CBG
I recently completed my first a cigar box guitar.
My first CBG, in honor of C Troop 1-230th Air Cav Squadron
Closeup of the box itself.
I think if you click either of these pics, you will get a full size image. I put the fretboard on it, but then discovered that a string buzzed…and that I like to just slide on it for now, so I removed it. My next one will have a fretboard on it, though.
I used the middle four strings from a standard acoustic set (ADGB) and tuned it to open g (GDgb). The neck is three feet of poplar straight from Home Depot, with rivet heads to serve as grommets so the strings don’t cut a groove in the wood. The box is straight from a tobacco store in down the street. The nuts and bolts for the nut, bridge, and tuners are standard hardware for an OH-58d helicopter, the fretboard is (was) a yardstick I cut up, and the frets are (were) .042 inch safety wire.
The scary sombrero wearing skull in the front is my unit mascot, who I call ” Chuck” after our unit designation Charlie Trp 1-230th ACS “Comancheros” (pronounced: Charlie Troop First of the Two-Thirtieth Air Cavalry Squadron – Comancheros).
The two black strips on the box on the left and the right are zip ties I put on there to make a tight seal for the lid. I will nail and glue the lid down when I get the electronics inside and placed where they produce the best sound. I’m going to use a piezo setup, and make an amp out of cheap parts and make it electric. I’ll post that as soon as I get around to putting it together.
I tried to put a sound file on here, but apparently I can’t even though there is a button that says I can. I wish you could hear this thing, it sounds great. Sort of banjo-like, and much louder than I ever thought it would. If I figure out a way to put a sound file up (here or elsewhere) I’ll let you know.
Thanks to all the guys and gals on the cigarboxguitars group on Yahoo. I haven’t done a whole lot of talkin on there, but I’ve tried to do a lot of listenin. I hope I did them justice. Wait till you hear it!
