For all the guitar playing pool players.

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
This is something that I accidentally stumbled onto while searching Utube.
Funny how that happens eh. Anyway, these are guitars that are fashioned from cigar boxes. The history of them go way back to the Mississippi Delta Blues and the Dust Bowl. People couldn't afford a guitar so they improvised
with whatever they had to make music.

I probably found this while searching for videos on the history of the Appalachian people.

Other than doing cue repairs, I don't do much in the way of building cues but like doing different wood working projects and I think I will be trying my hand at at least one cigar box guitar in the New Year.

I took lessons many years ago and most of you probably forgotten more than I will ever know. However, I can still pick on a few chords that I can remember.

The reason that I posted in the main forum is that this guy is playing a one string box and the neck is fashioned from a pool cue.

Most boxes are 3 strings and can have 4 or 6 but this guy does a pretty fair job with one string and a slide which is pretty much mandatory on any CBG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tys6dmEMyRk

And I love Delta Blues. Just something about that sound that gets into your head.
 
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DocHutch

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
..........

Nice.

I just returned from a family vacation to St Louis in which we made a stop in Memphis and caught up on some Blues history. We toured the Gibson factory and went to Sun Studios. We also made the stop at Graceland. I picked up some CDs and a book on Memphis Blues.

Good YouTube find. Thanks.
 

desertshark

Racks on racks on racks
Silver Member
Hey Blue Hog... I'm a blues guitar player and love the cigar box guitars. I recently "assembled" a stratocaster. They aren't hard besides setting the neck and wiring. I was going to build a telecaster with my choice of wood glued together and cut by me as well. I played one of the cigar box guitars and trust me, nothing about them is easy. The tuning is not e based and chord differences threw me off. I'll stick to the blues on a standard tuned strat or drop a half step when I'm playing some Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Please build of the cbg's and do a build up on it, I'd be stoked to see what its all about :)
 

arps

tirador (ng pansit)
Silver Member
nice video blue hog. i play too and i'm also a big guitar fan. just installed some brass saddles on my tele and a bone nut that i made.:thumbup:
 

EagleMan

Banned
This is something that I accidentally stumbled onto while searching Utube.
Funny how that happens eh. Anyway, these are guitars that are fashioned from cigar boxes. The history of them go way back to the Mississippi Delta Blues and the Dust Bowl. People couldn't afford a guitar so they improvised
with whatever they had to make music.

I probably found this while searching for videos on the history of the Appalachian people.

Other than doing cue repairs, I don't do much in the way of building cues but like doing different wood working projects and I think I will be trying my hand at at least one cigar box guitar in the New Year.

I took lessons many years ago and most of you probably forgotten more than I will ever know. However, I can still pick on a few chords that I can remember.

The reason that I posted in the main forum is that this guy is playing a one string box and the neck is fashioned from a pool cue.

Most boxes are 3 strings and can have 4 or 6 but this guy does a pretty fair job with one string and a slide which is pretty much mandatory on any CBG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tys6dmEMyRk

And I love Delta Blues. Just something about that sound that gets into your head.

Interesting. THANKS!

I'm a blues/jazz guitarist (among other things) and have been a life-long Bo Diddley fan. There are a LOT of conflicting stories about how Mr. Ellas Otha Bates...aka Ellas McDaniel...aka Bo Diddley got his name...including conflicting stories from Diddley himself.

The version that I prefer is that a "diddley bow" was a homemade single string "guitar" of sorts which originated in Africa and was certainly favored by slaves in the Delta region...but wasn't officially "documented" by researchers until the 1920s-30s.

They were often built from cigar boxes...and Bo Diddley's iconic guitar was certainly shaped like a LARGE cigar box. So, I think it most plausible that he just reversed "diddley bow" into Bo Diddley.

In addition...the name "diddley bow" either resulted from the phrase "diddley squat" meaning ya ain't got NOTHIN'...or that phrase got its start from the fact that only poor folk built and played them. Again, there is disagreement over which caused what.

