Tools needed to build a cigar box guitar

The exact placement of the frets is carefully controlled by a mathematical formula, which is based on the scale length of the instrument the distance from the nut to the bridge. The most common is the Chromatic Scale, seen on most modern acoustic and electric guitars, followed by the Diatonic Scale, seen on dulcimers, strumsticks and other more "primitive" instruments. Use a countersink bit or regular bit, razor knife, etc. Use your screwdriver to fasten the tuners to the headstock with the included mounting screws.

After the tuners are secured, tighten the screws that fasten the pinion gears to the tuner mounting plate.

Wind each string around its tuner a few times before inserting the end of the string through the hole in the shaft. Sound holes come in a wide range of sizes and shapes. On cigar box guitars, as shown in the lower part of the photo, the number, shape and size of the sound holes can vary widely, from simple drilled round holes to fancy F-hole style openings such as are seen on violins. A popular sound hole insert on cigar box guitars are simple metal grommets, sink drain filters and other metal pieces.

Head over to our Knowledge-Base for the most comprehensive guide to cigar box strings and tunings found on the internet. Then head over to our how to play cigar box guitars category to access the growing library of resources to learn to play your brand new cigar box guitar. If you think this plan is valuable, please share it with a friend on Facebook or wherever you like to strut your newfound knowledge.

Ha He Ho Hy. Ho Hol Hom Hon How. The ultimate beginners guide to make your own 3-string cigar box guitar By Glenn Watt Do you wonder how difficult it would be to make a cigar box guitar? Enough with all the talk. On traditional guitars, the nut serves two purposes: to hold the strings in the correct position, and to hold them at the correct height which determines the action of the instrument. Necks vary in width, length and materials, depending on the size and style of a particular instrument.

Necks may be unfretted, have frets set directly into them, or may have a separate fretboard attached. In other instruments, such as a standard canjo, the neck also serves as the body. The Plan Notch the cigar box Find the center of one end of the box using the box lid as the top edge. Repeat on the other end of the box. Keep the scoring lines inside the drawn lines of the rectangle. Use your razor knife to score the longer line, again keeping to the inside of the rectangle.

You want the neck to fit into the box without much room to wiggle. You also want the neck to be even with the top of the box. This is where your fingers and slide will be when playing. The opposite surface will be the back of the neck where your thumb will be. This will be where the back of the cigar box lines up. This line will be where the nut-bolt will be placed. This will be part of the headstock cut-out. By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: C. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.

Skip to content C. To create this article, 20 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed , times. Learn more Cigar box guitars are nothing new, but there has been a resurgence in the art of building and playing them. From the mids until the early s, cigar box and home-built guitars have been made by budding musicians who generally came from poor rural areas. The blues are typically associated with these fascinating instruments.

They have shown up in many areas of the US, mainly in the deep south to the Carolinas. Some have been seen as far north as Virginia and Pennsylvania as those who could not afford a proper guitar would make their own. Here's how you can make one. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet?

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Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article Steps. Tips and Warnings. Things You'll Need. Related Articles. Author Info Last Updated: February 23, Gather your materials listed in this step.

To start off with you will need of course a cigar box. Do not get a cigar box from a convenience store as they are thin and made of cardboard. Some places will give them away; however most will charge something. Something along with a Maduro sized box. Anything much smaller and you will not be able to get a lot of sounds. Too big is not a problem but you will have to adjust the measurements of wood. We will be making what is called a neck trough design where the neck enters one side of the box and exits the other.

This design allows for a strong neck and a place to terminate the strings on either end. You will need a length of wood as the neck. This article will show you how to use a standard 1x2 piece of wood poplar or oak, do not use pine or fire as a neck. The piece should be 3 to 4 foot 0. These will be the nut and bridge respectively. The nut is the piece closest to the guitar tuning pegs. You will also need some basic tools such as a saw basic hand saw and coping saw if you can get one , screwdriver, wood glue, hammer, drill and bits, wood file or rasp, sandpaper, rubber bands as clamps utility knife, ruler or yardstick, 1" deck screws are handy but you can use something similar.

Determine if you are going to make a left or right-handed guitar. A right-handed guitar has the neck oriented to the left. The tuning pegs will be on the left and the tail of the guitar will be on the right. A left-handed guitar will be the opposite. Step back in time and make the coolest old time instrument ever! Cigar box guitars date back to the mid 's when folks had plenty of creativity, but not a lot of money. Blues and country legends started on them and now a modern resurgence has turned the cigar box guitar into one of the biggest things in music today.

Bet you can't build just one! You can make your own cigar box guitar! The instrument follows the Depression Era "stick through box" design and uses a simple 1x2x34" piece of poplar found at Lowes, Home Depot and other big box hardware stores - or your scrap wood bin. Real guitar tuners and strings deliver the great sounds heard above.