Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier: How to Craft One with Cohiba
Introduction
For the CBG universe, the sky is the limit, when it comes to creativity. So I asked myself: how about the Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier? It’s much easier to make than any Cigar Box Guitar. Of course, if you don’t mind do a soldering.
There is a lot of cigar boxes that are not good for the guitars but may be perfect for Cigar Box Guitar amplifier.
Choosing the Perfect Cigar Box For the Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier
So, I get one that looks very boxy but at the same time has enough room for a small dynamic and the amp circuit. It has to have room for the battery also as it certainly has to be mobile.
Small Cohiba cigar box: from some point in time my local cigar stores started to give away cigar boxes if they are smaller than a certain size.
Gathering Components for Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier
2 Watt speaker from the old computer audio system:
It can be any loudspeaker from 0.5 to 10 Watts of power. The best match would be 8 Watts. But in my closet, only a 2-watt loudspeaker of the required size was found. Remember one of my CBG rules: I make the cheapest possible instruments from some spare materials. I minimize the costs. Not by caprice, but paying tribute to tradition. First CBG makers didn’t have money.
And here is what I had to add:
- 3/4 input jack ($0.70).
- 9V battery connector ($0.90).Switch ($1.50).
- And finally the amplifier module itself. After some research I’ve ended up with this one described below.
Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier Module Overview
LM386 Mini DC 3V To 12V Amplifier Board
That’s actually it. As you may see in the upper images the amplifier module is quite small. And 3 of the 4 sides have the connection/control elements:
- DC Input;
- Audio Input;
- Volume Control.
Soldering Process
There is no way that I can adjust the amp module in the cigar box to make all 3 things accessible from the outside. That’s when it’s time for soldering!
So I extended all three controls with the wire. The “spider” in the following image is the result of this soldering.
Closing Remark
When I demonstrated it to my son last weekend I asked him: “Sound is awful. Isn’t it?”.
He responded immediately with the question: “But that was the point. Isn’t it?” 
Man I think that sounded awesome! I just started learning guitar at the age of 46 so what do I know. But…I really like that old school blues sound, very cool.
Rob
Montreal
Thanks. 🙂
Awful? Sound Awesome for me!
OK. I meant probably “mean” in good sense. Sorry, English is not my native language.