UK 2010 CBG Fest part two

Top photo - Here's the "gang of five" UK CBG dudes at the 2010 Fest Birmingham. left to right: Chickenbone John, Hollowbelly, Smojo, Bluesbeaten Redshaw and Roosterman (at the front)
Bottom photo - After hours jam session (left to right) MrRandomWritings, Chickenbone John, Roosterman.

I'm still wading through all the messages, photos and vids that have been posted on Cigar Box Nation that have followed the event. Everyone who went, seems to be buzzing with excitement. I could get to like this thing!

UK CBG fest 2010 report

Wow, another cracking event and a big thumbs up to Chickenbone John for organising it and thanks to him from us all for the hard work he put into it. This was the second one and I can't wait for the next. Highlights of the day for me were the short documentary made by Lesley Ross on the UK cigar box guitar movement; Hollowbelly's playing workshop (see photo of him playing my special); doing my demo on my pedals (what a buzz and a huge step forward for me personally); the evening gig (loved Tinqui8's spot in particular) and just meeting so many great folk. It really felt like being part of a big family. There just wasn't enough time in the day, to explore everything and talk to all the folks I have met online. What I love about this stuff is the huge enthusiasm that we all seem to have for it. The creativity that goes into it is inspiring and the opportunity to express your self in an individual way is liberating.

Roosterman gave a very entertaining demo on cbg building - he's a natural comedian and once you've net him, not forgotten. The day also included a viewing of Max Shore's CBG documentary in full; a great open mic session; playing workshops with Yellowbelly Flatt and Chickenbone John (pity I missed CB John's but it coincided with the film). A UK based CBG fest has been my dream for a few years and so this was a a dream come true!

Here's Hollowbelly at the evening gig.

October in Smojo's cigar box guitar world

Well that's just about the end of summer, soon we'll be cabin'd up for the winter. It always depresses me, the thought of having to wait six months before we emerge again. But it's a good time to get on with some projects. October is now a landmark for UK cbgers with the Birmingham fest coming up very soon. It's shaping up nicely already. I've seen a preview of Lesley's short documentary and if you're still hovering about whether to got to the fest, we get to see the full version plus Max Shores long docu about them that was aired on the U.S. tv channels last year.

I've somehow let myself get drawn into doing a demo at the fest. I'll be featuring the Akai Headrush mainly and a few other bits. Kinda scary as I'm not used to public appearances but I know I'll be buzzing with excitement when I get through it. There's some kind of weird masochistic element here. Something pushes me on to do some public stuff but my old shy self wants to run a mile! Can you figure that one? I'm blowed if I can. anyway I hope to see some of you good people at the fest. Come and say hello and forgive me if I don't immediately know who you are.

What's happening here then? The two new cbgs haven't progressed much due to hospital visiting my old mum who fell and broke her hip. I need to find some time to crack on with them. I'm also doing some practising for the Akai demo. These looping pedals really are fantastic toys. If I could choose to keep just one pedal - it would be this one. There are probably better loopers out there but I like this because it's quite simple and has a great tape delay facility. You can really push your creativity with this thing without needing a degree in music.

I have a lovely old red Kit-Kat tin and I'm hoping to make a guitar out of it once I finish the two on the bench. When I do it will definitely be another "keeper". I'm also trying to devise a simple two channel combiner that will fit in a baccy tin. No batteries or power. Just want to combine a CBG and a mic into one output so I can connect it to the Akai pedal. I have a small mixer that will do the job to perfection but it's a bit cumbersome to hawk around. If there are any electronics wizards reading this and you know how I can make one, please drop me a line.

Saturday and I got the blues

Well apart from my wife breaking two toes a couple of weeks ago and my mother breaking her hip, everything is fine and dandy but I still got the blues. So what better to deal with it, than immersing myself in cigar box guitary stuff. My two new guitars are well on the way and I am falling in love with one already. It's on order for someone so it will be a short love affair. It's the white one you see in the photo.

I've posted a photo of the radio amp I've hacked together too. What do you reckon to it?

I've just set up a new Myspace page for my stuff. Not much on it yet but it's slow work figuring out how to do this and that to customise it into something worth looking at. I'd like some CBG friends so if you feel like taking a look and have a page on it yourself, please send me an invite. Here's the link.

http://www.myspace.com/smojomusic

I'm still here flying the flag for cigar box guitars

Hi folks, sorry if I've been a bit slack with my postings lately. I'm still as fired up over these things as before, just had lots of other stuff going on too. My passion in life is guitars and in particular, cigar box ones and all the crazy stuff that goes with them.

