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Calling all Brits - introduce yourself here.

Hi all. Thought it would be nice to check in here if you're British. I know there's quite afew CBGers in the UK now because I've had quite a few emails from my blog. Time to come out of the woodwork and introduce yourself. How long have you been into CBGs? What got you started? What part of the UK do you live in? Do you know of any UK CBG events?

I'll kick it off. I'm David Ward (aka smojo) and live in West Yorkshire. Got into CBGs when I saw one on Ebay and bought it about 3 years ago. Started building and playing them. I have a blog going at

http://smojo-cigar-box-guitars.blogspot.com/ (sorry the hyperlink function doesn't seem to work)

Don't know of any events here yet but it would be cool if we could get one going sometime.

1 member likes this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by smojo on September 21, 2009 at 8:19am

Welcome. Can't wait to see photos of this beast!

Roy Mathur (Junior) said:

Me:- Born in London, UK of Mauritian parents, emigrated to Canada in 2003 (currently residing in Vancouver).
Instrument: Conceived of in York, UK, stewed over in Vancouver, built in Mauritius.

Instrument Details:- 7 string acoustic lyre, built-in wah-wah, based on ancient Indian instrument.
Materials:- old tea-chest, aluminium long-bow arrows, fertiliser tub, various scraps of wood left by builders and other junk.

Pictures to follow shortly.

Permalink Reply by Pete Handy on September 21, 2009 at 11:09am

How do I send a message to another forum member without butting into another thread, (like this)
Pete.
Tony Izzard, give me a ring or text sometime on 07946722515.

Permalink Reply by Norm Fasey on September 22, 2009 at 12:42am

Hi UK CBGers,

I am Norm. I live on the outskirts of London. Southall to be precise. I am not a builder. I just don't have the skills or motivation to do so. I currently own one CBG which was built by David Wards (Smojo). It is a three string fretless model. It can be seen here... http://smojo-cigar-box-guitars.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-don-tomas-cigar-box-guitar.html. I love it so much that I have ordered another CBG. This time from Darren Dukes over at www.Backporchmojo.com. This time a fully fretted four string 'License Plate Reso'. Which Darren is putting an old black license plate on and will finish it all off with an 'antiquing' process to make the wooden body look as old as the plate. Can't wait till that little baby arrives

Used to play in Punk Bands back in 1977. Became wheelchair bound in 1981 so sort of dropped out of the music scene for a long time. Been looking for a way to get back into music for a while now. Would love to start a blues combo so I can play gigs and learn at the same time. If any of you Brit's want to get together to do some gigs in your spare time, drop me line!

Other guitars I own. A Republic Reso-Relic steel body with the Chicken Foot resonator cover. Generally tuned to Open G. A Steinberger Spirit 'Cricket Bat' which I am currently selling on ebay to feed my addiction to CBG's and the Blues.

Favorite artists include all the usual suspects. Robert Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Howlin' Wolf, Charley Patton, Elmore James and of course the 'Man' himself. Muddy Waters (God rest his sweet soul!).

Also a big fan of Keni Lee Burgess's Youtube Lessons for CBG and Resophonic Guitars. Thanks to him, my song repertoire is now about 7 or 8 songs. Not all featured by him but he showed me how easy to it to transpose any tab for a six string that is tuned to an Open G to a three stringer. So now I am working on 'Nobody's Fault But Mine', "Sitting On Top Of The World", "Little Red Rooster', "I can't be satisfied", "Amazing Grace' and "Baby Please Don't Go".

Look forward to chatting to you fellow brits...

Norm

Permalink Reply by Norm Fasey on September 22, 2009 at 12:52am

I think you can just go to their Profile Page and click on the 'Send Message' link.

Pete Handy said:

How do I send a message to another forum member without butting into another thread, (like this)
Pete.
Tony Izzard, give me a ring or text sometime on 07946722515.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on September 22, 2009 at 7:38am

Aw shoot Roy! Are you still in Vancouver? We want some of your weirdness at the UK Cigar Box Fest!!!

