http://www.instrumentmicrophoneshop.com/guitar-building-basics/
Who Else Wants to Play a Cigar Box Guitar
Although I’ve been playing guitar for many years it is only recently that I have discovered the fun that can be had with a cigar box guitar.
If you don’t know what a cigar box guitar is I shall explain. A cigar box guitar is, as the name suggests, a guitar made from a cigar box. They tend to be home made instruments that use a cigar box as the resonator in the same way that an acoustic guitar uses its guitar body to amplify the sound from the strings.
Back in the 19th century cigars were far more popular than they are today. Wooden boxes were used to package cigars from around the middle of the 19th century and etchings from the American civil war show soldiers playing a cigar box based fiddle.
It’s quite simple to turn a cigar box into a basic guitar using a length of wood and a few tuning pegs and this is why they became a popular form of folk instrument. The simplest of cigar box guitars might have only one string, but they are commonly made with three strings and no frets. Fretting the steel strings would be achieved using a bottleneck or a piece of animal bone.
Cigar box based musical instruments are a traditional form of folk instrument that could easily be made using items that would otherwise have been thrown away. There has been something of an explosion in interest in these simple home made instruments, partly fuelled by the internet. And its not essential that you use a cigar box to make home made musical instruments. Many builders of cigar box guitars use other boxes for the resonator including biscuit tins oil drums and childrens lunch boxes.
So if you are struggling with complex chords on your six string guitar why not put it to one side and get yourself a three string cigar box guitar and get back to some roots music.
A Seminar in Building a Guitar, Section 1 of 8 — Woods and Basic Structure
|
|
Hal Leonard Guitar Building Basics Acoustic Assembly At Home $25.16 |
|
|
ACOUSTIC GUITAR BUILDING BASICS ASSEMBLY GUIDE BOOK $26.95 |
|
|
Guitar Building Basics Acoustic Assembly at Home Softcover $27.39 |
|
|
Hal Leonard Guitar Building Basics Acoustic Assembly At Home $25.16 |
|
|
Guitar Building Basics Acoustic Assembly atHome Pacheco $15.98 |
|
|
Beginning Rock Guitar – The Basic Building Blocks of Good Guitar Playing byShredder Jim Mattrazzo $19.95 Beginning Rock Guitar – The Basic Building Blocks of Good Guitar Playing is for anyone looking to learn how to play guitar. No matter what style of music, electric or acoustic guitar, lessons covered are applicable to all playing styles. 50 chapters covering the following topics : * Tuning |
|
|
Guitar Amplifier Handbook – Understanding Tube Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds (Softcover) $14.38 There’s a huge amount of hype and mythology surrounding tube amplifiers in the guitar world. For years, experts have argued over the tiny details of exactly how they do what they do, and how their various components interact. What’s undeniable is that, far more than being just a “loudness booster,” the unique combination of tubes, capacitors, resistors, and transformers in these amps can contribut… |
|
|
Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers $26.95 Full details can be found at translucidamps.com. Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers provides a complete yet easy-to-understand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. Profusely illustrated, the book uses graphic aides and basic algebra and scientific principles to teach you everything you n… |
|
|
The Tube Amp Book – Deluxe Revised Edition Book and Disk Package (Hardcover) $29.65 The deluxe revised Tube Amp Book edition contains 40% new material, with a comprehensive A-Z section covering all the great tube amp manufacturers, with histories, photos, and information. Amplifier brands include Ampeg, Dr. Z, Fender, Gibson, Hiwatt, Marshall, Matchless, Mesa/Boogie, Orange, Vox, Watkins and many others. Features a CD-ROM with 800 schematic and layout diagrams, from Ampeg to West… |