First some updates. The uke is at last finished. I'm pleased with it but doubt I'll make any more. Too complicated - I like the simplicity of a three stringed, no frets, cigar box guitars. Fun to build cos it doesn't take forever and quite forgiving if you make a little mistake. I've finished the old radio HMV amp and am well chuffed with it. First stage was to install an LM386 based amp circuit board. I just used the existing speaker, the on/off switch and one of the tone control pots. The rest of the radio was left inside but disconnected. The only adjustable control was a gain pot. The thing is pretty loud but very trebly. So second stage was to use the original volume pot so I can turn it down when the wife shouts at me, and add a treble cut control. Not too happy with the treble control. I need to experiment with that. But the whole thing fits the bill for a inique ratrod amp. Definitley a "keeper". I'll post a photo soon. looking for some cheapo radios at car boot sales now.

The UK CBG fest is looming. Got my ticket, booked a hotel - can't wait. Gonna be a great day. There'll be a couple of CBG documentaries to watch, some building and playing workshops, stuff to buy and a great gig in the evening but best of all is meeting all the like-minded folk. Aren't you sick of politics, newspapers, rubbish tv, work, adverts, crappy people messing up our world and all the rest of the negative stuff? Well I am and this whole cigar box guitar stuff keeps me going and it's good to know there's some other folk out there that feel as positive about this crazy thing too. Thanks for your great company and if you can get there I really recommend it. See my post on it for the link.

Got a great email from a guy in the Netherlands who wants a guitar making, so it's got me motivated again to make a couple of new ones. Had some probs with my bandsaw which has been "wandering" when I tried cutting the necks. Fitted a new blade and it seems to be OK so watch out for some photos of these new builds as they develop.

One of the problems I've found with CBGs with piezo pick-ups is the tendency to feedback when you crank the amp. I think I found the answer - a graphic equalizer pedal. I just bought one on Ebay for UK £25 - a Behringer EQ700. Only had a quick play with it but can see that tweaking the sliders down at the lower-mid range settings, really cuts the feedback. Why prat around with all the various methods of shielding the piezo when you can just plug in a pedal? This one is a bit plasticy but for the price is OK for home use and light gigging.

Finally I'm back into doing so experimenting with my playing with a view to recording. I'm messing about with my Akai Headrush on tape delay and loops. Some pretty weird stuff coming out that's got me excited. I've just opened a Myspace musicians page so I can put some recordings on it. I'm trying to get it to look interesting but it's not easy to work with - a learning curve to climb. So far there's not much on, just a short music track and a photo. Hoping to fill it out with some more stuff soon but if you want to have a look at it, here's the link.

http://www.myspace.com/smojomusic

September plans

Well what a sad state of affairs - I have no CBGs to offer at the moment. I'm still struggling to finish the uke that is on order. I've had lots of problems with the build and it will probably be the only one I make. The main reasons are that they are a completely different beast to CBGs and require a lot more work to make them. There's been a steep learning curve and I've had to correct a few silly mistakes. I'm ready to move on and do some new stuff. I have to make some more cigar box guitars soon. They are so much more satisfying to make and play than anything else.

I'm keen to start building some electronic stuff again, like tobacco tin amps. I have an old HMV porable radio - looks probably 1970s and I think it will make a wicked amp. I'm pulling some of the guts out to replace with an amp module but using the original eliptical speaker and control knobs. Come back in a few weeks to see how it progressed.

I more or less finished the "Ratocaster" - a no name strat copy made up from a box of bits I bought at a guitar fair last year. It got put to oneside and I finally got around to dealing with it. It's strung up and very playable. Needs a few tweaks to the action and intonation but almost there. Has a very different tonality to any of my other guitars. I personally favour the warmer grttier sounds of humbuckers but it's nice to have something completely different to what I already have. This has a very trebly almost metallic sound.

Been experimenting with making bottleneck slides from wine bottles. Tony Furtado showed me how he makes them when I went to his gig a few months ago. He's made thousands. My first attempts have been mostly disappointing but I've made a sort of jig to cut the initial score mark nice and straight around the neck. It works a treat and has improved my results. I guess it's always going to be a bit "hit and miss" making these things but it's another fun side of this crazy stuff. Hoping to take some to the UK 2010 CBG fest in October for a bit of beer money.

