special offer on two cigar box guitars

I'm making a special offer open to the UK only.

I have two cigar box guitars for sale. They are both three-stringed fretless guitars currently tuned to open A. They have an internal piezo pickup wired straight to a 1/4 inch jack (no vol or tone controls). I have given them the usual smojo treatment of having a distressed neck look. I'd like to move them on now so that I can make space to make some more so if you fancy one of these, here's my offer. £75 gets you :-

One guitar + free smojo handmade wine bottle neck slide + free leaflet on tuning and playing + free shipping to mainland uk address. This package would normally cost you £100 so you're getting a whopping 25% discount. Order now and get yourself an early christmas present.

Email me at my usual smojoguitars(at)yahoo.co.uk address for further details and have a look at the two guitars on my Flickr page here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21767997@N05/sets/72157622689976796/

Catfish Keith

Righto here's the lowdown on the Catfish Keith gig last night - simply brilliant. Just a small gig which was nice and intimate, I got to sit right in front of the stage. He played three guitars and a foot stomp box. Guitars were a National tricone reso, a small parlour style 6 stringer and a beautiful luthier built 12 stringer based on an old Stella. This guy can really play and his vocals are powerful and expressive. He's a great fingerpicker and slide player. If you love old style blues with a gospel flavour you'll love this guy. He's a really cool fella and easy to talk to. His musical influences come from the likes of Rev Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred Mcdowell, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Blind Willie Johnson, Leadbelly to name a few. That might give you an idea of his style of music. Very much a delta sound. Some of his numbers were quite mesmerising especially when he played the 12 stringer. He's touring the UK right now so why not check out his website and if he's appearing near you, go see him - you won't be disappointed.

http://www.catfishkeith.com/

life after Boxstock 2011

So I think I've finally come back down to earth (and the mundane) after a cracking weekend at West Brom and the UK cbg boxfest. What now, to stop me from topping myself every time I see the news or look at my ever-increasing bills? Well I understand plans are already underway for next years Boxstock so that's got to be good but it's a long way off yet.

Well Hollowbelly is doing a gig at the Verge (The Cheshire Ring) in Manchester on 26th November. My mate Mark C. is organising that one, I'll put the poster on here when he sends me the file so watch out for that. It's the first Northern gig HB will have done and coming originally from Warrington, it's something of a special event for him. Looks like being a popular gig so if you fancy it, get your tickets early. I'll give you details soon about booking.

Nearer to that in time (this week) and only a few miles down the road from me, Catfish Keith is appearing in a local wine bar. I've heard a lot of good things about this guy who is a superb slide player. Can't wait for that one, I'll let you know how it went later this week.

So what am I doing with my time now? Still making electronic stuff. I have a couple of those nand oscillator machines to make for friends so I'm part way on with those. No cbg making in the offing yet but the Boxfest did stir my enthusiasm for more playing and recording. Haven't done anything serious for months now and am raring to get experimenting again. I'd love to get something bluesy going on a cbg along with the oscillator drone box I made. Just need some time to get on with it. Got a busy month ahead with this 'n that but hope to find some time for music making. Be sure to call in here again for more news soon.

hot from Boxstock 2011

I feel like I've got a head full of bees, so many thoughts buzzing around. Fresh back from our 3rd UK cigar box guitar annual festival and what a belter it was. Held at The Public in West Bromwich UK. This time I drove down the day before. I've been busy making electronic stuff to take and wanted to set up my little stall before the big day. Some of the other guys usually meet up too and there was an open mic planned in the evening at the Barge and Barrel pub. Wasn't gonna miss that. Lovely sunny day too - perfect.

I was amazed at the level of talent at the open mic. Chickenbone John, who organised all this, kicked off the evening with a couple of numbers then it was pretty much non-stop, high octane cigar box music till midnight. Some of the guys I already knew but also some fresh talent.

Saturday was the big event. An all-day CBG fest with workshops, stalls and some playing. First hour or so was just spent chatting with old and new friends, checking out each other's gear and browsing the stalls. C.B. John had organised a beginners' building workshop. He'd put together a number of cheap, easy build kits so that newcomers could see how a cigar box guitar is constructed, learn some basic skills and have a playable guitar at the end of it. Following that they would have a beginning players' workshop to jump-start their CBG journey. What a brilliant idea.

