How to Build a 3-String Cigar Box Guitar

Seasick Steve playing a homemade cigar box guitar.

The cigar box guitar was traditionally a homemade alternative for musicians that couldn’t afford a real guitar. Fashioned from a wooden cigar box and cheap wood for the neck, the cigar box guitar lacked tonal sophistication but had a unique rustic charm. Contemporary blues artist Seasick Steve has popularized the cigar box guitar as an instrument in its own right, rather than just a homemade alternative to an unobtainable instrument. Building your own cigar box guitar is a quick and inexpensive approach to owning your own, customized musical instrument.

Things You'll Need

• Router
• Wooden cigar box
• Wood saw
• 3-foot piece of 1-by-2 plank
• Planer
• Glue brush
• Glue
• 3 geared tuners
• Slotting file
• Fret wire
• Snub-nose nippers
• Jeweler’s hammer
• Metal file
• Drill
• Drill bit set
• 1/2-inch nails
• Piezo transducer
• Speaker wire
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• 1/4-inch jack

Instructions

1. Route a 1-inch-by-2-inch slot in the side of the cigar box, approximately 1/16 inch below the top of the box. If the cigar box is rectangular, route the slot on the shorter side.

2. Slide the 1-by-2 plank into the slot so the end sits flush against the other end of the cigar box.

3. Plane the top three inches of the 1-by-2 so it is approximately 1/8 inch lower than the rest of the wood. There should be an incline of approximately 1/2 inch from the “neck” and the “head” of the wood.

4. Make 12 horizontal slots along the neck, spaced 1 inch apart and each 1/16 inch deep.

5. Cut 12 pieces of 2 1/2-inch fret wire. The extra 1/2-inch in length if for holding onto as you guide the frets into the groove.

6. Brush glue onto the tang of the fret. Sink it into the groove. Drive the frets in with a jeweler’s hammer. Trim off the excess with the nippers and file the edges at a 45-degree angle to bevel them. Repeat this process for each fret.

7. Drill three pairs of screw-mounting holes for the tuners -- two on the bass side of the headstock and one on the treble side. Space them so the treble-side tuner sits opposite the space between the bass-side tuners.

8. Screw the geared tuners onto the headstock.

9. Slot the neck back into the body. Hammer two 1-inch nails into the back of the cigar box to secure the neck in place.

10. Drill a 1/4-inch hole in the bottom edge of the box. Slot the 1/4-inch jack into the hole. Fasten it in place with the supplied washer.

11. Drill three equally-spaced, 1/16-inch holes in the center of the cigar lid, 1 inch from the bottom edge.

12. Glue a piezo transducer to the underside of the lid. Solder the power wire and earth wire to the braided end of the speaker wire. The opposite end of the speaker wire is split in two -- red and black.

13. Solder the red wire to the positive lug on the 1/4-inch jack. Solder the black wire to the negative lug.

14. Feed the first string from underneath the lid, through the hole and into the geared tuner. Tighten the tuner to add tension to the string. Repeat this process for each string.

15. Close the lid box and latch the hook to the eyelet to prevent it from swinging open.

Tips & Warnings

• Solder only in a well-ventilated area.

References

• Red Dog Guitars: The Finest American Cigar Box Guitars
• Cigar Box Guitars: How to Build a Cigar Box Guitar