2010 UK cigar box guitar fest

So it's almost September now and I've not been here much. Sorry if I disappointed anyone. Well I want to tell you about the second UK CBG festival being held in Birmingham in October. Tickets are now on sale at the link below. Have a look and see what's on. Chickenbone John, who organised a cracking day last year, has been busy again and this one looks like being even better. You can either buy a ticket for the whole day or just for the evening performance. If you are interested in building or playing CBGs, then try to get there for the full day. You really won't regret it and you'll come away buzzing. I've ordered my ticket so I need to get busy making a few things to take with me. Hope to put some more stuff on here soon.

http://chickenbonejohn.bigcartel.com/

can't believe it's July already

Just looked at my last post - May and now we're half way through July! I know I've been inactive on the cigar box stuff but didn't realise how long for. Summer is here and for a change, here in England, we have been having a hot and sunny one. I seem to have deserted the cool, dark, dusty, basement workshop for the bright, warm sunshine - vacations, afternoon beers, walks in the park - you know all that boring stuff you need to do in summer. I do find that creativity comes and goes in cycles. I get really hyped up over something, then like a fire, it starts to burn lower and if you're not careful, it dies out. Well this cbg stuff seems to keep glowing like an ember. I just need to feed it a little and it bursts into flames again.

I've been plodding along with a CB uke for weeks. Because it's a new direction, it is taking a lot of time and thinking about. I'm not really enthusiastic about it but it's on order and I need to get it built. So I forced myself out of the apathy (mainly because it's rainy now) and into the workshop. The build is progressing nicely. Just fitted the frets (not my favourite job) but necessary for a uke. The neck is looking great. I need to file the fret ends smoothe and treat the neck - probably just oil it. Trying to decide on a finish for the headstock. I like to reflect the colour or design of the body on the headstock in some way. It just seems to make the design "gel".Another new direction in this build will be the bridge. I'm gonna try make a traditional uke style bridge. There's not so much leeway for individuality on a uke than there is on a three-string CBG. Mainly because there are certain elements that must be present, like fret wires and the fact that the nylon strings don't transmit the vibrations as well as steel. So I don't think you can get away with rusty bolts for bridges and nuts like you can on a CBG. I'll post some photos soon. Until then, enjoy the summer whilst it's here.

two new cigar box guitars

Just added some photos of two new guitars for sale to my Flickr page. The green Ramone Allones was one I made a while ago and was going to be a keeper. I just made another with the same type of box because I love the colour of it. I am keeping that one instead. Sounds/plays just the same but I like the paint job on the new one better - my privilege. Ha. The second one is Don Tomas box. Similar to several I previously made. They are a decent sounding box and a nice crisp design on the front. I like the crackle finish paint and distressing treatment on the neck of this one. Both tuned to open A or can detune to G with same strings. Fretless 3 stringers as usual for great slide playing. Have a look at my Flickr page and email for more details if you are interested.

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

2 new toys

Just had a great caravanning holiday in Devon (anti-caravanners might want to leave here). My fingers were getting restless when I stumbled into a music shop. Right in the doorway were some ukes. I've been asked to build a cbg uke but not sure about construction yet. I've been fancying one for myself and being too impatient to wait until I can make one, I decided to spend my birthday money and buy one satisfying the need for a musical toy for the caravan and a model for basing a cbg uke on. I avoided the cheapest painted ones you can pick up for about £15 and picked a natural wood concert model. It's a sweet little instrument and great fun for doodling on.

A day or two after buying it, I came across a junk shop. A proper one full of tatty stuff and run by an old chap who was fiddling with an old radio. I spotted a narly looking banjo-uke, all dusty, rusty and nicely worn. A ratrod uke if ever there was one! The bridge was placed up near the bottom of the neck - the wrong end of the skin. I asked the bloke how much he wanted for it - £25. I had a good look and moved the bridge roughly to where it should be and strummed it. "Sounds better already" he said. "That should be worth a fiver off the price then" I said cheekily. "Are you making me an offer" he replied. "You got a deal" I said and bought it for a crisp £20 note.

I got it back to the van and sat outside in the sun to play with my second new toy of the week. The strings were still on it and it all seemed pretty much intact. I tuned it up and had a little play on it. So far the wife hadn't objected too much but when I put my upturned straw hat on the ground in front of me, in case any fellow campers felt the need to reward my entertainment with some gold, she put her foot down and ordered its removal. It's a bugger to keep in tune but it's fun and looks great.