Traditional Cigar Box Guitar

By Mark Frauenfelder

Image

Photography by Mark Frauenfelder

HAND-ROLLED MUSIC

Several years ago, MAKE featured an electric Cigar Box Guitar project (Volume 04, page 76). The project’s author, Ed Vogel, designed a simple instrument using only parts you’d find at a hardware store. I made one myself, and had a wonderful time playing it.

Recently, I decided I’d like to make a more traditional cigar box guitar. I soon found Cigar Box Nation (cigarboxnation.com), a fantastic online hangout for homemade stringed instrument enthusiasts. The photos, videos, and MP3s posted by these happy strummers and pluckers were inspiring, and ...

Get Best of Make: Volume 2 now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.