Cigar Box Guitar: My New Hobby is Handmade
Cigar Box Guitar: Intro
“So I went ahead and made me a guitar.
I got me a cigar box, I cut me a round hole in the middle of it, take me a little piece of plank, nailed it onto that cigar box, and I got me some screen wire and I made me a bridge back there and raised it up high enough that it would sound inside that little box, and got me a tune out of it. I kept my tune and I played from then on.”
© Lightnin Hopkins
That’s the way how legendary Lightnin Hopkins describe his Cigar Box Guitar.
The only difference is that I couldn’t find any good enough cigar box for my cigar box guitar.
So “I got me a tea box…” just for $5.
As the tea box was too deep I used only the lid of it. That made a perfect body.
Pickup for My Cigar Box Guitar
The second difference is that I want it electric.
- I’ve got a small foldable magnet and a wire in the closest electrical store.
- The top and bottom covers of the pickup are made from the pieces of some expired discount card and glued to the edges of the magnet.
- Then I’ve winded the wire around that magnet. Manually.
- I’ve added 4 screws on the top of the magnet thru the plastic top to make the pickup area closer to the strings. I don’t want the lower the strings that much so I can easily play with the slide.
- And finally, I’ve soldered it to the 1/4″ input jack.
Cigar Box Guitar Neck
It’s just a regular poplar plank.
I’ve bought 4 cheapest peg heads I could find.
And I’ve glued the toothpicks as frets. Not too cool. But it’s just to point out the positions as long as I mostly plan to play on it using a slide.
Bridge
I used the banjo bridge. But I had to cut the lower part of it to get a lower action. Otherwise, the strings were way too high. Even for the side.
Oh, and too far from my self-made pickup top. The sound was very weak in this case.
Here’s what I’ve got from it:
But if you want a professionally looking instrument, you may consider to purchase a Cigar Box Kit at StewMac, a reputable guitar parts online store.