and another toy and two new CBGs

Yup, another cool toy to add to my armoury. It's a Tapco Blend 6 mixer. I needed a small mixer to be able to combine several souces into the Headrush. So now I can connect a guitar and mic into the Headrush which will be allow me to add vocals or acoustic instruments when using the looping facility. The Blend 6 is made by mackie and very well built. It's been discontinued now so you'll have trouble finding one but watch out on Ebay for a used bargain - that's where I bought mine.

I've got two new guitars on the bench, half built. One's a Partagas, plain wood box and will get the ageing treatment similar to the Monte 3 that I made. The other is a Cuban box, first one I've seen like this and it's really pretty. Watch out for photos of them in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile here's a link to me using the looping facility on the Headrush and a CBG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy8Z5Gt38o

two new CBGs and a new "must have" toy to get

Just finished two of the batch of three cbgs. I've posted some photos of them on my Flickr site. If you want to see them they are here.

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

The last one should be finished in a few days. There's a bit more detail going into it including a sink drainer soundhole and a tailpiece made from an old hinge. It's looking cool already.

So what's the toy? It's an Akai E2 Headrush pedal. Just discovered them the other day and decided I have to have one. They are a delay and looping pedal. Designed to work like the old fashioned tape loop of the 60s. Should be fun to play around with. Here's a link to KT Tunstall demoing one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SfYS1aryPs

tuning lessons for cigar box guitar

Hi all. just uploaded some lessons to Youtube. Been thinking for a while that you may have built a cbg or maybe bought one and it's gone way out of tune. You've had difficulties getting it to sound right etc. So I thought it would be good to do a few vids for beginners, to get you back on track enjoying your guitars. OK they're a bit rough and ready and I tend to repeat myelf a bit but I did them more or less as first takes, unrehearsed and just as the ideas came into my head. I didn't want to spend too much time, just enough to get the information across. Take a look and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or two. Hope you find them helpful. Check them out on my Youtuibe channel here.

http://www.youtube.com/smojomusic

3 New cigar box guitars on the bench

I've got three new guitars on the bench in various states of completion. First coming off is a lovely small Cuesta Rey box - bright yellow. I've used one of these boxes before and they are really pretty. Mahogany neck and piezo pup. It's strung up already and sounds great. Just a couple of finishing touches to add. Next off the line will be another pretty yellow box - a Partagas. Much bigger than the C.R. with an identical mahogany neck and pup. Just about ready to string it up. Thirdly and coming along nicely is another big box - a white Hoyo. Paler wood for the neck, not sure what it is, but similar to mahogany. I'm adding a few extra refinements to this one. A crackle-finish painted headstock, the nut will be made from an acrylic plastic bathtub sample, and I'm adding a tailpiece made from an old door hinge. It's looking good so far but still a lot of work to do.

I'll post photos shortly and if you ever want to see what I have available, check out my Flickr sets at this link. You can see a gallery of past guitars and amps too. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21767997@N05/

I've added a couple of new vids to youtube too. One of me playing the baccy tin amp and another demo of the mic. You can also check out my bowler hat! It is an acquired taste though and I'm not sure I've acquired it yet. It may be the only time I wear it! I'm also planning to make a few basci instruction videos. starting off with how to set up the bridge for correct intonation then tuning in open E, A, and G. Aimed at people making their first guitars or those who have bought one, lost the original tuning and don't know how to get it back. So keep checking into my Youtube channel for these here. http://www.youtube.com/smojomusic

Thanks for all those who have visited my blog over the last few years and for those who have left comments. I always appreciate a bit of positive feedback.

tobacco tin amp and mic

Thought you might like to see my latest projects - a tobacco tin amplifier (above) and microphone below. The amp has a small internal speaker with an output jack that can connect to a speaker cab, switching off the internal one. There's a gain control which at minimum setting has an almost clean sound but when cranked up has a wicked distortion. Only 1/2 watt but more than loud enough to pee off the wife whilst watching tv. There's an on/off swicth and LED indicator. Runs off a PP3 9 volt battery.

The microphone is a passive device and simply has a 1/4 inch jack plug to connect to an amp. has a slight distortion to it - great as a harmonica mic. I think both these items look real cool and go great with the whole CBG ethos.

tins, suitcases, hats, carboot sales and cbgs

Five things I find hard to resist. There's something I really like about containers in general - particularly boxes and tins. They're just very useful for storing your treasures of one kind or another. Combine the elements of patina from age and maybe an attractive design and I have to have it. The prospect of finding them at knock down prices just adds spice to the recipe. I love hunting around boxes of junk at boot sales and charity shops and seeing what I can find. I have some lovely old tobacco tins whcih I started turning into small battery operated amps. I'll post some photos soon.

Suitcase - it's the old-fashioned brown cases I like. Pre-1970s I guess. Before zips and wheels were fitted. Leather ones are cool but so far I haven't found affordable ones but I do have a number of the hard cardboard type ones. Great for storing my junk in the basement and attic.

