The Speal’s Tavern Cigar Box Guitar Museum has been expanded and improved for 2012.  The museum now sports over 40 handmade instruments, cigar box amplifiers, antique photos and artwork along with historical facts and discoveries. The 2012 exhibit will be unveiled this Saturday, February 18 at 6pm followed by a special Mardi Gras concert by museum creator, Shane Speal. 

Shane Speal first debuted the Cigar Box Guitar Museum in October of 2010 with a collection of about 30 handmade instruments.   In the newest incarnation, Speal and co-curator, Al Hamilton have installed improved museum lighting, historical placards and one of the largest collection of cigar box guitar ephemera, dating back to the late 1800′s.  Visitors will learn the stories of many great blues, rock and country stars who got their start on cigar box guitars.

The centerpiece of the museum is a 92 year old cigar box guitar from 1910.  The rare find was a donation from John “Reddog” McNair, a New Orleans instrument builder and historian who currently resides in Puerto Rico.  It’s crude form features only a single string and is very similar to instruments performed in Vaudeville theatre at the turn of the Century.

Other instruments include double neck cigar box guitars, instruments made from license plates and a solidbody guitar made by Ted Crocker, the luthier behind the guitar in John Sayles blues movie, The Honeydripper.

Discover an untold chapter in American music history.  The museum is free and open to the public during Speal’s Tavern regular business hours.

SEE PHOTOS OF THE ENTIRE COLLECTION ALONG WITH MORE INFORMATION AT THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR MUSEUM PAGE.