Cigar Box Guitar
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The cigar box guitar is a simple
chordophone In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...
that uses an empty cigar box as a
resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a reso ...
. The earliest had one or two strings; modern models typically have three or more. Generally, the strings are connected to the end of a broomstick or a 1×2 inch wood slat and to the cigar box resonator.


History

Cigars were packed in boxes, crates, and barrels as early as 1800, but the small boxes that are common today did not exist prior to around 1840. Until then, cigars were shipped in crates containing 100 or more per case. After 1840, cigar manufacturers started using smaller, more portable boxes with 20–50 cigars per box. Trace evidence of cigar box instruments exists from 1840 to the 1860s. The earliest known illustration of a cigar box instrument is an etching copyrighted in 1876 of two
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
soldiers at a campsite, one of whom is playing a cigar box
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
. The etching was created by illustrator and artist Edwin Forbes, who, under the banner of '' Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', worked for the Union Army. The etching was included in Forbes's work ''Life Studies of the Great Army''. In the etching (''Home, Sweet Home''), the fiddle clearly shows the brand "Figaro" on the cigar box. In addition to the etching, plans for a cigar box
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
were published by Daniel Carter Beard, co-founder of the
Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...
, in 1884 as part of ''Christmas Eve with Uncle Enos''. The plans, retitled "How to Build an Uncle Enos Banjo", were included in the 1890 edition of Beard's ''
American Boy's Handy Book ''The American Boy's Handy Book'' is a handbook of activities intended for boys, written by Daniel Carter Beard, later a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. It is divided into seasonal sections, with activities appropriate for each season in th ...
'' as supplementary material at the back of the book. These plans omitted the story but still showed a step-by-step description of a playable five-string fretless banjo made from a cigar box. It would seem that the earliest cigar box instruments would be crude and primitive, but this is not always the case. According to William Jehle, curator of The Cigar Box Guitar Museum and the author of '' One Man's Trash: A History of the Cigar Box Guitar'', the museum acquired two cigar box fiddles built in 1886 and 1889 that seem very playable and well built. The 1886 fiddle was made for an 8-year-old boy and is certainly playable, but the 1889 fiddle has a well-carved neck and slotted violin headstock. The latter instrument was made for serious playing. Cigar box guitars and fiddles were also important in the rise of
jug band A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...
s and
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
. As most of these performers were black Americans living in poverty, many could not afford a "real" instrument. Using these, along with the
washtub bass The washtub bass, or gutbucket, is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses ha ...
(similar to the cigar box guitar), jug, washboard, and harmonica, black musicians performed blues at social events.
The Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank an ...
of the 1930s saw a resurgence of homemade
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
s.


Modern revival

A modern revival of these instruments has been gathering momentum with an increase in the number of cigar box guitar builders and performers. A loose-knit group of underground musicians tour the East Coast of the United States each summer under the banner "Masters of the Cigar Box Guitar Tour".. These musicians include Doctor Oakroot, Johnny Lowebow, Tomi-O and many others. A growing number of primitive
luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
s are adding cigar box guitars to their items for sale. Some cigar box guitar builders of today include Mike Doyle Shane Speal, Mike Snowden, Del Puckett and Peter Lake of Heavy Fog Guitars. The modern revival is partly due to interest in the
DIY culture "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals ...
, as a cigar box is inexpensive in comparison with other factors, such as strings and construction time. Many modern cigar box guitar makers can be seen as practitioners of a type of lutherie and implement various personal touches, such as the addition of pickups and resonator cones. In the mid-to-late 1990’s, Jay Kirgis, a musician and sculptor in Oxford, Mississippi, created playable, sculptural cigarbox and biscuit tin instruments using pool cues as necks. The modern revival of cigar box guitars is documented in the 2008 film ''Songs Inside the Box'', which was shot primarily at the Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza, an annual event held in Huntsville, Alabama, which has since been re-named the World's Longest-Running Cigar Box Guitar Festival. The 19th annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival was held in 2022. While there are many cigar box guitar builders, selling their guitars online, at music festivals and outdoor markets, Huntsville, Alabama is also home to the only brick-and-mortar cigar box guitar store in the world, exclusively selling cigar box guitars and other cigar box instruments. Located at Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment, the store was founded in 2010 by John Nickel and his father Pat Nickel, after John attended the Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza and was inspired to build and play cigar box guitars. Luthier Jeff Mello and his wife Tara took over ownership of the store in February 2021. In November 2021, Mello and the store were featured on the WVTM ''Chronicle'' special, "Made in 'Bama," hosted by Lisa Crane. The Cigar Box Guitar Museum, a free display dedicated to cigar box guitars, is located in Speal’s Tavern, a small blues club in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania. It is curated by cigar box guitarist Shane Speal and contains over 60 antique and modern cigar box guitars.


