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All Blog Posts (2,112)

c b alternatives

hello to all out there ,just wondering how many people use alternative boxes,as i have recently used a beech wood fishing float box & sewing kit boxes for my builds .its real hard to get c bs in the uk so im haveing to use what i can

Added by dan wilcox on November 13, 2010 at 8:32am — 6 Comments

Triads: Exploring the Basic Building Blocks of Open Tunings

I have been playing in open tunings since the 1980s. At first having no understanding of music theory, they appeared to be a vast wasteland that did not yield much bounty. Of course, this is far from the truth. It is all there, but I could not see it.

Currently, I am fasinated by the reduction of the traditional 6 string tunings down to the essential 3 notes that make up a major chord. (A Major Triad contains the 1,3,5 tones from the Major Scale). The very heart of open…

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Added by Keni Lee Burgess on November 13, 2010 at 3:30am — 3 Comments

o m g

went to a ben prestage gig in dery uk last night ,i have never seen such a talented man.pure c b g and country blues , 4 insurments at once plus vocals ,legand ! also had a chat with him absolute gentelman !

Added by dan wilcox on November 12, 2010 at 10:25am — 3 Comments

Cigar Box Guitar Kits

Learn the easy way to build a Cigar Box Guitar. Check out my site.

Kits: http://www.mojocbg.com

Added by James Bush on November 12, 2010 at 7:35am — 2 Comments

Does anybody read these individual blogs?

I have considered actually using this blog portion to infect my thoughts on others, but does anyone actually read them? Hmmm. Maybe I will start ranting on a regular basis and see who notices.

Added by Joker on November 10, 2010 at 4:36am — 11 Comments

Song Tabs for Chromatically Fretted Instruments

Hi All.

I recently built a 4-stringer with equal-spaced strings and chromatically spaced frets. I have tuned it to "GDgd", which is an extension of the "GDg" tuning of my diatonically fretted cigar box stick dulcimers (strum sticks). The new string is on the high side. I also plan to play around with "ADad" tuning where the new string is the low string. With my old diatonic song tabs, most can be played on a single string, and this should hold true for the chromatic version with GDgd… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on November 5, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments

Have built a new 4-Stringer CBG...

Hi All.

I have been working on a new 4-stringer CBG with a 20" scale length and which will be tuned like a Baritone Ukulele, except with steel guitar strings. That is, it will be tuned D-G-B-E so I can get a bit more familiar with the guitar layout while playing with an instrument whose dimensions are more to my liking.

I have a few photos, so I guess that would be a good place to start.

Here is a photo of… Continue

Added by Rand Moore on November 2, 2010 at 5:00am — 2 Comments

jelly baby

can't seem to upload music here but if you want to hear how the jelly baby tin banjo sounds visit here www.myspace.com/marshallstapleton

Added by marshall stapleton on October 31, 2010 at 5:51am — No Comments

My License Plate Reso

So my License Plate Reso is not selling. Don't get me wrong, it looks as cool as hell. I just don't think I like the way it sounds. So I am going to do something about it. I am going to modify it into something else that I can use. I have a really nice Reso built by Shane Wagstaff who is also on The Nation. It's a sweet sweet sounding box. So I will have a go a modding the License Plate Reso myself into a non Reso with a mag Pup.…

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Added by Norm Fasey on October 30, 2010 at 11:07am — 18 Comments

having trouble

I am building a six string cigar box. The neck comes from a johnson acoustic. The problem I am having is after taking the johnson a part I noticed the trus rod wasn't attached to the headstock it is basically floating around in the neck. There is no "point of entrance" on the headstock. Should I drill into the headstock to try and secure this??? How would I go about doing that?

Added by drewber on October 30, 2010 at 3:36am — No Comments

truss rod trouble

i am using a johnson acoustic six string neck for my first cbg. the truss rod isn't attached to the headstock it is just floating around. there is no point of entry on the headstock. should i glue it in place, or drill through the headstock and TRY to secure it? I am finished with design and cuts, just waiting to clue it in place. let me know what yall think.

Added by drewber on October 28, 2010 at 7:00am — 1 Comment

How does this 'blog post' work?

Testing, testing 123...

Added by Rhythm Shack on October 28, 2010 at 6:47am — 1 Comment

The Box

I picked up my Cigar Box this weekend at a charity event. Phil, the guy who built it has made tons of them with special needs kids. This is a special guitar :) Thanks Phil ! I posted my first sound-clip with my CBG. I used Line 6 POD with a James Wilsey patch to give it some old school verb.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9796547

Added by Kevin Donnelly on October 26, 2010 at 12:46am — No Comments

pieces and parts

Been getting some pickups and 3 on a stick tuners at suntek store, single coil magnetic with volume and tone for ~$6.00 they sound pretty good to me. Kind of a pain in the rear to find all the guitar parts on their site though.

Added by Bill Carmack on October 23, 2010 at 6:55am — No Comments

Cool idea for a build.

Cool idea for a build if only I could hammer a nail into a piece of wood straight! Maybe I could get someone to build it?

1. Buy a decent Ouija Board from Ebay. One made from wood rather than card. One with the letters burned into the wood maybe?
2. Use it as the top of the guitar box.
3. Tune it to the so called 'devils tuning' and see if it inspires me to write something dark!

Added by Norm Fasey on October 21, 2010 at 3:29am — 7 Comments

LISTEN!!! REV NIX STINK FINGER RADIO- interview with olds sleeper

you can listen to a podcast of the show that was recorded 10/20
here:

http://www.bigcontact.com/cigarboxradio/olds-sleeper-on-stink-finger-radio

the rev is the man

Added by olds sleeper on October 20, 2010 at 11:18pm — 2 Comments

Shane and the Nation get a mention in Nokomis, Fl

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101018/ARTICLE/10181051/2079/NEWS?Title=Nokomis-man-builds-guitars-from-cigar-boxes

Added by Dan on October 19, 2010 at 9:47am — No Comments

Quick lesson on determining the scarf cut placement on scarfed necks.

So what I want to do here is to explain how I determine where to cut when I make a scarf neck. It was hard for me to calculate just where to cut the neck stock so that i had enough to make the headstock (pegboard if you want) but not too much. I tried math. I tried templates. I tried Zen. Then the answer was simple! You will see below.

First off, I make my scarfed necks where the scarf (headstock) is over the neck and both the neck and head are under the fretboard/fingerboard.… Continue

Added by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on October 18, 2010 at 9:14am — 9 Comments