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  1. #1
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    Apr 2003
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    Default Cigar Box - Guitar

    Hi,

    I am thinking of making a Cigar box guitar.

    I started to look around for a Cigar-box,then started to think of making my own - mainly due to the cost of the postage to get them - but also I can make it to what size etc I want.

    I really want it to look very Rustic too

    My question is - what timber should I use ? and how thick should the top and sides be ? I would like it to be lighter in appearance

    Thanks
    Greg

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth
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    649

    Default

    It will cost you far more to make a box than to buy one, also kind of defeats the purpose of a cigar box build

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Lara, Vic, Oz
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    58

    Default

    Unless, that is, you reuse some old timber - I made my CBG from redgum fencepost (top and bottom, resawn to 2.5-3mm, bookmatched, and some blackwood salvaged from a branch on the roadside for the sides , resawn 8mm, with fine handcut dovetails. Neck was a laminate of some leftover merbau and some yellow gum (merbau actually makes great playing fretboard). The blackwood has fantastic chatoyance, and the regdgum really nice fiddleback, and cost nothing. Used that rather than a cigar box that I bought for $10, and gave far more satisfaction. I cut f holes on the front, and a small soundhole on the rear for better tone balance. Yeah, very rustic, won't win any prizes but is heaps of fun and reinvigorated my playing!

    Only thing I paid for were the tuning pegs and fret wire.

    Go for it, tune GDG and get slidin'!!!

    Cheers
    Si
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
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    Default

    I have made them from cigar boxes and a home made the box too. Cigar boxes can be got on ebay for about $20 or so and with postage you are up for $25 to $30 per box before you start. Cigar boxes are not all the same. Some of the better ones are cedar. Some wood with paper covering and some are like a cardboard MDF kind of stuff so be carefull to get a wood one. The MDF ones need an electric pickup to get any sort of sound out of them. I would go for electric with any CBG to get the best from it. Even buying a box you should be able to build one for about $50 with electric pickup too. All the stuff can be found on ebay and other places on line. Google CBG and you will be reading for hours. I must say that the best sounding one I have made so far was a home built box. I used some old hoop pine from broken up display cabinet to make the box sides finger jointed together. Back and top was 3mm maranti ply. All stuff I had laying in the shed so cost nothing for the box. However there is a fine line with CBGs and the point is they should sound a bit trashy rather than like a propper guitar. For a first go I would suggest a cigar box so look for a large one about 24 x 16cm or larger. After the first one you should be hooked and go on to build lots more and learning a bit more each build. Have fun with it.
    Regards
    John

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Minbun, FNQ, Australia
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    Default

    G'day.

    It is possible to find boxes on eBay but beware, a lot of them are an odd size (too small &/or too thin) & just about all of them have a big ugly health warning sticker plastered over them & some of them are cardboard.

    The stickers can often be encouraged to leave home with careful use of a hot air gun but you have to be careful that you don't damage the box.

    I made my own boxes.
    https://www.woodworkforums.com/175253-cliffs-cbg-build/

    I made my boxes a bit too big.

    If you are making your own, aim for something about the size & shape of an A4 page or just a bit smaller. (Maybe 270mm x 180mm x 45mm)
    Make a mock up out of cardboard.

    The type of timber you use is really only important if you want to play it unplugged.

    The frame of the box can be anything reasonably structural that is easy to work & not too heavy.
    The back board can be anything that can be cut into big thin sheets.
    The top or soundboard is the important bit if you want to play it acoustically.
    Western Red Cedar quarter cut is very good.
    King Billy Pine is also very good.
    There are others but be careful that you don't blow a stack of money on something that is supposed to be a cheap instrument.

    Another member on here kindly gave me most of the timber that I needed for my first 2 while I was living in Brisbane for 6 months.

    When I came home & when digging in my wood pile, I found that I had 5 or 6 lengths of Western Red Cedar wall panel strips that I picked up in a clean up of a house we bought for a rental property.
    That means I now have enough timber to make about 30 boxes.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth
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    Default

    If you want to make a box, then go for it, that is the joys of making instruments,

    However if your making the box because you believe its cheaper than buying one from eflay etc, then I seriously believe, one is deluding themselves.

