new Monte Christo and Cuaba CBGs

Some photos of my latest creations.

two new guitars and other CBG news

Loads of stuff to tell you tonight. Crap going on at work so I need a wholesome distraction and a glass or two of red. I Started work on two new guitars as per last post. The two boxes are both Cuban and one is the green Ramone Allones and the other is a Partagas, which is a sort of orange colour with wood grain pattern on the paper front. It'll go great with the reddy/orange grain of the pitch pine neck. The green one will get an oak neck and maybe stain it dark like the Cuesta Rey box I made last. I picked up some cheap stainless steel sink drain strainers from the Pound Shop. I thought they'd look good used in the sound hole of a guitar. Don't think I'll use them on these though, nice boxes as they are. I'll put some piccies on when they start taking shape.

The case I'm making is on hold for a while till I get some guitars done. Been collecting various pieces of foam packing material for the inside moulding so that's the next stage. I tried the lid for the stomp box idea but it didn't sound too good. I could put a pick-up in it but really wanted one to be useful on it's own. I might ditch that idea for the case and make a stand-alone stomper. I got the old bass drum pedal on Ebay which was meant to be used with an old suitcase as the drum. Haven't got a case yet but might work on that idea next. I tried the pedal on a plastic waste bin (which sounds good when used as a hand drum) but I had problems co-ordinating my foot with my guitar playing.

A few of other ideas. Photograph some of my boxes and put them on the smojomusic website for people to choose to have made into a guitar. Had a few requests for tabs for my tunes on Youtube. I might eventually try to write them down and maybe produce an Ebook with palying tips and some tabbed music but that's a long way off yet.

Over on Shane Speal's forum he's talking about a documentary coming up on tv in the USA about CBG's. He's anticipating it generating a lot of interest in the subject and advising others CBGers to get busy making guitars and sorting out their websites. Which reminds me that I want to improve my smojomusic site. It's free webspace hosted by my ISP. I've used their own template and it's a bit basic. It will take webs made on Frontpage which I'd like to try but as with any computer software, there's a steep learning curve to get it right and it all takes up time. If my plans for semi-retirement come off in Spring I can get stuck into some serious CBG work.

I went to a guitar fair last Summer. I made enquiries about having a stall. There was no-one else doing anything with CBG's or even slide guitar playing. If I can get a dozen guitars made my June I might try a stall there. I think they'd go well due to the brilliant and cool nature of these little buggers.

I've made the decision to try put a short Youtube clip of each guitar I make so potential buyers can see they actually sound good (despite my ropey playing). Youtube has surprised me, I've had a lot more visits than I expected and some good feedback. Well that's about it for now but I'll leave you with this. Clinton and Blair thought they were being cool playing sax and a Strat but what they should have done is got themselves a cigar box guitar. We might have forgiven them a little :)

Making a Cigar Box Guitar - Part 4 - the bridge

There are different materials/items used for the bridge but it needs to be a hard material. Some people use a threaded eye hook. I tried it but wasn't happy. I make my own simple bridge using some hard wood like oak or mahogany - a small piece left from the neck will do. I make it about 5 cms long and shape the cross section into an upside down T shape. The saddle part where the strings cross is only about 3 or 4 mm wide. I make it using a small router bit mounted in a drill stand. I cut very shallow grooves (1 mm) about 1 cm apart for the strings to sit in.

I string it up temporary but not full tension and place the bridge in it's approx position. Pass the string through the bottom of the holes you drilled at the base of the neck. You need to find the exact spot for correct intonation. I use a tuner and play one string open and tune it to an exact note (e.g. A) The twelve fret should be exactly one octave higher. I use a screwdriver shaft as a slide for this process as the narrowness makes it more accurate. Place it over the 12th fret and move the bridge either further up or down the box until the octave is bang over the twelth. You can mark it's position if you intend glueing the bridge to the box. I don't usually bother as it gives me the option of fine tuning the intonation whenever I want.

The design of my necks means that there isn't quite enough backwards offset on the neck (like a Fender) to provide enough tension of the strings over the nut. Like Fender I get round this by fitting "string trees" which pull the strings down onto the nut. I sometimes use small screw eyes and thread the string through the eye. Sometimes I make a small metal bar with a hole at each end and two small screws through them into the headstock. The bar presses down on all three strings simultaneously. Once you have these fixed you can string it up and tune it.

These small refinements are something you can experiment with. Once you have the basic box, you'll find little ways of improving them. All part of the creative fun.

More refinement tips to come ......

