Forget the cigar box guitar!

This guy will turn ANYthing into a guitar!





https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1575342729

I have become friends with Seasick Steve on the Cigar Box Nation website.  He's got a gift to say the least.  I also have the CD from The Swamp Drivers coming.  Steve is part of that band, and ALL their instruments are hand made including their drum kit.  You would expect some sort of bluegrass stuff looking at their instruments, but they know how to bring some blues.

For those interested, The Swam Drivers aren't a Christian band, so expect to hear some things that you might not want to hear.

I'm a fan of the sound of cigar box guitars too.

What about a wine box guitar?  That's where I am headed next.  I have a couple of wine boxes and also a large metal cookie tin that I want to make a banjo (er....canjo) out of.

You should make one out of this... 

Send it to me and I will do it, sir!  You'd have to pay for parts plus some for labor, but I'd be happy to do it!  We shall name it Eddie's Revenge!

Well, IF I knew how to play guitar and IF I had the money to spend on it... I would.  Those boxes are pricy though!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xeddie%27s+archive.TRS0&_nkw=eddie%27s+archive&_sacat=0

That is some crazy stuff!

Oh, good heavens!  You'd be better off buying a really thick wine box, sanding the logo off, and adding Eddie to it with some heat transfer paper.

That's cool a cigar box banjo.

The idea of having a cigar box guitar made from a wine barrell is pretty cool.
Having one with the name Macon rouge on it must be cool.
Macon is a very good French wine.

Not a barrel--just a box.  You will see wine in wooden boxes for gift giving.  Many times the box will hold anywhere from 1-3 bottles at a time.

I wouldn't mind having one of those Macon Rouge boxes, but I bet that they'd be pretty expensive here in the States.

I got my CD of The Swamp Drivers featuring the guys in this video.  Sounds to be a fun blues album with some definite alternative sounds to the instruments.  I bought it for research as I start my own cigar box guitar blues album.  I want to see what others are doing so that I can be a little different.  I also have Glenn Kaiser's cigar box album.  I will be going in a traditional Chicago/Memphis/Texas blues style but using 3 & 4 string guitars.  Being able to hear people like The Swamp Drivers, Samantha Fish, Shane Speal, and Justin Johnson on their albums show me that almost anything is possible if you just imagine.

When the wine box banjo is ready I hope you'll send a pic of this.I'm very curious how this one looks and how the sound is.

Chicago blues, really?
I absolutely love Chicago blues.

Oh, the banjo won't be made from a wine box.  It would have to be made from a cookie tin as it needs to have a metallic twang sound.

It made me I want to see the banjo when you are ready to build the banjo.

I have to finish the wine box build for an auction and then I have my first commissioned (paid) build to make.  Both of these will be three string guitars and acoustic only.

How is the progress building your wine box guitar?
An auction is always a good goal.
Or I misunderstood it?

No, you have the auction right!

If I had unlimited time, I could be finished with both guitars, but life gets in the way.  I should have them both finished by the end of the week--Lord willing.

Yep, sometimes life is asking more time than to build both guitar and raise a puppy.
Maybe there's enough time to finish both guitars.
Some snow days this week?

I ended up having to disassemble the wine box guitar.  The neck was bowing as the neck I had bought was just too soft.  Luckily I had never handed it over to be auctioned off.  The lady that is doing the auctions needs a kidney transplant but her surgery keeps getting moved back.  So, that buys me some time.  I have a new neck started that I am making.  I don't know if I will make the fretboard or buy one.  Either way, I want this to be done right when it is finished so I can help her raise money for this costly surgery and also help build my guitar brand.

I haven't started the banjo.  I got the two car show trophies that I made into guitars.  I also started a guitar made from a Batman license plate as well as another from a box I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It said "COWBOY" down the side and had a steer head on the front.  I am making it for a young man at church who is headed off to college in August.  He does rodeo, and this is going to be a gift to him.  He also plays guitar and performs, so this could be worked into his act.

alldatndensum wrote:

...I also started a guitar made from a Batman license plate as well as another from a box I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It said "COWBOY" down the side and had a steer head on the front.  I am making it for a young man at church who is headed off to college in August.  He does rodeo, and this is going to be a gift to him.  He also plays guitar and performs, so this could be worked into his act.

What a great gift!

Alldat, have you always been this creative and talented, or is this a "late-in-life" kind of thing that you picked up ? 
It sure is cool to see your finished works here and on Facebook. I love to build and draw, buy I've never had musical talents or instrument building abilities -I really respect that talent.
Like Kerrick said, if I knew how to play, I'd find something for you to build me a 3 string out of.... just cuz I think it's incredibly outrageously cool !

I have played music and written poems or songs since I was 15.  The drawing, painting, and now guitar building is definitely a late in life thing.  Until recently, I have never been mechanically inclined, so even attempting to use  power tools has always a disaster for me.  I just finally  found something that I can do.  I am having to really learn how to use them now.  As a kid, I was always too ADD to pay  attention when my daddy was trying to show me woodworking or auto maintenence.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Alldat, have you always been this creative and talented, or is this a "late-in-life" kind of thing that you picked up ? 
It sure is cool to see your finished works here and on Facebook. I love to build and draw, buy I've never had musical talents or instrument building abilities -I really respect that talent.
Like Kerrick said, if I knew how to play, I'd find something for you to build me a 3 string out of.... just cuz I think it's incredibly outrageously cool !

Don't let not knowing how to play stop you from trying.  Perhaps you just need a unique instrument that you can fiddle around with until you learn to play something.  The cigar box guitars are typically 3 stringers tuned to an open chord.  All that means is that you can literally play some simple things with one finger.

Well the first 2 vids are gone so I can't see what they are. Alldat, go out to your shed and grab a shovel! This thing looks so cool! A shovel guitar!