(-:

EagleMan
 

EagleMan

Banned
Hey Blue Hog... I'm a blues guitar player and love the cigar box guitars. I recently "assembled" a stratocaster. They aren't hard besides setting the neck and wiring. I was going to build a telecaster with my choice of wood glued together and cut by me as well. I played one of the cigar box guitars and trust me, nothing about them is easy. The tuning is not e based and chord differences threw me off. I'll stick to the blues on a standard tuned strat or drop a half step when I'm playing some Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Please build of the cbg's and do a build up on it, I'd be stoked to see what its all about :)

Better yet...tune down 1/4 step so you can politely tell the drunken harp players in the audience that they can't sit in!!!!!!

(-:

EagleMan
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Interesting. THANKS!

I'm a blues/jazz guitarist (among other things) and have been a life-long Bo Diddley fan. There are a LOT of conflicting stories about how Mr. Ellas Otha Bates...aka Ellas McDaniel...aka Bo Diddley got his name...including conflicting stories from Diddley himself.

The version that I prefer is that a "diddley bow" was a homemade single string "guitar" of sorts which originated in Africa and was certainly favored by slaves in the Delta region...but wasn't officially "documented" by researchers until the 1920s-30s.

They were often built from cigar boxes...and Bo Diddley's iconic guitar was certainly shaped like a LARGE cigar box. So, I think it most plausible that he just reversed "diddley bow" into Bo Diddley.

In addition...the name "diddley bow" either resulted from the phrase "diddley squat" meaning ya ain't got NOTHIN'...or that phrase got its start from the fact that only poor folk built and played them. Again, there is disagreement over which caused what.

(-:

EagleMan
What a nice post...I'm an etymology nerd AND a Bo Diddley fan....
...I saw him live many times when I was young....
..BB King got the name but I liked Bo just as much.
 

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
Please build of the cbg's and do a build up on it, I'd be stoked to see what its all about :)

That is a good idea. I hadn't thought of taking pics, but I will now.

There are some good building vids on UTube and I found a good amount of info from Google.

The neck seems to be fairly rudimentary, some go thru the box and others are pretty much like a regular guitar neck.

I kind of prefer the fancier neck myself but for the first one, I will probably stick to as basic as they come. Right thru the box and attach the strings
on the outside and up over the box supported by the Bridge.

I watched one vid where the guy makes these for a living. He was demonstrating the different tones each box had, much like the tonal qualities that cue makers strive for using different exotic wood. You could actually hear the different tones each box had and some were quite pleasant.

I think that it will be an experiment. I mean, different boxes, bridges, necks etc, will all play a role in the sound.

We only have one cigar shop left in town so will try and pay a visit tomorrow and see what he does with his empty boxes. I'll probably be forced to buy a couple of decent cigars while I'm at it. If not, probably boxes for sale on EBay. He doesn't sell the most expensive cigars in the world so I might be limited to whatever he has on hand.

Pretty simple tools that are required and the only thing holding you back is you imagination. I have seen pics of some pretty fancy ones as well.

A coping saw, Exacto knife, drill, maybe a Dremel to make life easier, wood glue. Guys are building amps from cigar boxes too. A lot of the electronics are basic from Radio Shack.

Frets are made from coat a hanger, nails, altho I would probably use brass rod from a hobby shop.

When I first saw these, one of the first thoughts were, how can I incorporate pool cues into these. I thought that maybe I can use inlay material for bridges, nuts, frets and dots. Altho, some boxes are lined with cedar and some of the thin cedar strips glued together would work great for a bridge. Some are using just plain set screws for bridges and a big ole bolt for a the Nut.

Anyway, first things first. I will try and get some boxes tomorrow and see what type of wood I can use for the neck. I have a ton of wood but not going to chop any curly maple up just yet.

And speaking of musical instruments that originated in Africa. There is another one called a Kalimba or Thumb Piano. These originated in Africa. They do make these from cigar boxes and dried gourds. The tines can be anything from the tines from a broken rake to bicycle spokes. Check UTube. There is a lady who had one made for her and she gives an almost perfect rendition of Beethoves's Fur De Lis Sorry, may not have spelled that one right.
 
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