Meanwhile I was holding a show and tell session and starting it off with my electronic stuff - various mics, circuit bent toys and my pseudo theremins. Seemed to go down well. Lunch time came and went in a flash but during the break, downstairs in the lobby, various performers played for us. Back to the main events in the afternoon we were treated to players workshops with Hollowbelly and Chickenbone John and another open mic session.

The afternoon was wound up with our first AGM. Just enough time to leg it back to the hotel, freshen up, a quick meal then back to the Public for the evenings entertainment in the Theatre. What a treat we were gonna get. An international line-up, headlined by Ben Prestage from the USA. I'm gonna leave it there for today as I'm pretty whacked out. I'll be back with more info in the next day or two.

two weeks to Boxstock - the third UK cigar box guitar fest

It's only two weeks away folks. This is gonna be even better than the last two. Starting with an informal Friday night open mic session in a local pub, then the big day on Saturday. There'll be talks and workshops and lots of like minded folk to get to know. weird and wonderful instruments to see, some to buy. In the evening a gig. Ben Prestage is coming over from the States, Tinqui8 from France and our own Brit-man Hollowbelly will be playing. I'll be there with a few things for sale, might even do the open mic and there's a possibility of a talk on circuit bending and home made mics and amps. So if you want a cracking CBG weekend get your tickets ordered ASAP. Only £25 for all that, I call it a bargain. Follow the link below for more details.

new uk home grown music group

Here's some exciting news for the UK. Following on from two successful cigar box guitar fests, some of the guys have formed an official group to promote the wider spectrum of work by amateur music makers. It's called the Home Grown Music Collective and it's about to launch next week. It's a kind of non-exclusive club that will help us to promote out music interests to a wider field, help people to get in touch with each other and at the same time, raise a little money to fund events. Here's a snippet from the website which sums up what it's about.

To foster and encourage the playing and performance of music on instruments outside the scope of mainstream conventional instruments. The group recognizes that it has arisen from the "cigar box guitar" culture, but that this is by no means an exclusive genre and reflects the ethos of making and playing instruments made from found objects and recycled materials, using innovative designs.The group seeks to encourage and revive the idea of making one's own musical instruments, and making music without having recourse to using commercial standardised instruments or adhering to conventional musical genres.

It's only £10 for a years membership and that entitles you to a £5 discount on the festival ticket. I'm really excited about it and i think you'll like the idea too. There's a great website for it. Have a look around and see what it's all about. Here's the link.

http://www.homegrownmusiccollective.com/

some cigar box guitar ramblings

I'm amazed and thrilled at the spectrum of experiences I've enjoyed through this wierd and wonderful subject. I've just had the pleasure of free tickets to the Pasion de Buena Vista - a fantastic stageshow of Cuban music and dancing. It all came about from meeting someone who bought a guitar from me and who happens to be the tour manager for the show at present. He kindly offered me a backstage tour where I met some of the musicians, then free tickets for the show later. What a brilliant show and it was a thrill to meet the guys. I even got to play one of my guitars for them. I am deeply thankful for the opportunity.

Next up is tickets to Ian Clayton's Concert for Billie. It's a benefit gig that Ian organises each year in memory of his young daughter who died in a tragic accident a few years ago. I'm really looking forward to that and it came my way through CBGs.

I've made some great friends through CBGs too. But one of the best thrills is when I finish a guitar, string it up, tune it and start playing. Something deeply satisfying happens. I know it sounds weird, but up until that point, a new guitar is still just a collection of parts that I have assembled. Even though I am familiar with every aspect, I don't see it as an instrument in it's own right until I have added the final touches and played it. Those first few minutes of playing are incredibly satisfying. It's like a new baby taking it's first breath. I have a little ritual when I reach this point. I bring it into the lounge and stand it against a plant stand next to the tv in front of where I usually sit. It's just so I can look at it, admire it and drink it in. It's as if I am seeing it for the first time and I can't get enough of it for a day or two. I can look at it and think "Yes I like that, I'd buy it if I didn't already own it". Weird isn't it? It's as if it came from somewhere other than myself.

Updates - the "special" is finished. I'm absolutely delighted with it. It completes my CBG "kit". It goes fantastically well with the wooden case I made and the old radio extension speaker that I converted into an amp way back and my hand-cut bottleneck slide. Every bit of it my own work that creates a completely unique and desirable outfit. This is a definite keeper and no money would prize it from my hands. I'm gonna take some photos of the whole kit soon and post them so be sure to watch out for that. Hopefully I'll get around to videoing it for Youtube.

