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Recent Changes at Cigar Box Nation

Hello everyone, I just wanted to make a quick post about the recent changes here at CBN. As many of you already know, I took over running Cigar Box nation from its founder, Shane Speal. While there was a financial side to it, the transition was marked by friendship and cooperation. While I have made some minor tweaks and changes, including a redesign of the site look and feel, I am committed to keeping CBN much the same as it has always been without major changes: a bustling, vibrant community that is the headquarters of the cigar box guitar movement.

Late last week, once the final steps of the ownership transition was complete, Shane Speal chose to leave Cigar Box Nation entirely, deleting his account from the server. Unfortunately as part of this all of the content he had created and contributed over the years was also deleted. I have spoken to him about this and he wanted me to let everyone know he is very sorry about this - he did not mean to delete his content from the Nation. While we are all sad to see Shane step away from the nation, I truly hope that it is the right step for him and that in time he will be able to return to the community he founded. As I have said before, to me he is and always will be the king of the cigar box guitar.

We are coming up on the third anniversary of Cigar Box Nation on December 10, and I am confident that with the support and contributions of so many great members we will continue to grow and thrive. I would also like to thank all of you that have taken the time to offer congratulations and give advice. I appreciate it!

Ben Baker/C. B. Gitty

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Thomas Smith on October 26, 2011 at 8:17am

Thanks Ben! This site is a great way to escape the rigors of the daily grind, and I am just glad it will continue under good stewardship. Please pass on my regards to Shane, and I hope someday he will do a tour of the Left Coast.

Tom

C. B. Gitty (Ben) said:

Hey Jim, I removed the donations button because the Nation is now fully sponsored and underwritten by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply (or in other words, me). Also trimming back the number of advertisements and no longer selling paid ads, because that revenue isn't needed. Just yesterday I was contacted by a big ad group who had a big-time client who wanted to advertise here, and I said no. Didn't even ask them what they wanted to pay. Being able to supply the CBN community with inexpensive parts for their builds is plenty for me.

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Permalink Reply by Gadsden Guitars on October 26, 2011 at 4:35pm

That explains why I couldn't find his three stringer lessons, I was all ready to get into them, will he be reposting those, maybe on his other site perhaps. Bummer to see ya go Shane, Godspeed.....

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Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on October 26, 2011 at 5:03pm

Those vids should still be on his InsurrectionRex YouTube channel...

Eric Wallace, Gadsden Guitars said:

That explains why I couldn't find his three stringer lessons, I was all ready to get into them, will he be reposting those, maybe on his other site perhaps. Bummer to see ya go Shane, Godspeed.....

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Permalink Reply by Tom on October 26, 2011 at 5:20pm

Great Tip !

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Permalink Reply by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker on October 27, 2011 at 12:42am

I have added links to Shane's how-to-play YouTube vids back onto the How-to-Play page here.

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Permalink Reply by Gadsden Guitars on October 27, 2011 at 3:17am

Ah thank you man.

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Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on October 27, 2011 at 6:19am

congrats cb, hope all works out, im sure it will lots o good peeps on here good luck .Slim

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Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on October 27, 2011 at 6:34am

i bet shane got out purely to get into performing ive noticed in a year i went from buildin, playin,using info, and now guys and gals launching carrers i like to think thats whats up when i joined i wanted arthritis fingers to play 3 strings and slide?maybe i can do that playing like crazy now no recording for us when i get rite stuff i owe you a song feel i should back up some of my posts but i have nothing to record on soon well i will miss shane and i bet he erased because cb,s the man and shane wont play that, its cbs show

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on October 28, 2011 at 1:53am

Ben, it seems like the emails I get concerning something I have commented on contain more info and I like that.

One thing I miss is being able to choose a 'favorite' ~ which was gone before you took over. It let me come back and more easily look at photos and videos of high interest. Can we get those back?

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Permalink Reply by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker on October 28, 2011 at 2:53am

Thanks for the feedback BD. It is definitely one of the challenges of a site like this to provide a forum for both the Frequently Asked Questions, as well as the more advanced topics. The inherent limitations of the Ning platform in terms of being able to effectively organize and index information adds to the challenge. But hopefully we're doing decent!

As for the design and the concept of the Cigar Box Guitar Revolution... as I see it, the "revolution" is an ongoing thing, and is a revolution against the idea that music and musical instruments have to be some kind of factory-made, mass-produced thing. There are still TONS of people (the vast majority, I think) out there who have never heard of a cigar box guitar, or thought about the fact that they could make a fun, playable instrument at their kitchen table, out of second-hand parts and trash. To me, THAT is the revolution, and it is an ongoing, alive-and-well thing.

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Permalink Reply by Tom on October 28, 2011 at 3:27am

For my un-asked two cents, I think you are both right !

So find some common ground and lets move forward !

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on October 28, 2011 at 10:41am

Yes, i never thought much about that word revolution, i always though it was cool till just now today when I read your word....." revival"...and man it does seem much more palitable and easier to use!

it make more sense, and I am so squatin' on that word!...its mine...i am running with it!

thats a great word and I think i will adopt it into my jargon if you dont mind.

I love "revival"!...thats a great word!...the only thing is visual the 2 v's are kind close, but with the right font, it might come alive

Blind Doughboy said:

There are still TONS of people (the vast majority, I think) out there who have never heard of a cigar box guitar, or thought about the fact that they could make a fun, playable instrument at their kitchen table, out of second-hand parts and trash.

That's true . . . and will always be the case. It's a limited market. Semantics and first impressions are everything (writing, editing and PR have been my main gig for about 25 years) and to me the idea is to attract new people rather than merely preaching to the choir.

Building and playing CBGs always struck me as more a "revival" than a "revolution." The long-term success and growth of sites like "Everything Dulcimer" attest to the effectiveness of such an approach. "Nation" was starting to feel a bit too much like a private club (which was one of the things that tore apart the original Yahoo group). "Revolution" at least in the minds of many readers/first-time viewers, likely enforces that impression.

Just my two bits.