It's...

The Player.

And then...

The Strings. And Scale Length. And Box Volume / Dimensions. And Soundboard Thickness. And Bridge Height. And Nut, Bridge and Saddle Material. And Soundhole Size. And Pickup. And Amp. And Recording Technique. And Song.

But Mostly...It's...

The Player.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 17, 2014 at 9:42am

add "pick up position" .. ( mag ) up by the neck = warmer fuller . back by the bridge = more treble / brite .

add pickup type .. mag / piezo , rod ..... and make / maker / model

add mojo ;-)

and ancient swampy secret heat treatments ;-)

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 17, 2014 at 10:02am

As soon as you plug any guitar into an amp, it's the combination of the guitar and the amp you are hearing. Unless the guitar is played through a "clean" amp it's difficult to identify exactly what's going on. On a lot of videos that I see put up on Cigar Box Nation, people are using a lot of "drive"on the amp, so that's tends to mask the actual sound of the guitar when you get that heavily distorted sound. Another big difference is whether the guitar has a piezo or magnetic pickup, as they will work differently with the amp. When I demo stuff on video I often use a pretty clean sound so you can actually hear the guitar and my playing - it's easy to mask a crappy guitar and sloppy playing by piling on lots of distortion and some other effects..so try not to get distracted or discouraged by that veneer of noise.

There's absolutely no secret, no magic bulsh*t mojo going on, no matter what some people will tell you. Experience and ability as a maker and player are more important - the mojo stuff is pure bull. I've had people ask me if I can make a guitar that sounds like so-and-so...then I check the video they are referring to and it's obvious that the guitar sound is drenched in slapback echo and distortion.. what the punter has fallen in love with is the effects on the amp, not the sound of the guitar itself. A decent amp that will go from clean to overdriven can help you assess the performance of your guitar - what amp are you using at the moment?

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 17, 2014 at 4:05pm

thanx wayfinder - ;-) actually it was more of a joke ..in that context (note the smiley ) ,

but indeed mojo exists ,, a bit of an umbrella term ,, but it exists . some call it the combination of all the mentioned components coming together and working out great , some refer "mojo" as to the look and attitude of a guitar and even the feel . and even a vibe of a good player / builder (he's got his mojo goin etc.... ) (as you mentioned ) . moreover ,, it refers to AGE , old dry wood certainly effects sound , and many high end luthiers ( not talking cbgs here really ) will use only vintage dry / real aged wood and charge by the $1000's . ( genuine old lookin / old soundin has real " mojo" ) not to mention vintage pickups will give a true vintage mojo sound to a guit that modern pups cant touch .. again .. not necessarily relevant to the average cbg here . although some builders do use old wood and old pups .

so , yes , it exists ,, sometimes used out of context . but it exists .

plus , it's our pet word . and adds to the fun . and i for one don't want to rob anyone of that.

and i'll still use it myself .

cheers ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on July 17, 2014 at 11:12am

Can't say about Shane. However it's easy to hear the difference between the two guitars he's using. Justin used an amp simulator when he played at the St. Louis CBG fest.
There is something to be said about who's playing a guitar. Back when I was playing regularly I was told by more than a few people that I made their guitars sound different when I played them. Truth is I have small hands and shorter arms. So when I play the same guitar I'm not going to strum it in the same place they would. But that's not what I'd tell them. To easy. I'd come back with."cuz I'm better than you." :)
As far as a wooden box with a ceramic disk pickup? Everything changes the sound. Even how humid it is will change the tone. If your using good pickups then it wouldn't matter what size box or wood. Duncan's, Gibson's, Fender's, Dimarzio's and the like. They're built so well these days they will only sound like the combination of pickup and strings used.
Then there's the pedals. Great way to add to your rig without braking the bank on a new amp. I think it's VERY important to say first. Piezos do not sound like regular pickups when played threw distortion or overdrive pedals. They have higher impedance and lower voltage (?). Weakens the sound. Haven't tried the one cigar box guitar I have threw anything else. But imagine it would give the same results threw phase, echo and reverb as well. If your interested in getting these for your sound I'd take a CBG to a music store and play threw them there.
Pedals I've tried with my Delta Blues CBG.
Fulltone 70's fuzz. Really smoothes this thing out. Kinda creamy sounding. Personally like the sound the piezo gets better than all my other guitars. Humbuckers or single coils.
Ibanez TS9DX. Payed threw all 4 mods. Weakens the clipping.
Catalinbread Dirty little Secret. Again weakens the sound. You get maybe half of what's available.
Danelectro Daddy-O Raspy, tinny and metallic on most settings. Really have to cut the highs and rase the bass on that one.
These were all done at low volumes so I could turn the drives and distortions all the way up. At normal volume levels all of these pedals can have your ceramic piezo screaming out feedback. That would be something else to consider when choosing.

