Cigar Box Guitar Articles

Photos taken from MIM.org Among the 15,000 instruments under curation at the massive Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix AZ, the...

When someone mentions folk art instruments, a screaming electric lap steel guitar made with old guitar parts on a six pound slab of mahogany

Have you ever noticed the wooden back piece of a conventional banjo. These are called resonators and their job is to keep the sound...

These plans for an experimental diddley bow use an electric door bell clapper as a Dick Dale-style hyper tremolo picker. Fascinating...

Before the blues showed up in the 1920's, there were minstrel shows and Vaudeville theater. Central to many of these shows was a...

This is probably the easiest electric diddley bow pickup/bridge combo I've ever seen. It is based on a one-string "diddley bow" guitar...

An old time cigar box guitar sometimes needs some accompaniment, so we offer some classic free plans for a hot-rodded washtub bass guitar....

Several weeks ago, I received a message from fellow cigar box guitarist, Clint Herriman stating that he had discovered another historic...

How to Tie Fret Knots Parts needed: monofilament nylon fishing line (10 to 15lb test). Tools needed: Scissors Small file Fret Calculator....

Don't try this at home! These plans were discovered by cigar box guitar builder and researcher, John "Reddog" McNair. I'm not sure...

Imagine digging through countless newspaper articles for any mention of a cigar box guitar and then discovering a full story of a young...

Pictured: A small round box ukulele, circa 1920's. The following plans are less detailed than others in our archives, but they give some...

This DIY microphone sounds like you're singing through an old AM radio. It also gives the meanest harmonica mic tone ever. This free...

The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, New Orleans LA, 1899 “So I went ahead and made me a guitar. I got me a cigar box, I cut me a round hole in...

Here's a simple cigar box guitar design I came up with using a shovel handle from Lowes. It's presented here in 'builder's diary' form,...

(Pictured: 5-string cigar box banjo, circa 2005. Unknown builder. The design is similar to the banjo plans featured here.) Shane's note:...

by Shane Speal ​ "On Saturdays, barbers sat their customers in the shade on the porch of the Store, and troubadours on their ceaseless...

I’d snatch a violin bow and I’d play that one-string fiddle while Mr. Statz would try to make his announcements...

There was a Turk, of a most pompous appearance, who entertained crowds in the street by playing on an instrument of five strings passed over

These historic plans from 1922 show how to build a five-string mandolin from a cigar box.