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.

making a cigar box guitar part 3 - the box

So it's time for the box. It needs to be a wooden one not cardboard. I mainly use the paper covered ply boxes with hinged lids. I cut about a 1 inch (25mm) soundhole in the lid using a Forstner bit. The neck will fit just under the lid when closed so you need to cut notches in the ends for it to drop into. I open the lid and mark the centres of the two ends. Measure the section of the neck and mark this at these centres, allow a bit more depth for the thickness of the lid which usually sits inside the sides.

Carefully cut these pieces out using a coping saw or sharp craft knife. Aim for a close tight fit. The neck should fit into it now so try closing the lid - you might need to make it a bit deeper yet - the neck should protrude out the back a couple of inches (about 2 cm). There will be a gap under the neck between it and the bottom of the box. I make two pieces of narrow wood to fit tightly in this gap to support the neck and glue one at each end of the box. When set I drill through the back of the box and through these blocks. Next I put a wood screw with cup washer through each hole and and screw into the neck. Obviously choose screw lengths that won't come right through the neck. This secures the neck to the box.

If adding piezo pick-up I next drill a hole for the jack socket, glue the piezo disc to the underside of the lid where the bridge will be and wire it out. When happy with it close the lid and secure it with a few panel pins (usually there's one already in it in the middle - add another at each end)

coming next - the bridge, string trees and stringing it up. Any questions feel free to mail me.

making a cigar box guitar part 2 - the neck

This a brief description of how I make the necks. I use hardwood like oak or mahogany usually recovered from old furniture and ripped down to approx 20 x 30 mm section and about a metre long. I round off the corners slightly with a plane and rasp then sand down smooth.

I use another guitar neck to find the positions for nut, bridge and frets. I have made a template on thin MDF and use this to mark the positions in pencil allowing sufficient length for the headstock and for the neck to pass through the length of the cigar box and protrude about 50mm for attaching the ball end of the strings.

I mostly use 3 in a line tuners which means you need to remove some material from the front of the headstock to create an angle for the strings to drop down to over the nut (look at a Fender for the principle). I mark the positions of each tuner post and drill three holes for them to pass through.

I place the neck over the box so that the bridge will be about 1/3 up the length of the box and mark the neck about 10 mm inside where the box ends will be. This section which will be hidden in the box needs about 3mm removing - this is to stop the neck resting on the inside of the lid and dulling the sound.

I cut a small groove across the neck where the nut is to go and glue in a large threaded bolt for the actual nut.

I drill three small holes near the bottom end of the neck abou 10 mm apart for strings to pass through. The fret positions and dot markers are now burnt on using a woodburning tool (or old soldering iron). Also my signature "smojo" on the headstock. I "treat" the neck with a couple of thin coats of tung oil then rub smooth when dry with a cotton rag. Finally I attach the tuners.

This is just a rough guide, if you want any tips feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me.

Next part 3 - preparing the box

New cigar box guitar photos coming

Been busy so haven't done much CBG stuff lately. Mainly because I got sidetracked looking for a resonator guitar. I found a bargain single cone Ashbury on Ebay. Sounds great played with slide but I won't let it overshadow my CBG projects.

Here's some new CBG's. The headstock close-up belongs to the Monte Christo box and is purely acoustic. The second guitar has piezo pick-up and strap as extras.

cigar box guitar resolutions

I don't like making new year resolutions because they usually don't last long. It's not a bad idea in away though, it helps to focus on what you want to achieve. I've a number of things I want to get done and they're noy big tasks. It just takes time and commitment. Maybe it's the Winter blues or maybe because my job has been at risk for a few months but I've been lacking motivation for creativity. It's still there but it takes a lot of effort to get the juices flowing. Here's what I want to do and we'll see how I get on.

1. Put the finishing touches of straps and logos to a couple of guitars
2. Photograph them and put them on here and my website at www.smojomusic.co.uk
3. Make some effort to sell them so I can recoup some costs and :-
4. Make some more cigar box amps with the money
5. Sell some amps :)
6. Make some "proper" bottleneck slides. I have a tile cutter and a pile of empty wine bottles which I have been meaning to have a go at
7. Write some more instructions on making CBGs to put on here (sorry if you've been waiting for the next installment)
8. Make a hard case with built in portable amp -see my next blog for an explanation

That's it - should keep me going till next New Year at least,

Making cigar box guitar part 1

How easy is it? Relatively easy providing you have some basic woodworking skills and tools. You can probably knock something playable together without too much fuss but if you get "bitten" by the CBG bug, you'll want to refine your instruments and make something a bit more pleasing to the eye and to play. I'm going to describe the basics of what's involved in making my guitars, then you can modify it to your own methods and styles. I will break it down into several posts so please keep coming back here for the next part.

