Guitars...

[Deleted]

Hey all, this is just something I was thinking about.

A long while I made some cigar box guitars, and to me that was pushing the limits of what a guitar is.

But here of late I see people are making almost anything into a, lets string instrument. I have seen old oil cans,car mufflers, shovels, even brooms, and sprockets off of motor cycles, and so on. Seems to be this big craze of making a stringed instrument out of anything.

What do you all think of this craze? Has it gone over board?

I know how fun it is to build things out of nothing.

Would you buy or do you know anyone that would buy a "guitar" made from a shovel?

EB

[antares]

I think it's great when folks make their own and I rather fancy doing it myself. I even know it's achievable on my level... However when you see them up for sale at prices where you can buy a nice guitar I begin to wonder. I guess what I'm saying is we need to remember the historical circumstances that led peeps to construct these instruments and get within that vibe. I remember an oil can guitar being reviewed in the UK "Guitarist" magazine around 15 years ago. I looked at the neck joint and thought hmmm. This was being marketed as getting down with the South African Township vibe- but it must have been around 500 bucks. Deep breath everyone. I am well aware that many builders exist that will happily sell you a cigar box type instrument that is extremely well made and they have the skill to coax the best out of a humidor, but for me it totally misses the point even if I could afford one. (I know of one such instrument too.) For myself, "afford" has little to do with sufficient funds by the way- it's about justification in my camp.
Others' mileage may vary etc.

e&oe...

[chezvoz]

When I was at the local amp show back in October, there was a cigar box guitar maker showing there. WHile I was looking at the products offered in the next booth, someone put down $300 or perhaps $350 for one. It does seem odd to me considering what you can get for $300, especially if you buy used.

[dnic]

Just a reminder, I'm not in the business of selling cigar box guitars so I don't have an axe to grind. But I did build one and have another cigar box so I'll probably build another at some point. If I were to sell this box I built I'd like to get about 200$ for it. I think Eddie said once that he sold some for 2 or 3 hundred. I've also thought about doing a give away on my YouTube channel of said cigar box instrument. And just to point out this one falls into the "coaxing the best out of a humidor" category.

So the point, we here at GA are all involved to a degree more or less of building, assembling, modifying and or repairing guitars and basses and other things as well. So it might be hard for us GA types to get our heads around paying a few hundred bucks for stuff we could make ourselves or at least perceive as easy to make. But there are a whole lot of other folks who have no clue how to make stuff so they are quite happy to purchase things made by others.

At some point before I die I plan to build a mandolin-ish type thing out of a gourd with a long straight stem. And if someone wants to buy it, it's outta here. I already have this gourd, I mean I'm not searching for the perfect gourd.

Not sure I've addressed the original question. But there is this guy on Y tube, Justin Johnson that plays a shovel and other types of stringed things. Check him out it's pretty fun.

[chezvoz]

Thinking about it, a cigar box guitar is kind of like a dulcimer. If you only have 3 or 4 strings tuned to a chord, you can provide accompaniment on a song pretty well with a shallow learning curve. Very attractive option.


I think the guy who bought that one at the amp show was quite happy with his purchase. I think I will try one some day, although it may be a wine box guitar!

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Dec 2, 2018 4:11:23 GMT -6 antares said:

I remember an oil can guitar being reviewed in the UK "Guitarist" magazine around 15 years ago. I looked at the neck joint and thought hmmm. This was being marketed as getting down with the South African Township vibe- but it must have been around 500 bucks.
e&oe...

Good point...I remember those guitars...not high on my "want list", but I give them high marks for marketing.

I was recently approached by a family friend concerning a "cigar box guitar" project. His thought was that we could turn out cigar box guitars, sell them at a local high-end craft/home goods store, and make some great extra money.

In response I told him the old joke: "You know how you make a small fortune building guitars? You start with a large fortune."

Kidding aside, I am going to help him with the project, and make some custom pickups for the electric version. I told him the downside of selling an electric version is that most of the folks who would buy one probably don't have an amp, so we'd have to provide that, too...affordably. I was thinking about those little battery-powered Danelectro amps available at GuitarCenter in the cool 50s colors.


I was recently downtown with my wife and we stopped in a high-end gift shop. I was immediately drawn to these very ingenious custom made guitar-like instruments featuring old license plates and junkyard parts. The shopkeeper invited me to play one, and I was able to coax a tune out of the unfamiliar instrument (I think it was a version of "Kashmir"). I can't vouch for how many she has sold, but they sure looked cool in her eclectic shop. By the way -- the shop features singer/songwriter night and I give them high praise for supporting local original music.

