Happy New Year to all you cigar box guitar nuts

Happy New Year to all you CBGers. Thought I’d be seasonal and take stock of the old year, CBG-wise. Haven’t done as much as I would have liked but still quite satisfied for a part time effort. I’ve built three or four guitars, started my buskers kit flight case, learnt how to use my digital camera for making videos and put three on YouTube (had a few hundred visits in the first month, much more than I expected). Had some nice comments and e-mails and made some good contacts through it.

My job and serious illness in the family caused a lot of stress and dampened my creativity somewhat but in some ways this CBG thing helped me through. It’s fun and it’s a passion I enjoy very much. It taps into my need for creativity on many levels. I love guitars and playing them. I love music, listening and making it - especially blues. I love making things and bringing my ideas into existence. I like writing and taking photos. This thing combines all those elements – wow how much more can you want. Yeah, ok sex and money might be contenders!

What I also love about this stuff is the simple low tech element. How you can take a few cheap materials and recycle them into something cool, fun, exciting and totally unique. You get a new toy and a terrific buzz because you made it. It has soul. You don’t get that with a 4000 dollar guitar bought from your music store. I think Shane Speal says it all in his post on his excellent Yahoo cigarboxguitar forum. Quote


“MODERN CONSUMERISM AND THE CBG Now think about this following question: How much consuming can we continue to endure as a civilized culture before we say "enough"? We've seen unparalleled growth in spending, the stock market and more. Now there seems to be a growing discontent with "stuff". Have you noticed it? I have, especially this last Christmas. In fact, I kept hearing from families who decided to spend less money on extra crap and became more thoughtful in their actions. People want something DEEPER...more meaningful. Have you noticed that the cigar box guitar seems to be, by it's very nature, a SYMBOL of that back-to-basics spirit? Even though guitarists can buy a fantastically made Chinese guitar for under $200, so many are turning to our CBG Revolution because we offer something that the modern companies can't: TRUE SOUL. A cigar boxguitar cries and growls in ways you cannot control. It offers unexpected adventures when you pick it up. What Stratocaster can give you that? And in the same way, what perfectly packaged "widget" can offer you deep meaning and a true connection with the past like the way a home made piece of folk art can? Let's face it, CIGAR BOX GUITARS MAKE PEOPLE SMILE. They make people stop what they're doing and pay attention. The instrument, in it's magical simplicity, has the ability to break thru modern convenience and plant the seed of meaningful soul.What I'm saying with this is this: RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE ARE GETTING DISCONTENTED WITH MODERN STUFF. There has never been a better time to show the world the cigar box guitar. It's a symbol as much as a fun instrument to build and play. The pump has been primed, the music industry has collapsed on itself and now a doorway to do-it-yourself music has opened...with ready made audiences just waiting.”

Amen

new project - cigar box guitar flight case

I've started it. It's shaped like a flight case and made from wood. It will hold two CBG's and have a battery powered amp built in. I'm pretty excited about it. The case is made from some old pitch pine boards that are painted a sort of grey/greeny blue colour and because it's old, it has gone crazy. That will form the edges of the case, sort of like a deep picture frame with a rebate along one side where a piece of plywood fits to form the main top and bottom of the case. It will have foam glued inside to form shapes for the guitars to lie in. I'm looking for some cheap velvet to cover the foam and make a nice inside. I'm putting some photos on here to show how it is progressing. Probably take a few weeks to finish. Keep dropping in here to see how it's going. First picture shows the bottom section from the outside. There will be a speaker for the amp mounted in it.

Second picture is a close-up of the nice old crazed paint. The actual colour is slightly greener than this.

Third picture is the inside of the bottom section with two guitars placed in to help work out the layout for the foam sponge.

Update 18th Jan - started fitting foam pieces around guitars and made some compartments for the amp, speaker and accessories. I put a wanted ad on Freecycle for some velvet to line it with and some kind lady dropped off two wine red curtains. It will look great when done. I had a suggestion from a CBG freind in the Netherlands to use the lid as a stompbox, so I'm going work on that plan too. Building this is on hold for a while. Three guitars have gone to new homes so I need to make a couple more now.