Your Source for Cigar Box Guitar Parts & Accessories
Here at CigarBoxGuitarParts.com we are dedicated to showcasing the various parts and supplies you can use to help build and decorate your Cigar Box Guitar, as well as discuss some of the creative ways that these parts can be used. Though not a true “how-to” site, a lot of good how-to information will be presented in terms of how to make use of some of the parts we feature: things like how to install a piezo, wire up a volume pot, make good use of sound hole inserts, install tuners, etc.
We will showcase parts and supplies from various sources, with the primary source being our friends over at C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply. For over two years these folks have been working hard to bring CBG builders great prices on an ever-growing list of parts and accessories. If you haven’t yet checked out their site and web store, browse on over today. You won’t be disappointed!
A Brief Refresher Course on Piezo Pickups
On the topic of pickups for acoustic instruments, the choices come down to either piezoelectric transducers (piezos), 
which we will be briefly discussing here, or microphones. While there are a number of varieties of piezos used throughout industry, two basic styles tend to be used in instruments (particularly handmade instruments like cigar box guitars): disks and rods. While the basic technology in them is the same, the resulting sound you get from them can be very different, with many variables coming into play – mounting location and method usually being foremost. At C. B. Gitty we get a LOT of questions from new builders about piezos, here is a little refresher.
A disk piezo is very sensitive to vibrations
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Paul McCartney puts Cigar Box Guitars on the Center Stage
This has been quite a week for the cigar box guitar movement. First, Sir Paul McCartney appears onstage at the 12.12.12 Hurricane Sandy benefit concert with a four-string cigar box guitar, in the midst of of a Nirvana reunion. This was by far the biggest public exposure a cigar box guitar had ever seen, and ever since the Internet was abuzz with people asking: what was that instrument Paul was playing? Visits to CigarBoxNation.com, cbgitty.com, and related Facebook pages are way up.
Then last night (Saturday, December 15) Sir Paul does it again and appears on Saturday Night Live, again with Nirvana and again with his 4-string CBG!
In two fell swoops Paul McCartney has unequivically thrust the cigar box guitar onto the world stage. No more can “real” guitar people scoff and say they are toys, or that they are not “real” instruments. I don’t like to overstate things, but it seems like this is a defining moment in the history of the cigar box guitar.
Here is the Youtube video of the 12.12.12 appearance:
“Cigar Box Guitars” author David Sutton Interviewed on FOX Chicago
It’s very cool any time we get to see Cigar Box Guitars in the press, and this interview of David Sutton on the Chicago FOX affiliate takes the cake! David is the author of the great “Cigar Box Guitars” book which came out earlier this year (available from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, of course!), and is one of the foremost voices in the CBG community. He does a great job of helping to spread the word about CBGs in this interview, which FOX Chicago ran in lead-up to the Chicago Cigar Box Guitar Festival taking place TODAY (Saturday, November 10) in the northern suburbs of the windy city.
Inaugural Chicago Cigar Box Guitar Fest coming up on November 10
Another Cigar Box Guitar festival is just around the corner, this time in the suburbs of the windy city! The first Chicago Cigar Box Guitar Festival will be held on Saturday, November 10 and will feature some of the biggest names in the Cigar Box Guitar world, including Puragatory Hill and Johnny Lowebow!
Here is more info from the the CCBGF site:
On November 10 2012 International recording artists will converge on the northern suburbs of Chicago for the inaugural Chicago CBGF. In a world of mass produced, cookie cutter, disposable music and instruments the Cigar Box Guitar stands apart. From the simplest one string diddley bow to finely crafted highly detailed 6 string fretted cbg’s each one is as unique as it’s maker. The styles of music played on them ranges from Delta Blues to Primitive Rock to Jug Band to Gothic Blues and beyond. At this years CBG Fest you’ll see some of the top acts in the cbg world and have the chance to buy your own cbg.
For more info, visit the festival’s homepage: http://rootsriot.com/Chicago_CBG_Fest.html, or on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/events/429611390416281/
A nice little cigar box guitar feature story
Check out this article on the Toronto (Canada) Standard site:
http://torontostandard.com/culture/youre-playing-the-what-the-cigar-box-guitar
Cigar Box Guitar Necks and Fretboards now available from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply
We are very excited about the most recent additions to the C. B. Gitty product line: pre-made necks and fretboards made specifically for CBGs in our own shop!
All of the necks we offer have a nice angled headstock (scarf jointed), with various options from basic/plain to fully fretted with headstock extensions! We offer the necks in 4 woods at present: hard maple, white oak, cherry and peruvian walnut.
For the fretboards, we offer both slotted and fully fretted, in four beautiful and hard-to-find woods: white oak, Peruvian walnut, purpleheart and zebrawood.
The work that has gone into these fretboards, and especially the necks represent some of the most difficult parts of CBG building: scarf jointing, headstock extensions and fretting. These are great options for really bumping your special CBG up to the next level, without all of the hard work and special tools that it takes to do the job well. Now you can let C. B. Gitty take care of all of that for you, so that you can focus on the fun parts of building!
Cigar Boxes Ain’t Just for Guitars Anymore!
Check out this nice feature article on a University of Rhode Island student who built a replica of an ancient Roman instrument using his own research, ingenuity and… a cigar box!
It’s nice to see today’s university students taking on a “hands on” sort of project like this, while at the same time expanding the realm of cigar box guitars and other handmade/homemade instruments!
Cigar Box Guitar Festivals Coming Up!
There are two big cigar box guitar festivals coming up this summer, with the first scheduled for this coming weekend in Huntsville, Alabama!
The Flying Monkey Arts Center is hosting the 8th Annual Flying Monkey Arts Cigar Box Guitar Festival. The main day on Saturday, June 2 begins at noon and features handcrafted instruments, artist market, Bill Jehle’s Cigar Box Guitar Museum, workshops, demonstrations, documentary film, jam sessions and live music. Guest artists include some of the founding members of the cigar box guitar movement: Microwave Dave, John Lowe (Johnny Lowebow), Pat and John Nickel, 7 Hills Stomp, Earl Williams, Justin Johnson, Little Johnny Kantreed, and Nadaband.
Later this summer will be the 3rd Annual Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival, hosted by the York Emporium in York, Pennsylvania. Founded by Shane Speal, King of the Cigar Box Guitar, this festival has quickly become a focal point of the entire CBG movement. The event will take place on Saturday, August 25 from 10:00 AM until 7:30 PM and will feature great vendors, live cigar box guitar music, workshops, intimate open mic/stage events, food and more! Last year we battled extreme weather (Hurricane Irene) and still managed to have a great day! If you can only make one music fest this summer, you’d do well to make it this one!
New Cigar Box Guitar Book Released: “Cigar Box Guitars” by David Sutton
A great new book devoted to Cigar Box Guitars and the people who build them has just been released by Fox Chapel publishing, and is available from C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply!
Filled with beautiful full-color photos, interviews with many of the biggest names in the cigar box guitar movement, and lots of practical how-to information, this is a great book for either the coffee table or the workshop – or both!
Either click the photo to the left, or Click Here, to browse over to C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply and check it out!
Nice feature on Florida Cigar Box Guitar Builder
Check out this nice article and video of CBG builder Steve Cinnamon in Nokomis, Florida!
http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1216381.ece