Another project!
John

[antares]

Dane touched on the shovel guitar which I have seen and it is a nifty idea. I do appreciate a leftfield view of things and the shovel / spade as a vehicle does click with me. However, like cigar box guitars, it is something I feel I could do, whereas the kind of artistry demonstrated by most if not all of the other contributors on this forum is not something to which I feel I could aspire. In that scenario, hemorrhaging several hundred bucks on one is not something I would consider. I have always enjoyed creating things and a CBG is something I do fancy making, but not buying.

I have seen folks doing great things with low string count CBGs on YouTube. This confirms the old adage that "it's in the fingers".

I did look seriously into buying a cigar box on eBay, but the prices were all way too expensive or they were too small, and this is at least half of the reason why I haven't pursued that whim.

e&oe...

[dnic]

John said,

In response I told him the old joke: "You know how you make a small fortune building guitars? You start with a large fortune."

Kidding aside, I am going to help him with the project, and make some custom pickups for the electric version. I told him the downside of selling an electric version is that most of the folks who would buy one probably don't have an amp, so we'd have to provide that, too...affordably. I was thinking about those little battery-powered Danelectro amps available at GuitarCenter in the cool 50s colors.





You could build the amp right into the box. Little amp PBCs are available and a little speaker could go right in the front.

[antares]

It's true that you can configure an LM386 (for example) to provide some audio out built right inside the project, but given a similar battery powered provision, a modern digital amp design lasts many times longer with unfeasible output levels as witness how long a Roland MicroCube runs on a set of AA cells. Neat idea though and it'd be easy to incorporate a battery access panel on the back. Keep this up and I could be goaded into getting on board!

e&oe...

[Deleted]

Yes I have sold a few cigar box guitars. I have sold them from $200.00 to $300.00. The thing in cigar box guitars for me is... How they are built. My cigar box guitar are made of a neck though design. I use good hard woods.
Some of the ones I have seen for sale are pretty much a stick with a string or two, with no pickups, and a lot of them start at $150.00.

But My mane point is this; That there are a lot of people making all kinds of stringed instruments out of anything they can put their hands on. Some of these people make a good living on selling them. I guess it's because of them being odd is why they sell.

In to days world of cigar box guitars, people are now making them super high guilty, To the point they have to ask $500.00 or more for them. I can't blame these people for selling them for what they can get. But I really don't know if would ever buy one at that price.

For me I just don't know if I would want to play a shovel guitar or not. I guess I would if I was to have a band were all the people it was playing odd instruments.

This craze that is going on these days to make an instrument out of anything, for me has gotten a little bit out of hand.
But I guess as long as there are people like, Justin Jonson, playing odd guitars and promoting them, then there are people out there that will buy them.

As far as cigar box guitars go... they are a lot of fun to build, and they do have that MOJO about them, that they were birthed for a long time ago. I have made a bunch of them over the years. 4 of them belong to my granddaughters. They love them!

I have sold them and they are all over the United states. So far I have never had a complaint about them. I do stand behind my work, and I give the buyer 4 months to return them if they are not happy with them. So far I have not had one come back. Last one I sold was about 4 years ago.

Would I build an other one? Yes, I have on last one I would like to build, I want to build a Bass, cigar box. Why? Just because I want too! LOL!

Would I build a guitar out of anything else? I guess I would if someone wanted to buy it. But for me to build one for just because... I don't know if I would.

But as for me, looks like my days of building guitars or anything else is just about over. My hands and arms now shake almost all the time now. I can hardly hold anything in my hands, without shaking. Makes it hard to use tools of any kind. Even the simple things have gotten harder for me to do.
My new doctor is trying to find out why this is going on. He has put me through a lot of test, and keeps on telling me what I already know.

But anyway... I guess as long as people are having fun building stuff is alright in it self. And I guess if people want to sell and can sell their creations, that's alright too.

But like what has been said, Because I can build stringed instruments, I do know what it took to build that instrument, and I always say to myself... I can make one just like it. HA!In fact I can make 3 or 4 more and still not have as much in it as it's being sold for. LOL!

I did sell one to a smoke shop once. His theme was old Delta Blues kind of thing. So I made one that had that look to it. He just hung it on the wall. But it is playable.

OH well, enough going on.
Thanks for the input.
EB