Permalink Reply by timothy scalliwag on October 8, 2009 at 5:33am

Hi, my name's tim.
I've been lurking for quite a while so thought it time to join up. I'm from Hull, East Yorks, and though my birth certificate says wrong side of 40, it doesn't (always) feel like it !
I classically trained as a pianist when young but the excitement of Punk in the late 70's sent me out on the road rather than Oxford to study. Did lots of music stuff in the 80's, made a nice living and saw the world but burnt out, came home and settled down with a real job, wife, mortgage and started Dj-in' instead ! The job and Dj-in' lasted, recently the wife and mortgage didn't !
Always been fascinated by guitars but could never get the hang of them. Then 6 months ago my 11 year old son decided he wanted to learn, so bought him one and now he's teaching me !
Came across Seasick Steve last Christmas and loved the simplicity, it even made me dig out my old Cramps albums. I started looking for a CBG and missed out on buying one from ChickenboneJohn on ebay a few months back. Unfortunately I got impatient waiting for him to put some more up lol so went and bought a simple 3 string off a guy in the States and I love it. Might have taken 30 odd years but I've finally got round to trying out guitar ! Haven't gigged or performed for 15 years but I'm still Dj-in' in rock and metal clubs, though I do ask myself why every Sunday morning at 4.00 am when I get home ! As for making a CBG, despite reading dozens of instructions i still haven't got a clue. Always found words and music far simpler to grasp than bits of wood and those tool things !

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 8, 2009 at 5:38am

Welcome aboard Mr Scalliwag! Sorry you've had to reseort to buying a CBG from USA,there are plenty of us making 'em right here in the UK..quite a few changed hands at last weekend's UK Cigar Box Fest.

Permalink Reply by timothy scalliwag on October 8, 2009 at 6:02am

No worries sir, it was my own fault. i came home after a saturday night set, wasn't tired, went on to ebay at 4.00 in the morning, saw one of yours you'd just listed a couple of hours earlier, liked it then went to bed to think it over as you do lol ! 6 hours later it had been sold ! i did the old google search, couldn't find anything in the uk, so back to ebay for a birthday treat it was ! wasn't keen on British customs and postal "handling" charges though ! they cost more than the bloody guitar lol !
couldn't make last saturday but sounds like you had a mighty fine time, but i'm verymuch learning and now i've found a couple of links over the last few months to interesting things, i'll be looking out for something a little grander and definitely british soon ;-)

Permalink Reply by Julian Perry on October 9, 2009 at 1:02am

Hi Guys. My name is Jules and I am hooked on CBG's! I live in Littlehampton (optimistically dubbed 'L.A.' by some local loonies) I have only been aware of CBG's for about 3 months now and I'm just finishing my first build. I stumbled on this site by accident, as I have a number of cigar boxes which I keep drawing equipment and paints/brushes etc in, and found myself collecting them just cos they looked nice. Then I did a google search to see what else I could do with them.....I'm so glad I ended up here! Everyone on this site is brilliant, artistic, creative and inspirational. Although I am only just learning to play, because of the idea's and examples on this site, my first CBG plays far better than I do! I have way more idea's for my next guitars than I have boxes now though! Although my first attempt is nothing too fancy, I'm really proud that I've managed to create a working musical instrument almost from scratch. It's a great feeling. My thanks go out to every member on this site, and I will post pics of my CBG1 as soon as poss.
Keep up the good work.
Jules

Permalink Reply by smojo on October 9, 2009 at 6:27am

Welcome Jules, glad you found us and looking fowrad to seeing some photos of your cbg. Hey has anyone told you you're a dead ringer for Clint Eastwood? :)

Permalink Reply by Mark on October 11, 2009 at 12:18am

I second smojo's welcome Jules. Don't worry about your first effort being not very fancy - it's in the nature of these types of instrument that sometimes the least sophisticated or most roughly finished turn out to have the most magical sound. And if you have any queries or if you just want to bounce ideas off people you'll find there are plenty of enthusiasts on here who are more than willing to help.

Permalink Reply by Julian Perry on October 11, 2009 at 8:46pm

Ha, I get that all the time....I wish! Don't tell anybody but that actually is Clint Eastwood, unfortunately I look more like Lee Van Cleef! Thanks for the warm welcome and I'm sure to annoy everyone with lots of daft questions very soon!

smojo said:

Welcome Jules, glad you found us and looking fowrad to seeing some photos of your cbg. Hey has anyone told you you're a dead ringer for Clint Eastwood? :)