of marquetry design.