Gitty’s Guide to Junkin’ and Pickin’ for Cigar Box Guitar Building – Part 1

This is Part 1 of a series of two articles, in which Ben “C. B. Gitty” Baker shares some of what he has learned about buying cool old vintage items (ie: junk) for making homemade instruments.

C. B. Gitty owner Ben Baker checking price tags carefully

I am pretty much a newcomer to junking, picking, thrifting, yardsale-ing and the like.

Though I grew up poor and most of my clothes and toys were secondhand, it is only since getting into making cigar box guitars and other handmade instruments that I have begun to appreciate the value of junk stores, thrift stores, yard sales and to a lesser extent antique stores. Continue reading “Gitty’s Guide to Junkin’ and Pickin’ for Cigar Box Guitar Building – Part 1”

Gitty’s Guide to Junkin’ and Pickin’ for Cigar Box Guitar Building – Part 2

This is Part 2 of a series of two articles, in which Ben “C. B. Gitty” Baker shares some of what he has learned about buying cool old vintage items (ie: junk) for making homemade instruments.

In the Part 1 of this article, I discussed the sorts of things I look out for when junkin’ and pickin’, as well as the sorts of places I go to do it – the What and the Where. In this part of the article, I focus more on on the “How” – the way I go about picking. They are still under development, but they are working for now. I have never been a big fan of negotiating prices and dickering, but I have been working on it – so that affects some of these general thoughts. Everyone is different and these methods may not work for you, but I hope some people are able to gain something from it. Continue reading “Gitty’s Guide to Junkin’ and Pickin’ for Cigar Box Guitar Building – Part 2”