Filled with beautiful full-color photos, interviews with many of the biggest names in the cigar box guitar movement, and lots of practical how-to information, this is a great book for either the coffee table or the workshop – or both!

Either click the photo to the left, or Click Here, to browse over to C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply and check it out!

The questions come up often among Cigar Box Guitar builders: Is fretting worth it? Why would I want to fret my build? What do I need to know and what tools do I need to get started? Fretting can be a complex topic, but it doesn’t need to be a murky mystery to builders. This article will attempt to cover some of the basic concepts to help you decide whether you are ready to take the plunge, as well as point you to other resources to help you get started.

One of the best resources you can find to help you get started fretting is our C. B. Gitty’s Fretting Guide, a 39-page electronic book packed with photos and great do-it-yourself how-to information written specifically for the first-time fretter. The focus of this guide is how you can do good fret work using standard tools that you may already own, as opposed to the very pricey specialty tools available from suppliers like Stewart-MacDonald. If you want to help ensure that your first fret job is a successful one, you need this guide! We also offer combo deals of fret wire plus our guide on CD.

1. What is Fretting?

Fretting, also known as fretwork or fret installation, is the process of installing a series of raised stops on a stringed instrument neck, which allow the player to press the string down in different places to get different pitches. If you think of almost any standard acoustic or electric guitar, it is almost guaranteed to be fretted. The small metal wires that line the fret board (the wooden surface of the top of the neck) at regular intervals are the frets. As the instrument is played, these frets allow each string to create measured, exact tones at different places, which the player combines in certain melodically pleasing ways to create music.

Over the years, a lot of different materials and methods have been used to fret instruments, from wrapping movable thread frets around the neck to wooden frets to metal bars. Modern frets however consist of a fairly standard shape: a (usually) rounded top portion called the crown, and a thinner flat barbed lower portion called the tang. The crown extends above the surface of the neck and is what the strings get pressed against. The tang is inserted into a pre-cut slot, and with its barbs helps hold the fret in place.

Fretting is, quite simply, the process of installing frets into the neck of a stringed instrument, in a consistent manner that allows for easy playing and good intonation.

2. Why Fret an Instrument?

There is no question that great instruments can be built without frets. The tradition of playing unfretted with a slide goes back a long, long ways, and is perfectly suited to Cigar Box Guitars. In fact, many of the early blues singers who built their own guitars out of cigar boxes and other materials played them with slides. There are many builders (and players) today who prefer the melodic freedom that comes with slide playing, and for good reason. If this style appeals to you, then by all means continue!

However, there are some points to be made for fretting your build. We will devote a bit of time to each of these related concepts below.

First, there is the concept of recognition. The 6-string guitar is one of, if not the most widely recognized and most popular stringed instrument in the world. Most people worldwide would immediately be able to recognize it at a glance. And the vast majority of the guitars manufactured in the last 75 years have been fretted. So when the public thinks about a guitar, they think about a fretted instrument. You need frets to play folk music chords, you need frets to flat-pick country music, you need frets to play classical style, and you need frets to play most heavy metal. Moreover, there are a LOT of guitar players out there, even if they only know a few chords.

So if your goal is to create an instrument that people recognize as a guitar, and that guitar players will be able to pick up and at least play a few basic chords, you pretty much need frets. Most standard guitar players would pick up an unfretted instrument and not really know what to do with it, unless they happen to have some background in slide playing, which is largely found amongst blues players.

Second, there is the concept of standardization. Western music is based on a specific musical structure, made up of a scale of 12 semi-tones (known as the chromatic scale). Of these twelve semi-tones eight are called “whole tones” and these make up a standard octave – think of “do re mi fa so la ti do”, and you’ll have an idea of what this sounds like. This 12-tone scale is what forms the basis of most western music. Eastern and various forms of indigenous music have other structures, but the western style is our concern here. The modern guitar’s fretting is based on the 12 semi-tones of the western chromatic scale, and a precise mathematical formula (called the “rule of 18” or “12th root of 2”) is used to calculate where the frets should go to create the right pitches. It should be noted here that this concept also applies to instruments fretted diatonically, such as strum sticks and dulcimers. Those just leave out the “half tones” and only provide the whole tones – the “do re mi” of the scale.

