…tell them to shut up and watch this video. Ben Uke Rouse does an amazing rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” on a 3-string CBG.
Category: General News
Great New Cigar Box Guitar (and Ukulele) How-to Articles Added
After a brief hiatus to attend the NAMM show out in California last week, we’re back at it creating great new content and adding it to the knowledgebase here on CigarBoxGuitar.com. Here is a round-up of the latest additions:
- New Cigar Box Ukulele How-to-Play video lesson from One-hand Dan Russell
- New Tablature for 3-string Cigar Box Guitars: This Land is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie
- New Tablature for 3-string Cigar Box Guitars (arranged by Glenn Watt): Red River Valley
- Easy Chord Forms for Ukulele (especially Cigar Box Ukulele)
- Special addition to the Cigar Box Guitar History section: a video interview with jazz legend George Benson about how he and his father built his first electric guitar out of spare parts.
Cigar Box Nation is the Online Cigar Box Guitar Community
Have you heard of CigarBoxNation.com?
“King of the Cigar Box Guitar” Shane Speal founded it back in 2008 to be the home of the Cigar Box Guitar revolution, and since then it has grown to over 13,000 members worldwide, with tens of thousands of photos, videos, dozens of topical groups and hundreds of thousands of forum and blog posts.
It is a great place to get to know other builders, share photos and videos of your creations, ask questions and learn about this wonderful, crazy hobby. Stuff posted on Cigar Box Nation is a lot more “permanent” and easy-to-find than posting things on Facebook groups, too – your stuff can always be easily found on your profile page.
So if you are just getting into cigar box guitars, or are a long-time enthusiast, you should discover (or re-discover) Cigar Box Nation! Long live the Cigar Box Guitar revolution!
Shane Speal and C. B. Gitty in New Documentary
In this documentary, which is currently running on the local TV station in York, PA, Shane Speal and Ben “C. B. Gitty” Baker explore the secrets of the York Steam Whistle Christmas Concert – the last of its kind in the world. This steam whistle concert has been going on since the early days of the 1900’s, and the current whistlemaster has been at his post performing the concert every Christmas Eve for the past 60 years.
While Shane explores the story of the steam whsitle concert, Gitty builds a 116db pneumatic slide whistle from and old bicycle pump which Shane later plays onstage at a live concert. Along the way, Shane and Gitty discover and play an amazing forgotten instrument known as a “horse fiddle”, and they manage to get all giddy schoolboy-excited over crazy homemade instruments. Shane even performs an original song “Chasing Steam” on his cigar box guitar.
The Chasing Steam documentary starts around the 14 minute mark; the portion of the show before that features a poetry reading of a forgotten female poet from York, PA, with Shane playing in the background.
Cigar Box Guitar performer One Hand Dan featured on Tuscaloosa Monorail
One-Hand Dan Russell is a rising force in the cigar box guitar performance world. Glenn Watt and I ran into him up at the Chicago Cigar Box Guitar Festival several weeks ago, where he performed on the main stage and also ran the C. B. Gitty open mic stage.
Now he has been featured on Tuscaloosa Monorail, a music talk show based in central Alabama that brings in original acts that get performances from “not the norm” bands. When they heard about a one-handed ex pro wrestler playing cigar box guitars on the streets, they contacted Dan.
Dan brought along Bart Lynn for a little trombone backup, and you can see the result in the video clip below! To check out Dan’s various other shenanigans, hijinks and all-around tomfoolery, here’s a link to his Facebook page.
Cigar Box Guitar Chord Forms – 3-string Open G “GDG”
We have added a new category to the knowledgebase here on CigarBoxGuitar.com – 3-string CBG chord forms! So far we have added G, C and D chord forms. The rest of the common chord forms (A, Eb, E, B, Bb, F) will be coming in the next few days!
Here’s what C. B. Gitty says about these chord forms:
“We do not claim that this list is exhaustive or definitive, or that there aren’t other chord forms out there that some might find preferable. Some of the chords here may not even be technically what we have them labeled as… but the key thing is that they work, and they are the ones we use when playing. If one chord form doesn’t sound quite right in the song you are playing, then try a different one! We present them freely in the hope that you can make good use of them too.”
A Great Primer & Intruduction to wiring Jacks in Cigar Box Guitars
If you have ever been a bit uncertain of how to wire a jack onto the pickup in your cigar box guitar, check out this article just added to our knowledgebase.
In this article, C. B. Gitty walks you through the differences between mono and stereo jacks, how to identify the positive and negative lugs, and how to wire a stereo jack for mono use (if you accidentally buy stereo jacks). Confusion over these points comes up frequently among cigar box guitar builders, and now this article makes it all clear!
Cigar Box Guitar Tablature Library added
We have just created a new section of the knowledgebase here on CigarBoxGuitar.com which will host a growing library of tablature for cigar box guitars, with a focus on the popular Open G “GDG” tuning style.
We have added a few initial pieces of tablature and more will be coming soon. Click the image below to check out what has been added so far!
Product Feature: Screened Sound Hole Inserts for Cigar Box Guitars
If you have been looking for something new to use in the sound hole of your next cigar box guitar, have a look at these cool screened resonator guitar-style sound hole inserts.
These parts have always been a bit harder to find than many other more common guitar parts, and when you do they are pricy. For example, parts (and price!) giant Stewmac has the chrome version for $12.22 per pair, plus shipping.
C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply has been selling these in Chrome, Gold and Black for several years, and at just $7.29 for a set of two (chrome style), the savings should be apparent.
Gitty uses these extensively in his own in-house CBG building operation. The most common method of installing them is to cut your circular sound hole and then use hot glue from the back of the panel to seat them in place.
These are just screaming to be used on your next great CBG build, so browse on over and check them out today! Here are the direct links:
- Shiny Chrome 2-pack
- Shiny Chrome 8-pack
- Shiny Gold 2-pack
- Shiny Gold 8-pack
- Glossy Black 2-pack
- Glossy Black 8-pack
Happy building!
AEA Tuning Article (with sound clips) Just Posted!
We’ve just added the next part of our running series of articles on 3-string CBG tunings to our knowledgebase. This one covers the “Open A” AEA, a very nice tuning option that tends to be underutilized. Check out the article here:
New Cigar Box Guitar How-to Video: Installing Fret Position Markers in Your CBG Fretboard
Be sure to check out the latest how-to video from Glenn Watt, in which he shows you how to install fret position markers in your cigar box guitar fretboard using wooden dowels and simple tools. Here is the link to the knowledgebase entry:
Just Posted: The Cigar Box Guitar Tuning Cheat Sheet!
C. B. Gitty just posted his top secret cheat sheet in the knowledgebase here on CigarBoxGuitar.com! This article shows you the exact string gauges to use for pretty much any tuning you could want on a 25″ scale cigar box guitar. This simple chart demystifies choosing the right size strings to hit any note from double low B all the way up to high A.
There is no longer any reason to be afraid of trying custom funky tunings on your cigar box guitars! No more guesswork, broken strings or frustration. Just decide on a tuning you want to try, refer to the chart, and grab your strings. If only everything were this easy!