How-to Info – Page 7 – The How-To Repository for the Cigar Box Guitar Movement!

Daily Tip: Use Hot Glue to hold Sound Hole Inserts in place on Cigar Box Guitars

When using grommets as sound hole inserts on cigar box guitars, a great way to hold them in place is to drill a hole of appropriate size and then use hot glue from the back to cement it in place.

Try to keep the hot glue from getting into the opening of the grommet, to keep it from being visible from the front of the guitar. If you do get a little messy, use a sharp razor to trim the excess away.

For more ideas on how to add some decorative “bling” to your next cigar box guitar build, check out this knowledgebase article.

Daily Tip: Using Threaded Rods as Nuts and Bridges on Cigar Box Guitars

Threaded rods are a popular choice for both nuts and bridges on cigar box guitars. If you are going to use a threaded rod as your nut, and you are concerned about getting intonation just right (whether you have a fully fretted neck or just have fret locations marked), always remember that the scale length is based on the vibrating length of the string.

This means it starts being measured from the point where the string leaves the nut and bridge. Because threaded rods are round, you might have to adjust their location slightly to make sure the string is losing contact with them at the same point it would with a standard rectangular/angled nut or bridge.

Daily Tip: The Most Popular Tuning for Cigar Box Guitars

Open G “GDG” is one of the most popular tunings (if not THE most popular) for 3-string cigar box guitars. For a CBG with a scale length between 24 and 26 inches, use these string sizes: .042” (Low G), .030” (Middle D), .009” (High G). This is one of our most popular Southbound String Co. string sets.

We have much more info about strings and tunings for cigar box guitars in our knowledgebase. Click here to browse through them.

Daily Tip: Install your Tuners on the Correct Side

When mounting open-gear tuners in cigar box guitars and other handmade instruments, always make sure to drill your holes as perfectly perpendicular to the back of the headstock as possible. Also, make sure you mount the tuners so that the gear is aligned towards the body of the instrument, not the top of the headstock.

For more info on how to mount these tuners, check out this video how-to in our knowledgebase.

Daily Tip: Easy Cigar Box Guitar Headstock Veneers

The thin wooden separator sheets that are often found in cigar boxes are usually made out of mahogany or spanish cedar. These make great “quick and easy” headstock veneers for cigar box guitars!

Just put down a thin spread of wood glue and clamp them on, then sand it flush once dry.

Daily Tip: Picking the Right Strings for your Cigar Box Guitars

If you keep breaking a string trying to get it up to pitch on your cigar box guitar, try moving a gauge or too smaller. For example if you are trying to get a .012” plain steel string up to high G and it snaps, try a .011 or .010” instead. In general, smaller = higher, larger = lower in terms of strings, pitch and optimal tension. Check out our knowledgebase articles about strings to learn more!

You can also make it easy on yourself by grabbing some of string sets for cigar box guitars available from the Southbound String Company, from C. B. Gitty.

Daily Tip: How to play “Smoke on the Water” On your 3-string Cigar Box Guitar

Want to play the opening riff to “Smoke on the Water” on a 3-string cigar box guitar tuned to Open G GDG? Just use your index finger to “bar” (hold down) all three strings, and move it as follows while strumming:

Open / 3 / 5 / Open / 3 / 6 / 5 / Open / 3 / 5 / 3 / Open.

You can also sing along! DAH DAH DUHN, DAH DAH DAH DUHN, DAH DAH DUHN, DAH DUHN (dundundundun).

Two New Cigar Box Ukulele Lessons from One-Hand Dan: Take ‘Em Away and Freight Train

We’ve just added the second of two new how-to-play video lessons from One-hand Dan Russell, showing you how to play “Freight Train” and “Take ‘Em Away“.

Like all of Dan’s lessons, he presents these two songs with energy and gusto, and these are great songs to have in your ukulele toolbag.

Click below to view the knowledgebase entries for these two songs, which include the ukulele chords you’ll need to strum along.

Take ‘Em Away by the Old Crow Medicine Show

Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotton

Four New Cigar Box Ukulele Lessons Added!

We just got done adding four new cigar box ukulele how-to video lessons to the knowledgebase. All four were created by One-hand Dan Russell, our resident ukulele expert.

Here are the links:

Stack-o-Lee – a classic old bluesy song, also known as “Stagger Lee”, which has been sung by a wide range of musicians from Mississippi John Hurt, to Dr. John and many more.

If I Needed You – a beautiful folk/country song written by Townes Van Zandt, that Emmy Lou Harris did an amazing version of.

I Still Miss Someone – One of Johnny Cash’s better-known compositions, this great old song tells a tale of longing… “Oh I never got over those blue eyes…” Emmy Lou Harris, Stevie Nicks and many other musicians have also done versions of this song.

Take a Whiff On Me (Cocaine Habit Blues) – though its subject matter may now be considered taboo in polite company, this is a classic American blues/folk song first documented and published by Alan Lomax in the 1930’s. It has been covered by a wide range of performers from Woodie Guthrie to Jerry Garcia to the Old Crow Medicine Show.

That’s it, so grab your ukes and get to pickin’!

New Free Fret Calculator Just Added

A new free fretting calculator has just been added to the knowledgebase here at CigarBoxGuitar.com. Simply enter in the scale length you want (in either inches or millimeters) and it will show you the distance from the nut to place each fret from the first fret to #36 (you don’t have to use all of them).

The calculator even shows you which frets to skip to end up with a diatonic (dulcimer-style) fretboard!

Click the image to the left or click here to check out the calculator tool.

Learn to play “Cocaine Blues” on the Cigar Box Ukulele

Click the image above to view the ukulele lesson entry in the knowledgebase! — Click the image above to view the ukulele lesson!

The latest video how-to lesson from One-hand Dan walks you through playing the classic blues song “Cocaine Blues”, in the style of Townes Van Zandt. This is the fourth in the series of ukulele how-to play vids Dan has done, and we’re glad to be able to host them here on CigarBoxGuitar.com!

In other cigar box ukulele news, we have been busy adding some new cigar box (and other custom) ukulele models to the lineup of finished instruments over at the C. B. Gitty store. Click here to check them out!

Ho Hey by The Lumineers – New Cigar Box Ukulele lesson from One-hand Dan

In this new video lesson from One-hand Dan Russell, he shows you how to play the popular modern song “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers. Only four basic chords (C, F, Am and G) are needed, so this is a great one to try if you are just getting started on the ukulele.

Click here or on the photo to the left to go to the knowledgebase entry for this great lesson!