So a correctly fretted guitar (cigar box or otherwise) is part of a much larger standard. It is inherently suited to playing western-style music based on the 12-semitone chromatic scale. This standardization means that a person who “knows how to play guitar” should be able to pick up any guitar, be it an 6-string acoustic, a 12-string acoustic, an electric, a cigar box guitar, a 4-string tenor, or an electric bass, and expect to be able to play (with practice) what we in the west would call “standard” music (assuming it is tuned correctly). This might not be the case with other stringed instruments from around the world, such as some that are indigenous to far eastern and middle-eastern areas.

Finally, there is the concept of marketing appeal. This is built on the first two, and represents their real-world effect. If your Cigar Box Guitar looks like a guitar, sounds like a guitar and can be played like a guitar (at least as far as the fretting goes), then it will appeal to a wider audience of potential players. So if your goal is to sell your builds, this is important – your prospective customer base will be much wider if the neck is fretted and they can utilize their standard guitar skills on it. Of course this concept can vary depending on your audience – if you are at a conference for blues guitarists, then unfretted slide guitars will seem much less foreign. If you are at a county fair, on the other hand, the people looking at your guitars are much more likely to want to see a fretted neck.

3. What do I need to get started fretting?

Alright so you’ve waded through the theory and made it this far, and you’ve decided that you want to give it a go. The best advice we can give as far as what you need to get started is to invest in our C. B. Gitty’s Fretting Guide, mentioned above. This 39-page electronic book is written specifically for the first time fretter, with a focus on using standard tools to get the job done. In this article we will give a basic overview of what you need, but if you want the full story check out our guide!

• First you need something to fret. This can be a new cigar box guitar, an old standard guitar that you’ve removed the frets from, an unfretted factory-made guitar neck, or even a piece of hardwood you want to practice on. We always recommend practicing fretting on a hardwood stick (such as a poplar, maple or oak 1×2” board) before having a go at your special build.
• You will need some fret wire. We offer a wide range of different sizes and styles of fret wire in our online shop, at prices lower than you will find most anywhere else. For a standard guitar, you will need about four feet of fret wire. Requirements for Cigar Box Guitars vary based on neck width, but generally you can get at least two CBGs out of six feet (the quantity we sell most of our fret wire in), and possibly three. The best fret wire to start with for a CBG is Medium/Medium Nickel-Silver .
• You will need to know where to put the frets. This can be as easy as just copying an existing guitar neck using a straight-edge, or as complicated as figuring out locations using a mathematical formula. We go into depth on this process in our fretting guide, as proper placement of frets is critical to the overall playability and intonation of the instrument.
• You will need a few tools: a thin saw of some sort to cut the slots in the neck for the frets (see our fretting guide for a discussion of different saw and miter options); a small hammer to seat the frets into their slots; a pair of cutting pliers to cut the frets to length; and a file or files to smooth off the fret ends. There are many more advanced tools you can spend a lot of money on from suppliers like Stewart-MacDonald, but these are the basic tools you need.

In this article we have covered some of the basics of what fretting is and how it works, and we have discussed various reasons why you might want to do it. Finally, we gave a brief overview of what you will need to have on hand to begin your first fretting job. We hope you have found this information helpful, and wish you the best of success should you decide to give fretting a try. With the proper knowledge, patience and attention to detail, you CAN do good fret work and take your instruments to the next level.

