smojo logo stamp

I've been trying to find a better way of adding my smojo logo to the headstocks. In the past I hand wrote it with a woodburning tool. Not easy to get it looking professional, not easy to control.

I'd been discussing it with my CBG buddy Mark and the idea of using some sort of stamp. So he has kindly made me a small rubber stamp, based on the new logo type I am using now. It's a little beauty. I tried it on my latest build using some white undercoat. I probably applied a little too much pressure and the paint bled out around the typeface - but I like it. Take a look.

distressing a cigar box guitar

I've started building a new CBG and wanted to have a go at making a distressed one out of a new box. I stripped the labels of this plain looking Monte Christo box, then sanded all the corners and edges to round them off to look worn.

I added some marks by wacking the surfaces with various metal items to produce a random marked effect that would make it look like it had been used a while. Some coarse grit sandpaper scratched across the grain in a few places added to the effect. Lastly I gave it a couple of coats of stainer which gave it a mellow golden colour and picked out the distress marks.

Next stage is to make a neck to look equally old. Probably use some mahogany and paint the fretboard. I'm thinking of white, then dulling it down somehow. Compare the before and after photos - I think it worked quite well. I may add an old label or two later.

pinched harmonics on a cigar box guitar

You'll probably already know that if you pluck a string on a standard guitar and quickly touch it at the 12 fret, you get the harmonic and octave higher. You can also find harmonics on the 5th and 7th frets easily too. Well heavy metal players make use of this phenomena to get those high pitched squeals common to that genre using method know as "pinched harmonics". It's a bit of a dark art to me so excuse my ignorance on just exactly how they produce it. There is a definite techinique which I'm noy 100% sure on.

Anyway, I was just messing about with my CBG and found a way of getting an unusual harmonic which I think is similar to pinched harmonics. It sounds unusual because you can get it to sing out whilst sliding. It involved using thumb and forefinger at the same time to pluck the string. Sort of plucking it in two places with these digits but in opposite directions. I posted a short vid on my Youtube site using it. Have look and take note of what my right hand thumb and forefinger are doing when I'm getting the harmonics.

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

cigar box guitar playing - tabs or not

I've been asked a number of times where I got the tabs for my playing on Youtube. The answer is I don't use tabs. I find them hard to translate into real playing. I prefer to listen and find it for myself. I have never tried much to learn specific numbers and copy them in the way the masters played them. What's the point, they all do it better than me? Besides it's boring and requires too much discipline. I prefer to experiment, improvise and find my own music, maybe using some well known tracks as a basis but putting my own stamp on it. So basically I just listen to the originals, and try to play it till it sounds something like recognisable. In the process of getting there, you tend to pick up other ideas and learn something about your instrument. I guess that's what the old players did anyway before they got famous. If you think about it, the version we hear on an album and get very familiar with, is just one performance. In reality the player will play it slightly different every time anyway, improvising and changing licks and tempo. It's what keeps things fresh and exciting. So don't try to copy anything too much lick for lick. Get the basics down but then find your own music, your own style and your own way of doing things. Far more satisfying.

major changes

I just quit my job today. It's been a total stress situation for a while and it made me feel like shit. So in a month now I will be free. Life will be a blank page. It feels kinda scary and liberating at the same time. I'm hoping that I can concentrate on this aspect of my life and get more productive. I've not done much CBG stuff for a few months now but want to finish some of these projects now and start some others.

Just bought a cracking book on guitar repair from Stewart McDonalds - "Guitar Player Repair Guide". Nothing in there about CBG's but a bit of everything on fixing and maintaining guitars. Real good stuff on three levels of experience which can only be helpful to any guitar building enthusiast. Highly recommended.

CBG buddy

Had a stimulating afternoon with my CBG buddy who we have now given the blues name of "Half Blind Clough" on account of his short sightedness :) We had a bit of a "show and tell" session and for me, the star of the show was his new creation. A really cool old box he bought on Ebay. He's fashioned the neck to reflect the nice jade colour of the original label and used his skills to distress it in keeping with the lovely time-worn box which dates from very early 1900's. Take a look :-

update on GPO tin

It's ground to a halt for now. I devised a method of using the screw-on lid as a volume control. I made a plate to mount the pot on and filed the shank down to be a slack fit D shape fit into a knob with a flat top. That was to allow the lid move up and down the pot shank as it will rise and fall as it is turned because of it's coarse thread. To fit it I needed to glue the knob to the inside of the lid. When set I screwed the lid on first, then introduced the pot and plate to the inside of the lid. The plate was drilled to accept two self tapping screws from the outside to hold it in place. It all seemed to be going OK except the knob must be slightly off centre in the lid and it won't turn all the way. So back to the drawing board on that.

I decided to fit a switched output jack so it will cut off the tiny internal speaker and allow it to connect to a cab. Most of the mechanical bits are done, mainly wiring up once I can get this volume lid thing sussed.

GPO tin amplifier

Made a start on the amp. I've cut a plate out of the bottom for access, fitted a nice old switch on the top and a 1/4 inch socket on the side. I've drilled out a pattern of holes for the speaker grill and started working on how I'm going to fix a volume pot to the screw-on lid. Just not sure excatly what other controls to add. Maybe an output socket to connect to a big speaker cab. It's a question of what amp module type I fit. The smokey type amp I built has some weird distortion that I can't seem to cure. It's OK really but I'd like to be able to have a clean sound too. Might have to try a different circuitry. I'll post a photo soon.

Car boot sale finds

I was telling you to check out your local car boot sales for CBG building bargain stuff. Well here are my latest finds. I wanted some small speakers to fit in my plans to build small smokey type amps and look what I found. Four brand new mini speakers in plastic cabs for a huge outlay of 50 pence for the lot.

Next - not quite so cheap but still a bargain for some cigar box amplifiers, I found a pair of 4 inch Kenwood car speakers for £3.

Even more of a bargain was this little Gorilla practise amp absolutely free on my local Freecycle site. Ideal for testing new CBGs in the workshop. So get out there and start grabbing some bargains.

I wanna do some cigar box guitars stuff

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms but still too busy with jobs around the house. I do have another project brewing up. It's a smokey type amp, going to put it in an old tin plated turpentine can. I'll cut a hole in the front for a small speaker but the real novelty of it is - I'm intending making the screw-on lid, the actual volume control. I'll drill a couple of holes in the top and fit an on/off switch and power-on LED. Probably put the jack socket in the side at the bottom so the guitar lead doesn't pull it over when connected. Should be really cool if it turns out as I see it in my head. I've already made the guts of a smokey amp and it seems to work fine. Just need to get busy.

Also in progress is a small booklet "How to build a ciagbox amplifier". It will be on sale eventually but I need to fine tune it and test drive it first. I'll post here when it's available.