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At what point does a movement become an industry?

There a few mass produced, "cigar box," instruments on the market today. The Electric Blues Box Slide Guitar by Hinkler and the Eddy Finn Cigar Box Ukulele.

When it comes to the mass produced CBGs, here's a call to action. Instead of steering away from, and being appalled by them, embrace it. For example. I bought my nephew one of the Hinkler CBG kits, and I bought one for myself. If you see a CB instrument in a store, ask if you can do a show/demo there, and leave some of your business cards near the display. Doing the show would promote CBGs, and show that they're playable, but also promote local builders.

We also have some notable players in the Revolution, and celebrities are starting to play them. My question is when does a movement become an industry?

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on April 5, 2017 at 2:49am

i think CBG makers would fall into what would be called a "Cottage Industry"

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on April 5, 2017 at 11:20pm

they obviously didnt make much money from this. that article is 4 years old. the ebay seller no longer has them listed and checking the ebay store and what they have listed . they sell lots of musical instruments and accessories but only 3 CBG items all of them tail pieces.

The CBG in question was also a Uke...

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on April 5, 2017 at 3:31am

I ask this because most DIY movements get the corporate treatment. 2 unrelated examples. The Halloween and haunted attraction industries, you can probably throw Christmas into it. Long before there were animatronic props and such sold in stores, or made by companies, people were making them in their garages and basements. Even if there were manufactured props and decorations, you most likely had to buy from a catalog. My other example is prop lightsaber a. People were making them before there were companies, and high quality manufactured ones.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on April 5, 2017 at 4:20am

The only big name guitar that you could consider a, "CBG," is the Gretsch Bo Diddley.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on April 5, 2017 at 4:22am

And it's a solid body. http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/build/solid-body/g6138-bo-diddle...

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 5, 2017 at 8:02am

That it probably is, but consider: Jeff Lace of Lace Pickups just became a CBN member a few weeks ago, to learn

1) Did we really suss out how his Lace Alumitone pickups work, and DIY build them cheaper ourselves?
2) What are CBG builders and players looking for in a mag pup for their instrument?
3) is there enough interest / market potential to tweak the design / price of the CBG mag pup they just brought to market, or does the "relatively small" CBG market want or need something else?

The Chinese companies offering CBG kits have such low labor costs that they can afford to try to grab a little bit of non-player /non-builder interest / market share. And let us not forget, they still make gajillions of cheap plastic toys.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on April 5, 2017 at 8:23am

I didn't mean any drama or controversy by this post. I was just wondering, since we're the most recent DIY movement to get the factory treatment. Is Lace Pickups famous in the conventional guitar world? I actually want one of his matchbook pickups, since it allows you to switch from single coil to humbucker style. Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 5, 2017 at 2:49pm

No drama or controversy; we're discussin', not cussin' ;-)

Yeah, Lace is pretty well known in the conventional guitar world.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on April 5, 2017 at 12:15pm

It'a a fair question, and it was discussed here not long ago with particular interest in the Electric Blues Box Slide Guitar, the consensus was that it was not a bad guitar for the price, but was still struggling for sales, [at that time they were going for run out prices in a discount chain in Australia].The issue i had with them was that they obviously were mass produced with composite/synthetic materials, so in essence they were a different beast to a hand made cbg or similar, but they were very likely to introduce more people to the community, much the same as cheapo accoustics introduce many to guitars in general, then people branch out/ upgrade etc, mass producing with quality components would put them in the same category price wise as regular guitars, but a niche market, to me that suggests that the lack of potential buyers will keep them from overpowering the market.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on April 6, 2017 at 4:32am

The one in the other CBN post looks like this one. https://www.google.com/search?q=eddy+finn+cigar+box+ukulele&ie=...

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on April 6, 2017 at 12:06pm

When you can start getting things designed directly for that movement from the industry.

As far as celebs playing thats easy to label. They know a good thing when they see it. You can spend 10.000 but choose to spend 250 instead. Because it's unique and fun to play.