The Latest Cigar Box Nation Newsletter

Every week, the guys over at CigarBoxNation.com put together a newsletter featuring the best stuff from CBN – instruments of the day, the best discussions and forum posts, videos and more. This week’s newsletter is extra special, as it announces the winners of the Halloween Build Contest! Browse on over and check it out.

If you are new to Cigar Box Nation, consider signing up! CBN is the online home and nerve center of the cigar box guitar and homemade/handmade music movements, and a repository of almost 7 years’ worth of how-to info, uploaded photos and videos and other great content.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Open G Tunings

Cigar Box Guitar StringsOpen G “GDG” is the de facto standard tuning for 3-string cigar box guitars, but a lot of first-time builders have trouble figuring out how best to achieve it. In this article from our how-to library, Ben “Gitty” Baker walks you through different ways to get an Open G “GDG” tuning on your 3-string cigar box guitar. He covers 4 different configurations from a low, growling bassy setup to a higher pitched, more banjo-like treble configuration. There are even sound clips so you can sound what each setup sounds like.

There are also similar articles for a number of other popular tunings, so dive on in and become a Open G expert!

Awesome Classical Cigar Box Guitar Album Reviewed

Captain Nemoff Cigar Box Guitar Album

Check out the review of this amazing album by cigar box guitar virtuoso Captain Nemoff. If features a range of Classical-style instrumental songs arranged for and performed on cigar box guitars and other homemade instruments. Shane Speal has this to say in his review: “ In my honest opinion, this is one of the greatest cigar box guitar albums in the history of the modern movement.  Not only is Nemoff an incredible guitarist with one foot in the classical tradition, but he’s also got one foot firmly in the cigar box guitar ethos… mixing lo-fi acoustic and electric tones brilliantly in each piece.  My heart is overjoyed as I listen to this album.”

Click here or on the image above to read the full review on CigarBoxNation.com and get the direct CDBaby preview/purchase link. This album needs to be in your cigar box guitar library!

How to Play 4-String Cigar Box Guitar: Two Free Video Lessons

4-string Cigar Box Guitar Lessons

If you have been wanting to try your hand at a four-string, these videos are for you! These two  lessons from Shane Speal walk you through getting started playing sweet, sweet music on a 4-string cigar box guitar tuned G D G B (open G).

Click here or on the image to the left to see the full post on CigarBoxNation.com!

Sally Struthers with a Cigar Box Guitar

Sally StruthersSally Struthers stopped by C. B. Gitty headquarters a while back to check out the operations and pick up a cigar box guitar for a good friend.

The vivacious star of “All in the Family”, “Gibson Girls” and hundreds of on-stage performances was good enough to pose here with one of Gitty’s custom models.

Check out our Celebrity Cigar Box Guitars gallery here on CigarBoxGuitar.com to see more photos of celebrities with our favorite homemade instrument!

The Free Plans that Launched the Cigar Box Guitar Revolution

Free Cigar Box Guitar PlansThese free plans, originally written by Ivan Sucharsky and recently updated, have been the starting point for thousands of new cigar box guitar builders. Based on the original cigar box guitar plans formulated by Shane Speal, they have been edited to bring them up to date and re-published on CigarBoxNation.com.

CigarBoxNation.com is the home of the cigar box guitar and homemade/handmade music movement on the Internet, and if you haven’t checked it out (or haven’t visited for a while), you should click on over and give it a look. Also the Cigar Box Nation Facebook Page is the premier news magazine for all things CBG and homemade instrument related, with multiple news items, articles and features every day!