A Homemade Hawaiian (Cigar Box) Ukulele – Popular Mechanics June, 1917

This article on how to build a cigar box ukulele comes from the June, 1917 edition of Popular Mechanics. In it S. H. Samuels walks the reader through the basics of constructing a uke, which in 1917 “was made at a cost of 30 cents, by careful selection of materials from the shop scrap stock.”

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A Step-by-Step Guide On How To Make a Straight Headstock

No fancy tools required to make this awesome headstock for your cigar box guitar

By Glenn Watt

Thanks to craftswoman Farley Andresen for the demonstrating the work Straight heastock featured image

 No fancy tools required to make this awesome headstock for your cigar box guitar

Cigar box is in the name, but the neck is what turns the box into a cigar box guitar.

And the headstock – the part of the neck that anchors your tuning pegs – is a critical component to getting, and keeping, your CBG fully functional. Continue reading “A Step-by-Step Guide On How To Make a Straight Headstock”

A. J. Gaither

Musical styles: Blues, Hillbilly, Honky-tonk, Originals
Handmade instruments played: Cigar Box Guitar, Washtub Bass, Foot Percussion

A. J. Gaither spent the bulk of his young adulthood getting his hands dirty, making a living working on cars. But the southern Arkansas native found a way to keep his hands busy, building and playing handmade musical instruments, while avoiding arrest and living further north in Kansas City.

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Advanced Cigar Box Guitar Building guide by Joshua Gayou

Josh Gayou of Smokehouse Guitars created this 179-page  guide back in 2010, and decided to give it away for free to the cigar box guitar community. In it, he covers some of the more advanced techniques involved in building a high-end solid-body 6-string electric guitar using a cigar box body.
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Amazing Grace – Traditional

This song was first published in 1779 and is known throughout the western world. If you only learn one Christian spiritual, this should probably be it. Thankfully, it is very easy to play on the canjo! View the full text of this entry by clicking the “Read More” link below for the formatted canjo tab…

Learn how to play the melody of Amazing Grace on your one-string Canjo!

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April Mae & the June Bugs

Musical styles: Jump blues, Swing, Boogie, Americana, Rockabilly, Originals

Handmade instruments played: Cigar Box Guitar

Southern New Jersey natives April Mae and Dave “Catfish” Fecca form two-thirds of the blues/Americana trio, April Mae & the June Bugs. Prior to the inception of their current band, April and Catfish toured from Memphis to Mexico in a blues-fusion group. Their time spent in the south strengthened their ties to the blues which led to them being awarded the honor of 2009 Emerging Artist finalists at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas.

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