Tuning

Many different tunings can be used for cigar box guitars. Common tunings are: * Open tuning ** three strings: for example A – e – a or G – d – g ** four strings: for example A – e – a – c#' or G – d – g – b * Classical tuning of a six-string guitar (E – A – d – g – b – e’) ** three strings: for example A – d – g ** four strings: for example d – g – b – e’ * Magic jazz tuning: A – e – g * Hawaiian tuning: A – e – f# * Four string banjo tuning: D – G – b – d


Notable performers

*
Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...
played a cigar box–shaped guitar. *Luther Dickinson, the guitarist of the North Mississippi Allstars, uses an electric cigar box guitar called the Lowebow. * Billy Gibbons of
ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
performs with a cigar box guitar. *
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primaril ...
plays a four-string cigar box guitar. * Richard Johnston, the subject of the 2005 Max Shores documentary ''Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour'', performs with a Lowebow. Johnston helped design the instrument with its builder, John Lowe, who first learned of the cigarbox instruments from Jay Kirgis, a builder in Mississippi. Mr. Kirgis had brought one into John Lowe’s store looking for a pickup. * Bonny B. plays with a cigar box with only two strings (octave chord). *
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
plays cigar box banjo on his album '' Real Gone''. *Jon Hembrey, lead guitarist of 2014 Juno nominees the Strumbellas, plays a three-string cigar box guitar. * Seasick Steve plays several personalized and obscure instruments, including a cigar box guitar. * Shane Speal, billed as "The King of the Cigar Box Guitar," performs exclusively with cigar box guitars in solo shows and with his group, Shane Speal's Snake Oil Band. He performs with self-built cigar box guitars and also with instruments by Daddy Mojo, Smokehouse Guitars, Tomi-O Hartwell, Johnny Lowebow, Kurt Schoen and Mike Orr. * Ed King of
Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
plays a cigar box guitar. *
Harry Manx Harry Manx (born 1955) is a Canadian musician who blends blues, folk music, and Hindustani classical music. His official website describes his music as being a "blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, add a sprinkle of gospel and ...
, a Hindustani slide master, plays a Lowebow cigar box guitar. * Chris Ballew, lead singer of the Presidents of the United States of America, has recorded with a one-string cigar box bass made by Shane Speal. * Vic Ruggiero, lead singer of the Slackers, recorded tracks in Japan for his upcoming solo album. He plays a four-string cigar box guitar. *
Joe Buck Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster for ESPN. The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for Fox's Nati ...
, performing as a one-man band and also as a member of Hank Williams III's band Assjack. *
PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...
plays a Baratto Cigfiddle. *
Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the Protagonist, principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily newspaper, daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown ...
, of the ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...
''
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
, played a cigar box banjo a few times in his first years (in the early 1950s). *
Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its li ...
played a cigar box guitar at times and said this on the subject: * Alain Johannes plays a cigar box guitar throughout his first solo record, "Spark", and also on tour. *Reverend Peyton of The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band plays a three-string cigar box guitar. *
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
played a Baratto cigar box guitar on "Cut Me Some Slack", as heard in the documentary '' Sound City''. He also used the guitar for the live debut of the song at the 12-12-12 Concert with
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
band
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
(
Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...
and
Krist Novoselic Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician, politician and activist. Novoselic co-founded and played bass on every album for the rock music, rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the ban ...
) and for a subsequent performance on ''Saturday Night Live''. *Mark Stowe was included on the 2014 album ''Guitar Wizards Vol. 1 & 2'', performing his guitar solo "Hemingway" on a homemade three-string cigar box guitar. * Samantha Fish plays a four-string cigar box guitar. *
Matthew West Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American contemporary Christian musician and singer-songwriter. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More (Matthew West song), More", "You Are Everything (Matthew West so ...
plays a cigar box ukulele on his 2017 video for "Come On Christmas".


See also

* Diddley Bow * Lowebow *
Jug band A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...
*
Washtub bass The washtub bass, or gutbucket, is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses ha ...
*
Luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
* Kabosy * Ramkie


References


External links


MATTEACCI'S CIGAR BOX GUITAR SHOPCigar Box NationHeavy Fog GuitarsShane Speal's Cigar Box Guitar Museum in New Alexandria, PennsylvaniaHandmade Music Clubhouse
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504123203/http://reddogguitars.com/BluesHistory/HistoryPage.html , date=2010-05-04
National Cigar Box Guitar Museum (Flickr)Ciguitars: Information on How to Build and Play a CBGBSA CBG Festival (France)
Cigars Guitars Improvised musical instruments