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Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on July 17, 2014 at 11:30am

Shane Speal uses a number of tunings, some very "out there" :-o

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on July 17, 2014 at 2:35pm

I get a lot of comments about my tone and I rarely use any distortion, a little overdrive maybe but only through the amp. There are many factors for sure but without a decent pickup forget it. I use a 3 pole handwound single coil from Juju pickups in England. It always sounds great regardless of the amp I'm using, it responds when you play a little harder and misses nothing when you bring it back.

I'm not a builder and have no affiliation with the guy, I do have a lot of experience as a guitar player though and know a quality pickup when I hear it. If you want a a really great sound forget the factory imports and get one of these.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 17, 2014 at 5:47pm

I forgot:

The Amp Speaker (diameter, cone material, impedance, bracing, location). And The Mic. And The Power Supply. And The Voltage coming out of The Wall. And The Weather. And The Listener's Ears ( age, musical experience / knowledge, musical taste, exposure to Robert Johnson, Son House, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Elvis, Dylan, Hendrix, The Beatles, The Stones, Clapton, The Who, CCR, CSN ( and Y), Led Zeppelin, disco, KISS, The Cars, The Sex Pistols (Never Mind The Bollocks), The Clash, Metallica, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, metal, techno, rap, Fleet Foxes, Mumford and Sons...oh, and opera, classical music, 50's sci fi movies, hallucinogenic drugs, chemical fogs, the fog of war, The Fugs, figgy pudding, beer, ale, wine, water, spirits (both living and dead), Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pet Sounds, heavy petting, the back seat of a Nash Rambler, the back seat of a Greyhound bus rolling down Highway 41, Highway 61 Revisited...and...Cinnabon). Yeah. And WD 40.
And Duct Tape.

But mostly, it's...

The Player.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 17, 2014 at 6:00pm

lol, :-D

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on July 17, 2014 at 11:01pm

thanks for the reply.sorry I don't fully agree its the player that make the sound.

it has got to be the amp or distortion gizmo as well as the pick up.

Shane Speals has some great sounding music etc,his was just example to post up.

yes I understand that have different guitars on different tuning set up,so they all make a different sound.

some where in my grey matter tells me its the amp.

you tubes are full of instructors but very little in comparison to just playing with out singing.

there are loads of guitar playing on 6 strings but very little on 3 strings with out instructors as well as sellers.

don't get me wrong their are some good singers but I'm more of a guitar man,example I like The Shadows among others.

anyway thanks again guys.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 18, 2014 at 5:17am

john mackay-

Instead of comparing different guitars and different players , maybe your answer is best served comparing one guitar with the same player played twice differently .. then played by someone else on a different amp . here is Shane playing one of mine , note in his first vid in the description he specifically states the non use of over effecting .

In the next vid he plays in a different tuning .

Then in the last vid .. there is me demoing the guitar before I sent it to him .. obviously on a different amp .. and I tossed in some mega distortion in the middle (it don’t record that great on high distortion , but sounds great live distorted ) . you can also hear 3 swamp witch sound samples if you go to my website as pure clean . , reverbed and with turbo distortion.

heres shane 2wice ans then mew on the same guit .

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/swamp-witch-guitar-test-1

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/swamp-witch-guitar-test-2

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/swamp-witch-guitar-sp-demo

I believe that “ sound “ you are looking for , (amp wise ) is clean , with a wee bit of reverb . many players use this type of amp set up . my line 6 amp has a pre setting for it . also technique .. try resting your slide on the 1^st fret , on the bottom high string .. then pinch the top and bottom string together or “pluck “ them .. and slide to 3^rd then pluck again and go to the 5^th on the bottom string etc etc .. letting that bass string drone out open , adds ambiance . I use # 3 , 4 and 5 strings from a pack of 10’s .

Hope that helps . ;-)