Part 1 - initial considerations:-

Although they are fairly simple instruments you need to give it some thought if you want to make one. Do you have the skills and tools and materials needed? These are the bare necessities:-
Tools -

• Some sort of workbench and ideally a vice to hold timber/lumber.
• A small handsaw
• measure
• drill and various bits
• couple of screwdrivers
• tri-square
• sandpaper
• craft knife
• small hammer

You'll struggle if that's all you've got though. Nice to have but - don't dash out and buy them all at once, you can get by without them:-

• coping saw or jig saw for cutting shapes
• circular or bandsaw to rip down wood for necks
• router
• smoothing plane
• rasp for smoothing rough corners of wood
• bradawl
• soldering iron (if you want to fit electrics or burn on fret markings)
• wood chisel
• couple of small G clamps
  

Skills - obviously you need basic skills at using these tools but you don't need to be an expert cabinet maker!

Materials -

• cigar box - wood not cardboard. It could be plain wood or the type that has paper covering it. A good size is about 10 x 6 x 2 inches roughly
• a piece of hardwood - oak, mahogany, maple, beech etc. approx 2 x 1 inch and about 40 inches long
• two screws about 2 inch long and washers to go with them
• woodworking (PVA) glue
• set of 12 guage acoustic guitar strings (cheapest will do)
• threaded bolt for the "nut"
• machine heads for tuning - you could improvise with wooden pegs or screw eyes but in the end it's worth buying some proper ones. I use "three in a line" types that fit at the back of the headstock. A full set will make two three string guitars so they are very economical. You don't need Kluson or Grovers either! - just something that does the job
• three small eye screws - more about them later

Part 2 to follow - preparing the neck.

Not a cigar box - a salad bowl guitar

Mooching around the web for unusual guitars I found this site. They are made from wooden saladbowls, have eight strings and sound like Indian sitars. They're great. You can only access certain areas of the site if you register but you can hear a soundclip without registering. Click on the music tab to hear it. I'm thinking of making one.

Cigar Box Guitars - why so addictive ?

They are incredibly addictive but why? It's partly to do with their simplicity. No fancy chord fingerings to remember and only three strings (on mine anyway). It pushes you to be more inventive with your playing and also to relish the purity of simple, uncomplicated music. I sometimes get down to the most minimalistic playing and love it. Getting into a simple groove is positively therapeutic.

It's also pretty cool playing an instrument you made mostly out of scrap or recycled materials. You don't need to be too precious about the instrument like you might be with your 2 grandsworth of Gibson or Paul Reid Smith. I can't stop looking at them and admiring them either. The fancy designs on some of the boxes excites my musical taste buds. Seeing one standing in the corner of the room just begs you to pick it up and play it. I absolutely love 'em!

Cigar Box Guitar Dreams

They say that when you are learning a new language, you know you've cracked it when you start dreaming in that language. Well I had my first dream about playing a CBG ...... and it was good. I know I'm not ace at it yet but I can knock out some pretty mean sounding blues now. I just need to increase my repertoire. Anyone who plays guitar on their own knows how you tend to get stuck in a rut playing the same things over and over. Two reasons for that - you need to practise in order to improve. Then when you get it down pretty well, it's just easy and comfortable to keep playing that piece. I guess I need an amateur band of like minded people to play with.

I've added a picture here. The one on the left is the original I bought. The Quality Street tin was my second attempt. The first guitar I made I dismantled and gave the box to my duaghter's boyfriend who made his own neck for it. So I used the neck and tried it on this choccy tin. It's quite cool with a certain amount of reverb from the metal. Not much volume but I might put a pick-up in it eventually.

The green one was my first full effort of a CBG and was meant to be a keeper for me. I took it to work and a guy wanted one immediately so I let him have this one. It nearly broke my heart letting it go though. That's how it is with them - they are totally addictive and hard to let go of when you've made it yourself. I play it more than my Gibbson 335!! yikes and that cost a fortune.

bandsaw

Been busy with other projects but I've bought myself a bandsaw. This will be a fantastic help when wanting to rip down timber for necks. I've just built a new CBG. It's going to be a relative "quickie" - no electrics or strap. I am aiming to make a few fairly soon so I have a choice to offer people. Here's a photo of some in the making in my workshop. They've all found new homes now.

