What do you do with all these instruments?

I've been wondering about this for a while now... after seeing many "group shot" pictures, and given how quickly some of the members here build CBGs and the like... What do you do with all your builds? I personally have made 10 CBGs: 2 of which I sold, 2 of which I gave as gifts... the other 6 are sitting in my room, and I try not to trip over them. When I play one, the other ones get jealous. :-) But seriously, where do all your cigar box instruments go (and how many of them do you have)? Do you give them away? Sell them? Hang 'em up on the wall? Donate them? Dispose of them in some other fashion?

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  • I sell most of mine but only because I'm trying to get enough money to buy parts and materials to build my next guitar. I've given two away as a gift, donated another to charity (which took a good damned haul, by the way), and have three personal guitars that I take to concerts and other events.

    Every guitar I've ever sold made me absolutely sick to part with it, unless it was a copy of something I did before. Once I dupe something I've already done I'm kind of over it and it doesn't have the same kind of impact to me.

    I personally favor playing four string guitars but I'm currently learning how to play six stringers. I'm starting by learning all of my favorite AC/DC songs (mostly because they're so damned simple). One day I'll make another three stringer that's just for me but I haven't gotten the right kind of inspiration yet. I came close on the last one I made (a gift I made for someone I hold in very high regard) but once I had it all planned out it didn't seem like it belonged to me any more so I changed a couple of things on it to tailor it specifically to its future owner. I'm telling you, the perfect three string guitar is floating around in my head somewhere. I just have to unearth it, damn it!!
  • Uncle ted, I didn't figure you for an Ovation kinda guy.... one of my fav. gits was an Elite from the early 80's that ended up being sold for college tuition for my son.... I still miss it. it was nearly perfect. the best, Sam
    Ted Crocker said:
    I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how to display these and about 20 others in my new shop & showroom



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    Good thing I sold a couple or I'd need a warehouse...
  • I love the experimentation... I have so many ideas, so many theories I want to try... I can't play very well yet, but I find it much less intimidating to bang away on something I made, making up my own rules rather than try and decipher how to play a regular guitar... and I have been playing at them since the fourth grade! (And I certainly will NOT tell you what year that was.)

    I have a beauty of a red Romeo and Juliet box that I am going to turn into a soprano (tenor?) cbg, I've already sealed it with some nice clear enamel and have a lovely bit of maple picked out for her neck. I can't wait to get started!
  • I love them like I would my own children.
    I take their sides in an argument.
    I pop in during breaks to check if there is anything they need.
    Sometimes I just put them all in a line so I can look at them all at the same time.

    Sure, I occasionally re-use parts from 'problem' builds, I sometimes send them on very long 'trial separations', but mostly I keep them until the house jus aint big enough for no more. Then I sell the oldest ones to make room for some more :o)
  • I too play them, flog èm, give them away......

    As someone mentione, you got to get the money together for new ones somehow...
  • I have 1 I finally built for myself here at home, a Red Punch.I got the box from Ottie early in the summer and couldnt find time to build 1 for me.
    The rest go to the Craft Shop at work where I hawk these things while I'm also working for the mall itself.
    I enjoy meeting people from around the country and answering their questions when they respond to my 1st question to them,which is " have you ever heard of a cigarbox guitar?"
    That starts a conversation that sometimes ends in a sale, or at least a thank you for introducing them to a "NEW" style of music and instrument.
    I also give them the link to this site and tell them that if they dont see anything I HAVE for sale that the true craftsmen and craft ladies are here in this site.
  • You guys don't really care if you have too many huh ??? Let's face it , we just like to make these things ... too much FUN , cheaper than Golf... All for Fun , Fun for all ...
    Hint: a simple screw eye in the headstock allows you to hang them on the wall with a picture hanger... a number of them in an arrangement could be quite decorative and become all the rage ...
  • Ain't that the case. Tho these lil boxes don't have to cost a mint, the $30-$50 to build a basic one can add up quickly.

    L.J. said:
    I keep the ones i cant lett go of and sell or gift the others.Gotta get money for tuners and wood.
  • So far I've tried to make then to serve different purposes for me. I have 2 3-Stringers, one tuned to G one tuned to E. I have a 4-string tenor guitar that I absolutely love (I built this one because I've always wanted a tenor but never could justify spending the money). The only thing I've gotten rid of so far was a 2-string bass that I built for and gave to a friend. I plan to build another one for myself. Right now I have a 6-string lap steel in the works. I also am planning a 5-string canjo in A (who needs a capo when you can build another instrument?).
  • I keep the ones i cant lett go of and sell or gift the others.Gotta get money for tuners and wood.
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