Cigar Box Guitar

During our prolonged winter season this year, Ben kept himself occupied with various electronics, programming, and building projects.  One of my favorites was his Cigar Box Guitar.

A friend of a friend owns a smokeshop and was kind enough to send a couple boxes Ben's way.  He choose a larger, light wood design for this project and is saving a dark wood version for another time.  One of his first tasks was to make a stencil for cutting the f-holes.  I only mention this because we think saying "f-hole stencil" is really, really funny.  We are weird that way.

 

f-holes. Sans stencil.

Open gear tuners came from Stew Mac. 

Just three strings, and it sounds pretty good for a wooden box. Both Ben and Steve pick it up often and play it with a glass slide.  As Ben describes it, " It has a real bass-y, blues-y old dobro sound. Rustic and rough, but in a good way."  He's really happy with it, and it was a cool project for him to complete, especially since he was unsure of himself when he started.