Wednesday, April 29, 2009


No 11.

Finally a true resonator cone.... As you know I have been working on variations of cigar box resonator guitars. So far I have used a tuna can with a sink drain, 4 inch cake pan with shower drain for the cover plate..... I have been pleased with the results. However, I could not resist trying a spun cone, made specifically to be used in a ukulele. Just finished up No. 11 with 18 frets Bocote fingerboard, Maple 3 piece neck on a Davidoff body and of course the spun cone . A true resonator. As expected this one has a very strong voice.....Thanks to Pat Cook for mentoring me on this build. Did I forget to mention Big Daddy's help as well... Another pioneer in the ongoing CBG movement. Thanks Darren . No. 11 will be making it's way to the website
www.cigarcitycbgs.com for more information.

Monday, April 20, 2009

website updates

Hey Gang,
Lots of action lately - I have recently completed two nice little cake pan resos. A 16 and an 18 fret model. Both are very similarly constructed and can be seen on the website as well. Thank you for your kind comments regarding the Youtube clip more to come on that front. Kathy tells me she has some more boxes for me to pick up. Very excited! Frank just sent me a couple of resonator cones. Can't wait to hear what a real cone will sound like in the next CBG.... I'll keep you posted let me know what you think.... Jim

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Now on You tube

Well now I am way outside of my comfort zone. The truth is that I know less about playing CBG's then I do about building them. That being said, I have posted a sad little video on Youtube to demonstrate a couple of things really. The obvious reason (I can't play)is so you can hear the sound from these little instruments. Also, and more importantly it demonstrates the point that Keni Lee Burgess makes in his instructional videos, you can take his principles and start to learn any song. Clearly you need to start somewhere and for me that somewhere is this simple little song....

No 9......


Hey Gang,

Here's the latest from the shop.... It's a 3 string cake pan new tricks include new headstock design. (a ton more work) Open D tuning and checkout the "thru-bod" tail piece....Open the box from the back to change strings. Thanks to everyone that has been checking out the website. Sign in and leave a comment or two. I would love to hear what you think. Or email me I'll keep you posted on whats in the shop.... Make certain you check out Keni Lee Burgess new instructional video on youtube.... Very cool.....

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Good Bye No 8


So after a lot of work, in my hands I hold No 8. I have to tell you it's hard to let go of this one. But I made it for a new friend who is going to help me refine the sound of my guitars. Hopefully, soon I will have more information on that. Here is the final shot that Angel took before I went off to Postnet and shipped this little bad boy to his new home. What a fun guitar to make and play. I am dialing in some basic design parameters that I use on my CBG's. Now I am looking forward to the next build, I really want to hear how it sounds. If I can create consistency, than I hope to be able to control the sound within the scope of the instrument and the materials used for construction, and work with the player to provide that sound they are looking for in their quest for their own mojo. More about that in the future.. For now it's back in the shop.......

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

No 8

Okay here are the updated shots on the latest build....

As you can see it's a wood box, not paper. (I think Kathy found this one at the cigar shop by her house. I really appreciate her getting these for me. I think it almost kills her to go into those
shops because of the smoke. Not to mention the fact that she is a nursing student that lost her (our) father to lung cancer. But she's a trooper and always comes up with nice boxes. Thanks sis....) Anyway back to the build, 4" cake pan with shower drain screen floating in the pan along with a floating bridge. One of the key points on my CBG's is that the bridge is floating. Owners are going to need to keep in mind the approximate location of the bridge when they change strings. If you want to dial it in totally just use your tuner. Tune the note open and then tune again, fretting at the 12th fret... unless you have perfect pitch. (In that case, CBG's may not be your cup of tea.) Remember these are lo-tech instruments that promote "close is good 'nuff"... The neck is 18 frets on a Padauk finger board with Maple fret markers and black position dots. I am very happy with this neck... The wood top gives this CBG a warm acoustic feel and it plays great...The action is low and really requires a controlled hand when you are playing slide. The back of the guitar features one of my favorite features - the 5 piece laminated neck; Mahogany, Black, Maple, Black and Mahogany. It is capped at the heal with Black and Spalted Maple.

I could not be happier with how the carving on the neck turned out... I think this neck is my best effort yet, very elegant and really nice to play. I will admit that the nut gave me trouble. I had to make two of them. The first one was a little short and created a buzz on the first couple of frets. Hey, for my money, I 'd rather make a new nut than file and polish frets.... One of the other nice touches on this fiddle is that the bridge is laminated like the neck and just looks great sitting proudly on the cover of this one-of-a-kind hand crafted Cigar Box Guitar....