Dom Tomas CBG

A friend ordered a CBG for her son's birthday. It's a Dom Tomas box and the neck is made from an ice hockey stick I was given. The stick is just the right dimensions for a neck and is incredibly rigid. When I stripped back the paint I found it is a laminate. The strips of laminate run vertically up the neck and give it a stripey effect, very pale colour. Looks pretty cool. It will be a similar spec to the other Dom Tomas CBG's I already made - three strings tuned to open A, piezo pick-up and of course my "smojo" logo burnt into it. I have strung this one very light with 1,2,3 strings of a 12 guage set and tuned it to open DGD.

I got some great feedback. He was delighted with it and said it was the best present he ever got! He didn't even play guitar but his fingers are pretty sore now.

Monte Christo Cigar Box Guitar

My favourite so far and one I'm keeping. It's tuned to open E using the lower three strings of a 12 guage set. The tuning is EBE giving an open E tuning. The lower E string is same pitch as that of a standard tuned guitar. It works well as a sort of drone when playing and gives a nice bassy back fill to the sound. The low tuning seems to encourage slow, moody, swampy delta playing. I fitted two internal piezo pickups - one under the bridge area and one under the string area near the soundhole. There's a switch (not visible here) which will select one or other or both. There's no tone or volume control (keeping things simple - you can adjust it on the amp) but I thought the twin pick-up idea would give me a simple switchable tone control as the bridge pup will have a brighter tone than the one nearer the neck. It does work to a degree but not anything dramatic. I'm still experimenting with designs which is half the fun of making them.

This is the first one I have added a strap to. I saw this webbing on a car boot stall. A huge reel of it for about £1.50 and thought it would make great straps. It goes particularly well with this one color-wise picking up the red element in the box logo. On the same score notice how I echoed that logo with the fret markers as a novelty. The fret "dots" are triangular shapes burned in with the centres painted red and the headstock looks similar to that on a Fender telecaster and the face is painted a similar shade of warm yellow as the box. These bits of colour echo the colours and design on the box front. I just love those colours, this one's a keeper for me. Photo to follow soon.

About My Cigar Box Guitars

General information:-

These are 3 stringed, hand made cigar box guitars. They’re a well made but basic instrument perfect for blues. Being small and light (and inexpensive) they are great for travelling or busking. They have a very high action and no fret wires so are designed specifically for slide work and notes cannot be played in the usual way with the left hand fingers on the fretboard. Fret markings are burnt into the wood as a guide when playing but you will need to develop a good ear for pitch and a fair degree of accuracy when hitting your notes. It’s not as difficult as it might sound as you mostly slide up or down to the note and can hear when it’s right. They may look like toys but believe me they can kick out some pretty mean sounds. They are loud enough to play acoustically, though nowhere near as loud as a conventional guitar.

They have a distinctive Delta blues sound, almost banjo like but capable of producing some cool harmonics and overtones which you can’t seem to get from a standard guitar and they’re so much fun you can’t put them down! Having only three strings can be an advantage too. It pushes you to be more inventive and make more of your technique.Plug ‘em into an amp and they can really scream some mean and dirty blues. The pick-up is a sensitive ceramic piezo disc which will also pick up any taps and bangs you make on the body but I haven’t found it to be a problem. In fact you can turn it to advantage at times, knocking out a basic drum type rhythm as a fill in. Those shown in the picture are examples only. Each guitar is unique depending on availability of boxes and type of wood for the necks (which are all made of hardwood), I have produced a useful fact sheet to go with the guitars showing tunings, playing tips, techniques etc.

What are Cigar Box Guitars and what is "Smojo"

I first saw one on an auction site and bought it and am now making them. Here's three I made. They have only three strings and are played with a "slide" or "bottleneck". The guitars have a great old time bluesy sound and are fantastic fun.

The History of CBG's :- Back in the USA late 1800's in the deep South among the black African Americans, money was too tight to buy instruments. The first primitive stringed instrument and a forerunner of the slide guitar was called a Diddley Bow. It was made from a piece of baling wire tacked across the wall of the wooden shack. You plucked it and changed the pitch by sliding something hard along it, like a knife, piece of bone or glass. Moving on from that some people attempted to make a crude guitar out of whatever they could find suitable. Before long the cigar box which was usually made from cedar, (actually a great wood for guitars) was incorporated with maybe an old broom handle for the neck and strung with some wire. Usually played with a slide too. Some notable people who started out on a CBG include Jimi Hendrix, Carl Perkins, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf. Early cartoons show Micky Mouse playing one!

"Smojo" is the trade name I have given my cigar box guitars. The old black American blues songs often mentioned mojos - a sort of good luck charm, so I have called my little enterprise "smojo guitars". The name being an amalgamation of smoking and mojo. Watch this site for much more about these incredible little instruments.