Playing cbg p1

Something that should have gotten posted years ago but didn't....

Playing Cigar Box Guitar - Part 1

Most folk, blues, gospel, and rock & roll songs are played in the common keys of C A G E D. They are all relative to each other. Each has a Major Scale that contains 8 notes (octave) A popular approach is to tune to the key of G. 1-G 2-A 3-B 4-C 5-D 6-E 7-F# 8-G

Here are 4 suggested tunings:

GDG / DGB / GDGB / DGBD

Here is an example of GDG tuning. Notice notes 151 from the G Major Scale are used to create this tuning. Use string strings: A (.045) D (.035) G (.026)

Working some wood part 2

In my last post I covered working on a "cigar box" type of guitar made from a cookie tin. This type of instrument can be made from virtually anything. In this post I am going to show you the painted tin, the tuners after I finished with them and the finished product.. enjoy.

The tuners are standard sealed guitar machine heads which I had purchased from an auction site. I purchased some hello kitty toys and carefully removed their heads and split them so that they would fit the tuner buttons inside. I then resealed them using a super glue.

 My original plan was to build my daughter a 6 string guitar; however, this build gave me problems at every turn. But the main issue being that more than 4 strings was causing bowing issues in the neck. I don't the proper tools to build a proper 6 string and that was a factor too. 

I put about 3 coats of black spray paint over a period of three days. I then used frog tape and cut the designs i needed as a stensil and sprayed on two coats of pink. i peeled the tape off while the second coat was still tacky so that it didnt stick and peel the black paint off as it had before. 
(remember problems all the way) 

I used an altoids mini lid as the bridge as i have with previous guitars which i also added a piece of wood under it to make it firm and screwed it to the body and neck. 

The red that is used in the bow is actually fingernail polish and it drew up the paint but ended up giving texture and looked pretty good as well. 

Next
I drilled the holes for the tuners and attached them. after puting on the strings 
(the middle 4 strings of standard guitar string pack.
)

Working some wood

I hadn't posted any of this before, simply because there is a chance that my daughter would see and I didn't want to ruin her Christmas suprise.

I wanted to show this for my friend Shad. I don't have a computer and this is all done from my phone so editing is a bit iffy and can't post like I would if it were from a pc.. so here it goes... enjoy.

I started this project with a 2 x 1/2 in x 30ish in board the length all dempends on how long you want your finger board to be. I also have some 4 in x 1/2 in planks to use for head stock.

I use a plane to shave down the edges and put a partal rounding to the neck and finger board. I also cut a 45* cut to the end of the board and cut a piece of the 4 in plank at the same angle to made the head stock.

This I glue and add two 1 inch pieces of all thread to two pre drilled holes for extra support.

This is all sanded down by hand until smooth.

I then stained the entire board with homemade tea stain made (by soaking a large 1 quart size teabag in 1 cup of water for 2 weeks) which I appled about 7 coats.

I then appled another home made stain ( 1 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 steel wool pad and 2 tablespoons coffee grounds soaked for 2 weeks) which turned the darker color which I used for the finger board.

Happiness

Wow! Its all I can say about what happened Tuesday night when I took my Cigar Box Guitars to table groups. I don't think I have ever seen some one so happy. One of our table members was so happy, he was more than happy, he was estatic to hold and play something that I built. Not just him but it seemed that at least 4 or 5 people from the other little groups came over to check them out and play with them.. it was rather awesome to see people get some enjoyment out of something that I built with my own hands.

I'm presently working on a few other builds right now, which I can't show at the moment because for some reason I can't get pics to load. But can tell you, its a thing of beauty, also working on some natural stains and will be producing some interesting colors for that.

I've still got another bible study I'm working on and will start getting it up soon as well.. 

Look below and see that I now have a way to keep this page funded, its amazon. Illinois is letting us have associate stores again and I jumped on it as soon as the email hit my mailbox.. in the next few weeks I will adjust things a bit better.

Until later
~B~

First 2 cigar box guitar builds

Sorry about the bad lighting in the picture.. these are the first two cigar box guitars that I have made. The first one was made from just junk that I found laying around or salvaged and I call it the "plinker" which is made from an old cookie tin, it has match stick frets and have made several improvements on it since I first built it. It is still one of my favorates to play.. the second one is made from a cohiba cigar box.. I have nicnamed it the "ghost" simply because it has a very haunting sound. I ported it to also be an electric but removed the electronics temporaraly to fix a rattle and the fact that from carving out a little of the wooden through neck it made it weak enough to bend. I have fixed this problem but still need to fix the head so the tuners fit more snugly. I love playin on the ghost as well... I have already composed a bit of music on it and will continue as time goes by. It may also be ready and up for sale in the next few weeks to make room for more builds..

~B~

Experiments in Music

Working on my first little cigar box guitar.. or rather the cookie tin guitar.. just made frets for it using match sticks also I have made it electric via a piezio pickup.. its pretty awesome so far if I do say so myself.. ill try and post a pic or two at a later time..
~W