The little recording studio I'm building is almost there now. Just received my Fostex PM04 monitor speakers but need to build a shelf to put them on. I had a play with the Roland midi keyboard I bought on Ebay. It took some figuring and I'm not completley happy with the set-up yet. It does some random things when playing. Occasionally, the notes played, continue playing until you hit the keys again. Not sure what causes it, probably something in the software I'm using that needs a tweak. Aren't computers frustrating? That's all for now.

some cbg photos as promised

I made an effort and took some photos to show you as promised. This is the "special" I've been working on for a while. It may not look much but my design aims were to make a visually understated guitar, quite minimal looking and a bit of a "ratrod". Having made a plain, aged-wood finish guitar before, and liked the look of the monochrome brown, I decided to make another but with some added refinements. The hand-wound magnetic pickup I won at the Birmingham CBG fest is the first refinement that makes it a special. Adding a second pup in the form of a piezo disc and a changeover switch plus volume control were the next additions. And to top it off, I've got some real bone blanks for the nut and saddle. Check out my posting on the bone slide to read about these.

cigar box ukes, recording and the "special"

I've got to make a couple of ukes, so there's a new challenge for me. Not sure how I'm going to make and attach the neck but I'll figure something. Big learning curve at the moment. I knew nothing about them except they have 4 strings and frets. So I reckon I can do the frets OK now but how about angled headstocks? I usually take the easy route with the guitars, just a simple cutaway headstock similar to Fender teles. I have a piece of hefty teak which should cut into a couple of nice necks and incorporate an angled head.

Still building my home recording kit. Just bagged a Roland PC-160 midi keyboard for a decent price on Ebay. Should be fun creating some midi tracks to blend with my guitar stuff. I bought a small, cheapo computer station to put everything on. Just need a pair of reasonable monitor speakers to complete the set-up then there's no excuse for not producing something listenable - aprt from lack of skills!

The "special" cbg is coming on well but still slowly. I wired up JuJu's coil pickup and a piezo disc onto a three way switch to give similar set-up to a tele - neck/both/bridge configuration. Added a volume control too. I'm using a 250k log pot. Got the nut and bridge to make now, add the tail piece, then I can string her up.

Hey I need to take some photos of all this stuff to show you. I keep promising but notice I haven't showed you some of it yet.

"my special" cigar box guitar update

Making some progress at last with the "special" I'm building. Got the frets in, fiddly and a bit scary when you think you can mess the whole thing up if you're not careful. JuJu's single coil pick-up is sitting nicely in the lid now, just need to get some bits to wire it in. I made a jack socket and volume control plate out of a piece of rusty metal which is looking cool too. The headstock has been given a white crackle finish look. I'm really taking things slowly though, thinking about every detail. When trying to create a "ratrod" (old distressed) look, it's a fine line you tread between too opposing forces. The desire to make something that looks like it's thrown together from junk and the strive for perfection which can lead you to over-working it. It needs to look like crap but in a cool and pleasing way and most of all, it needs to play well too. Of course you never know if you've created a winner until it's strung up and by that time, most of the work is done.

Been doing some home recording. Wow that takes some concentration. First the steep learning curve of getting to grips with new technologies and software can be extremely frustrating and hard work. Then trying to get your musical ideas to sound half-decent. It makes me realise how hard it is to keep perfect timing when trying to play a new track to add to it. Anyhow, after many hours of messing about, I eventually created a short piece which I am fairly pleased with. No cigar box guitars were hurt during the process - in fact none were used. I'm playing my Harmony H44 through a Zoom pedal and some looping provided by the Akai Headrush. See what you think, it can be heard on my Handmademusic site here.

http://handmademusic.ning.com/profile/smojo

recording my cigar box guitar stuff

I seem to have opened a can of worms by wanting to do some recording. A while ago I bought Cakewalk 4 recording software but haven't done anything with it. When I recently bought the Akai headrush looping pedal, I got excited enough to want to try my hand at recording. Well that led me to wanting/needing a small mixer so I can mix guitar and mic into the Headrush. So far so good. I also spotted a handy new piece of kit - the Line 6 Back Track. This'll plug into a guitar and keep track of anything you play. Great for keeping a copy of any good stuff you might knock out which you can save to PC and load into recording software. Still doing good. So I got everything set up, got a nice little groove going, saved on the Back Track.

