There is an annual festival held in North Little Rock Arkansas
that celebrates the cigar box guitar. That festival brings together many of
those folks who love to build and play cigar box guitars. There are no hard and fast rules on how to
build one. The same can be said about
how to play, or tune it. It’s all about
the feel, and what the box says to you.
Their origin springs from a time and a place where money was
tight. They were built with items on hand, like a broomstick, broom wire, and
(of course) a cigar box. Things have
evolved to a point where serious bucks are spent in their construction. Mine is made with a vintage box, real hardwood for guitar necks, and tuning pegs.
The retail price for mine would probably be in the $200 range. It was an
investment, to be sure. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find the materials to
make one yourself. It just means that a
cigar box can come from humble beginnings, or be part of some serious luthier
work.
Two of my childhood friends now build cigar box
guitars. One was a professional luthier,
the other a machinist. A few years back,
the luthier taught the machinist how to cut the wood, and assemble the guitars.
It had been a long time since the two had worked together, and they both came
away from the experience having learned that some things never change. They both retain a passion for building and
playing. As for the therapeutic properties of the guitar, I must say that I
usually turn to it when I’m stuck on a writing project, or when I’m patiently
waiting for my wife for one thing or another. When I play it, my back muscles
loosen up. Time slips away, and before I
know it, I’m relaxed (or my wife is ready to go.)