What about hats' then? I had to have a trilby didn't I? What self respecting bluesman hasn't got one. Yeah it's a cliche I know but I found one in Amsterdam for 5 Euros and it looked OK on me. That started the hat collection going. So what is my latest find at a boot-sale? A bowler. Yes I know they aren't particularly cool but they certainly aren't a cliche. It just gives me a giggle when I put it on and although I'll never step out of the house with it, you might see it on Youtube one day, accompanied by a CBG.

So what do these things have in common? I guess it's all about mojo. Most modern things don't have it. It comes with age, use and character. Look at packaging of food and goods these days. Plastic trays, polystyrene, cling wrap, etc. Look at what manufacturers used 50 years or more ago. Decorative printed tins, wooden packing cases, glass bottles etc. They just have so much character. It's about individuality, anti-technology, lo-fi, back to basics. That in a nutshell is the cbg ethos too.

more about the UK cbg fest

Two days on and I'm still buzzing about the event. Lot's of ideas rattling around my head. In fact I can't think of much else at present. Everyday subjects seem so mundane and boring when there's so much good stuff to recall, new builds to plan, newfound CBG friends to catch up with.

I have to say a big thanks again to Chickenbone John who organised the whole thing. He gave us a very entertaining and informative day and is a nice bloke too. Also thanks to his helpers who not only provided a band to play against but kept us well supplied with food and drinks. John explained the basics of making a cbg for those new to the subject explaining that in it's simplest form, it's just a box with a stick attached! He took us through the basics of playing and we all jammed along to a very noisy 'Walking Blues'.

One or two people talked about their specialities - pick-up winding for example, which is something I always intended to have a go at but have so far shyed away from. One of the guys has mastered the art and produces beautiful hand wired three string magnetic pick-ups. He generously donated one for the evening raffle. There was also a cbg, stomp box, hand made bottle-necks, and a few other items. My buddy Mark and I both agreed the pup was THE prize we were both longing for and bought a strip of tickets each. I couldn't believe my luck when they drew the prizes - I won it. After a great cbg day and evening this was the absolute icing on the cake for me. I intend to build a new guitar to do justice to this beautiful object. Got some ideas already but need to take my time and get every detail just right for my best guitar yet. It'll be a keeper of course.

If you're interested in getting your mits on one of these pick-ups, then keep looking in here. I'll be posting details of the makers name and email address when he's ready, he's just a bit busy at present to take orders. Hopefully I'll have my guitar made and make a short vid to show you. I'll take a photo of the pup and post that when I get time. Need to dip my head in a bucket of cold water now.

First UK cigar box guitar fest

Yes folks it's happened at last. My dream of a UK cigar box festival finally came to reality thanks to Chickenbone John who hosted the event at the Tower of Song Blues Club Birmingham . He did a sterling job and gave us great day of blues and cigar box fun. A relatively small but enthusiastic gathering of about 25 attended for a day of pure cbg indulgence. I met a great bunch of folk and got the chance to examine their amazing creations. I'm still buzzing from the excitment and trying trying to take it all in. So much to see and people to meet. Cigar Box Nation forum has been the vehicle that initially brought us together when I started a UK discussion group in an attempt to identify other CBGers in the UK. Just to say it was a fantastic day with playing and building workshops, a 'show and tell' session on guitars, pickup winding, building small amps and open mike session for those with enough confidence. The evening gig featured Chickenbone John and his resident house band, open mike again and to top it off, the amazing Hollowbelly. I'll be telling you more in later posts. Here's some photos of the incredible guitars.

some cigar box guitar photos

Photos of my latest batch in the last post. The brown wooden one is the loudest and best tone unplugged CBG I've made yet. It was a quickie - no electrics, but the box has a thin but solid wood lid (not ply) and I think that is why it's so loud.

CBG lesson learnt

I started two new CBGs the other day. I like to try something new each time so I designed a headstock that was slightly larger to allow the machine heads to be positioned so that the strings would be parallel and in line with the slots in the nut. I also decided to offset it to give a steeper angle for the strings to cross the nut and hopefully avoid having to use some sort of string trees to keep the strings in place on the nut (which I normally have to do). Well it was probably a mistake because it took about 3 or 4 times longer to make the neck than usual. It won't sound any better and I'm not sure it will look any better (just different). I soon regretted this little experiment and the words of my CBG buddy came ringing back in my head. He advocates the KISS principle KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID.

It's all too easy to get carried away with new ideas and our tendency to want to improve things all the time. Sometimes though, it's better to stay with the tried and true. Innovation is healthy and desirable and you have to try new ideas to see if you can improve on old methods, but you have to find a balance between the benefit you might get and the extra work or hassle to get it. In this case I decided my CBGs will embrace the KISS principle in future. I love building these little instruments but I don't want a headache in the process and I don't want a project to go on for too long. I like my CBGs to be pretty but a little rough around the edges, so too many refinements work against my basic principles. Lesson learnt (I think)!

To offset the frustration of making these two complex necks I decided to try knock off a couple of real quickies. Back to my simple straight neck/headstock design I started two more necks. I have a nice varnished wooden Gran Corona box so I used that on one neck and ploughed ahead to complete a simple, no frills, no electrics guitar. I got it finished in about 4 hours and you know what. I think it's lovely and i got such a great buzz from creating a guitar in sucj short time. I'll post some photos soon.

Having