Category: Cigar Box Guitars

Everything related to cigar box guitars, the flagship instruments of the Home-made music revolution.

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“Open A” AEA Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips

Everything you need to know about using the “Open A” A-E-A tuning on your 3-string cigar box guitar.

This article gives you the exact strings to use to achieve this tuning on a cigar box guitar (or other instrument) that has a scale length in the range of 24.5 to 25.5 inches.

Continue reading ““Open A” AEA Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips”

“Open D” DAD Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips

Everything you need to know about using the “Open D” D-A-D tuning on your 3-string cigar box guitar.

After the GDG “Open G” tuning, the next most popular on 3-string cigar box guitars is probably DAD “Open D”. This tuning actually shows up, in part, on standard 6-string guitars, in the alternate “DADGAD” tuning. The lower-pitch versions of this tuning really have a low, bassy feel because of that big low D string, so it can be a very interesting option for cigar box guitar builders. Continue reading ““Open D” DAD Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips”

“Open E” EBE Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips

The Open E tuning is not seen as often as the more popular GDG and DAD tunings, but it is a great alternative for cigar box guitar players, especially if you are playing a lot of blues. Shane Speal used this tuning on his recent album Holler!, on the track Big Leg Woman/Swing the Hammer.

Continue reading ““Open E” EBE Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips”

“Open G” GDG Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips

Cigar Box Guitar StringsOf all of the three-string cigar box guitar tunings, the most popular is probably the G D G open G tuning. Featured on many how-to-play videos on YouTube and CigarBoxNation.com, this tuning has become the de facto standard for 3-string slide blues.

Continue reading ““Open G” GDG Tuning on your Cigar Box Guitar: 4 Methods, with String Sizes & Sound Clips”

3-String CBG Lesson: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Learn how to play Hank William’s country classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” on your fretless 3-string cigar box guitar.

In this video lesson, Glenn Watt’s fretless cigar box guitar is tuned GDg, and he’s using a ceramic slide.

Are you looking for the right cigar box guitar strings to get tuned GDg?

You’ll find the strings you need here.

Looking for a sweet slide like the one Glenn’s using?

Get a handcrafted ceramic slide here, for your CBG-playing pleasure.

A Step-by-Step Guide On How To Make a Straight Headstock

No fancy tools required to make this awesome headstock for your cigar box guitar

By Glenn Watt

Thanks to craftswoman Farley Andresen for the demonstrating the work Straight heastock featured image

 No fancy tools required to make this awesome headstock for your cigar box guitar

Cigar box is in the name, but the neck is what turns the box into a cigar box guitar.

And the headstock – the part of the neck that anchors your tuning pegs – is a critical component to getting, and keeping, your CBG fully functional. Continue reading “A Step-by-Step Guide On How To Make a Straight Headstock”

Advanced Cigar Box Guitar Building guide by Joshua Gayou

Josh Gayou of Smokehouse Guitars created this 179-page  guide back in 2010, and decided to give it away for free to the cigar box guitar community. In it, he covers some of the more advanced techniques involved in building a high-end solid-body 6-string electric guitar using a cigar box body.
Continue reading “Advanced Cigar Box Guitar Building guide by Joshua Gayou”