So now comes the bummer. My laptop only has a mic input. First problem - The signal level from the Headrush is too high and distorts. I could use the mixer to drop it but then I can't use it with the guitar and looping pedal at the same time. Second problem is once you get one track down on the software and try playing another piece to it, you get a half second delay on the live signal out of the monitor headphones, so impossible to get your timing in synch. Feeling frustrated I decided to listen to my one and only decent track on the Back Track only to find that it's stopped working! Only had it a week or so. So I can't play with that either. Double bummer.

The good news - which I want to pass on to anyone thinking of recording with their PC, who might know little or nothing about it (like me) . I did some research and discovered my two problems can be sorted without having to buy a new PC. The delay is an effect called "latency" and you're gonna get this with most standard PC soundcards. The answer is a USB standalone soundcard. This will also solve my input level problem at the same time. It has direct monitoring of your live signal and you usually get two inputs which can be mixed to the correct signal level for your PC. There are several around - Line 6 pod studio; M-Audio Fast Track and Novation Nio all look good. The cheapest is the Line 6. You get amp modelling and recording software included and this one is the cheapest. M-Audio is more expensive but probably better quality but no amp modelling but the one that seems to offer the most, even though more expensive again, is the Novation Nio. Has amp effects modelling, two stereo inputs and recording software. I think that's the one I'll go for.

So don't hold your breath waiting to hear anything musical from Smojo for a while yet. More pennies needed to get the sound card and a steep learning curve getting to grips with all these new toys.

cigar box guitar New Year

Shit! Where did the first decade go? If I'm gonna make it to be rich and famous and idolised by millions, I'm gonna have to get a move on! Well Seasick Steve has a few years on me and he managed it, so I guess he's a role model for us all. Realistically it ain't gonna happen but you know what? I'm blown over by how many hits I've had on this blog and some of my Youtube vids. That's my little piece of fame and thanks to you folks for checking out my stuff and coming back for more.

So what plans have I got for 2010? Generally, the old chestnuts - lose some weight, get fitter, use my time better, blah blah blah. But realistically - CBG/music-wise I want to take a bit of time out from building guitars for other people. I have a list of personal projects I want to complete. You'll have seen some of them I started here months/years ago. There's my super-duper two-guitar case with built-in amp I started way back. Well before that I want to make a simple, one-guitar case and that's near the top of the list. I never have a decent case to carry the odd guitar around. The other one was a bit too ambitious so never got finished. Next is what I call my JuJu special. It's a keeper for me, utilising the fabulous hand-wired magnetic pickup I won at the Birmingham CBG Fest, made by fellow cbg builder and Yorkshiremen, JuJu. It'll have frets and a volume control - two firsts for me. I want to finish my SMOJO RATOCASTER - the strat copy I am building from a box of parts I bought for £25. I want to make another batch of tobacco tin amps - had quite a few enquiries about those; a stabilised power supply for my electronic experimenting and lots more - maybe a CB uke, a dulcimer, diddley bo - the list is endless. That should take me to the end of the next decade!

But most of all - top of my list for 2010 is PLAY MORE. I've got some great gear now and should make better use out of it. Most of the creative challenges of CBG stuff have been explored, so the final chapter is to get some of my own music down on record and hopefully produce some kind of album. Not becuase I think my playing is particularly good or that anyone would want to listen to/buy it. Nope, it's a question of 'completing the journey'. How many conventional artists - painters etc get all the gear, learn the skills, make sketches etc then put them in a drawer somewhere, never to see the light of day. Surely the most satisfying aspect is to finish the work, frame it and hang it on a wall. Job done. Creativity should not be stiffled or bottled and stored away. Once you've created your masterpiece, whatever it is, it's so much more satisfying to let it go out into the world. Like setting a caged bird free! That's the thrill I get when I've built a guitar and someone wants it; or I write my blog and publish it. It's the release that makes you sort of go 'aaaghhh' inside. It's a bit like breaking wind, such a satisfying feeling when you let rip and release it! So that's what I want to do with the actual music. In the words of Frank Zappa 'blow it out your ass, motorcycle man' though I don't think he was referring to creative energy! (It's just a great line I wanted to use). Hopefully it'll be more like a John Lee Hooker line in boogie chillen - 'Let that boy boogie woogie, it's in him and it gotta come out. And I felt so goood'

Happy New Year folks and keep on doing what you makes you feel good.