Sunday, March 25, 1990

Cigar Box Guitar (Banjo?)

After circuit bending, I'm spending most of my time on cigar box guitars. Another fixation introduced by the oddly addictive Make Magazine, they come in assorted flavors. This is my third. The body is a nice, large, cedar cigar box. I stripped most of the paper from inside, then notched both ends to hold the neck. It's a 3 foot oak 3x1, as recommended. I cut a notch in the head and stuck in steel-strin acoustic tuners. The tail is a little piece of brass, and the bridge and nut are brass bolts. I also glued in a piezo buzzer from Radioshack for a pickup. It works great. But I'm planning to make more, with proper frets. And maybe slightly lower action. Smaller bolts, I guess...
Here's a closeup of the body. I used a 1/2" spade for the soundholes. I'm not a whiz with the drill, hence the messy results.