    As far as construction goes, it does not matter if its flat sawn / quarter sawn wood, it can be laminate if you wish, ideally around 3mm thick for convenience, any wood, from pine to exotics, basically what ever you can find

    I teach guitar / violin / uke / cigar box building, so ask away, but do not be making the box because its going to be cheaper, that is a mis-nomer

  8. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    BELL POST HILL, 3215
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    2,332

    Default The Box.

    Hi Greg,
    One Sunday, you may have to miss Church, & go to a Sunday Market. There must be one there somewhere, & you maybe lucky to pick up one, two for a couple of Dollars.
    Not only that, but you get to see what you are buying.
    The Hunt is On ???.
    Regards,
    issatree.
    Have Lathe, Wood Travel.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Washington State, USA
    Posts
    455

    Default

    Also, got any cigar stores in your area. Use to be they gave away the boxes, then the CBG craze started so they started charging for them. Still most charge less than ebay or other online places and you don't have to pay shipping. Last ones I purchased at a cigar store were 4 for $10. Don't know what that equates to in your area. A great place to get ideas and learn, you probably already know it Cigar Box Nation on the internet.

    Cigar Box Nation - #1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

    Don't by anything smaller than around 180mm x 250mm x 60mm and wooden ones are best, most wooden ones will be spanish cedar, hopefully.

  10. #9
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    Sep 2002
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    Minbun, FNQ, Australia
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    Default

    I tried asking a couple of Tobacconists in Cairns & got nothing.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  11. #10
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    Apr 2003
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    Sydney
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    Thumbs up

    Thanks for all of the replies.

    I have had a look around EBAY and there does seem to be some rubbish there and a lot too small.

    My reason for making my own was not to save money but really to make the right size etc - I asked around a few Cig shops - and the ones they mainly have are a bit too small .

    Cliff,I did read through all your posts - and they probably were one reason for me to get started down this track -

    Oh well - I might start making some boxes

  12. #11
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    Sep 2002
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    Default

    Go for it, don't be discouraged if the first one isn't perfect, it gives you a reason to make another one.

    An old mate we visited yesterday is restoring an old car.
    He hasn't said it out loud but he knows that the project will outlive him.

    His philosophy is to focus on the journey, not the destination.
    Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Lara, Vic, Oz
    Posts
    58

    Default

    Wise words Cliff!

    I like that the origins of CBGs weren't purely cigar boxes, but the reuse of whatever cheap was to hand - tomato crates, bolts for nuts and bridges etc etc,(or even old steel hubcaps and a broom handle - seen Seasick Steve?). There is some serious one-upmanship on Ebay, going for boxes from the most expensive cigars etc, which seem to me to miss the point. I also don't mind modding my own box (drilling various soundholes etc) which I might avoid with a fancy cigar box.

    How much cheaper than nothing can you get? I struggled to find a reasonable wooden box for under $20-30, certainly within a reasonable timescale, whereas it was easy to find suitable timber lying around, and as Cliff says, found much satisfaction in the making as well as the playing.

    I'd also suggest that its worth spending more time and energy getting the fretboard and action right than the box.

    Cheers
    Si

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
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    Default

    Some inspiration for you. These guys make instruments out of all sorts of things. Cigar boxes, hubcaps. old suitcases and other junk so dont feel limited for materials.
    The Recycled String Band Recycle and Reuse - YouTube

    Regards
    John

  15. #14
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    Default

    More here.

    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  16. #15
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    Apr 2002
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    Brisbane
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    Default

    as other have mentioned...unless you particularly want the cigar box look..there are plenty of other opions.

    Tins are far more easily obtained, biscuit, oil and olive tins are popular......but with the tin the tendancy is for a thru kneck.

    I don't know if he has a veb presence for his music persiuts, but Stan from Mulimbimby woodworks does quite a bit of work with tin bassed stringed instruments.

    Cigar boxes are nowhere near as common as they once where......in the US in the 40s and 50s there where everywhere and cheap as chips.....due to the Us relationship with cuba at the time.

    In the spirit of the idea, maybe you should look for something that is cheap and common now.

    Oh ..OH.....cheap turning chisel sets come in wooden boxes with a thin pluwood top and bottom.

    Another thing that could be stripped back is a pen turners display box...the deep ones may be about the right size.

    the other thing is to look at craft and home decorating shops...they may have some sort of reproduction trash that suits the purpose.

    cheers
    Any thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
    Most powertools have sharp teeth.
    People are made of meat.
    Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.

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