The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the methods you can use to decorate your builds, and wherever possible to use hardware that is both decorative AND useful – using a decorative brass hinge as a tailpiece, for instance. Where appropriate we’ll link to items that we have for sale in our web shop that you can use to help dress up your own builds. We’ll divide the CBG up into four basic sections: the headstock, neck, sound box and tail/base, and discuss some ideas and options for each in turn. Keep in mind as you go along that many of the decorative parts mentioned in this article are available at great prices in our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply Web Store.

The Headstock

The headstock is at the top of the neck, and usually a good amount of it is taken up by your machine heads/tuners. As such the options for decoration can be somewhat limited, but depending on your headstock design there are still a number of options you can choose from. Keep in mind that the front, back and sides of the headstock are all open for decoration, and that it can be especially effective if a design pattern started on the headstock continues on down the neck.

Wood-burning

This is a means of decoration that we will mention repeatedly in this article. It is cheap and easy, and with a bit of patience can yield some very good results. You can wood-burn your name (or trade name) into the headstock, or burn in a design which can continue on up the neck if you desire. If you are not of an artistic bent, you can always get some carbon paper and trace a complex design onto the headstock, and then wood-burn that. A vine/leaf motif that runs up the neck and flowers on the headstock is one idea that we have used on our builds to good effect. You can also get letter kits for your wood-burner that allow you to burn letters, numbers and symbols.

Branding

A step up from wood-burning, you can have custom metal brands made that you can use to brand words or designs into your headstock (and the rest of your build). A good use of this on the headstock would be to have a fairly small brand made with either your logo or your trade name. This would allow you to consistently brand each build you produce with the same design.

Tuner Bushings

Though most tuners come with matched bushings/ferules, the economy tuners we sell offer you the choice of different metal finishes on the ferrules, so you can get the exact look you want. Instead of the basic nickel, you could instead go for brass, matte black or antique copper, all of which can offer a different, distinct look to your headstock.

Vintage Coins

Setting a vintage coin into your headstock can be a very cool and unique accent, as shown in the photo of one of our builds. For many people CBGs are seen as a throwback to an earlier era anyway, so including some vintage coins from that era (for the United States think Indian head or wheat pennies, buffalo nickels, mercury dimes, etc.). You can get away with using very worn coins that don’t have much inherent value (look for coins listed as “cull” or in “fair” or “almost good” condition), and a quick turn on the buff wheel can polish them right up.

Metal Hardware

There are a host of possibilities when it comes to dressing up your headstock with metal hardware. Brass door pull plates can be screwed on, small grommets/bushings can be set into it in a decorative pattern; coins, metal scrapbooking accents and other small metal decorations can be screwed/tacked/glued on; you can even carve your own unique metal pieces out of brass, copper or aluminum. Always keep your eyes open at the hardware or craft store, as you can often find items meant for other uses that would make very nice decorative accents for your CBG.

Other

Like with most things CBG-related, you can let your imagination run wild. Beads, feathers, semiprecious stones, jewelry… the options for what you could nail, screw or glue to your headstock are nearly endless. The only real “rule” is that you shouldn’t do anything that will affect the headstock’s ability to do its job: don’t overly weaken the structural integrity of the headstock and its ability to stand up to the tension of the strings; don’t put anything on that will raise up the strings or block their path to the tuner pegs; and don’t do anything that will prevent the tuners from tightening the strings properly.

The Neck

The neck may seem pretty limited when it comes to decoration, but there are quite a few things you can do to spruce it up. The biggest deciding factor is whether or not your neck is fretted. Unfretted necks are pretty much empty slates when it comes to decoration, especially if you are going to set it up with quite high action for playing with a slide. If your neck is fretted, then your options are more limited, but there is still quite a bit you can do. We’ll present some ideas below.

Fret Markers (fretted neck)

If your neck is fretted, then you will want to mark certain key frets – the 3rd (optional), fifth, seventh, tenth, twelfth and fifteenth, for example. These frets can be marked both on the surface of the fret board as well as the side of the neck – many store-bought guitars have these markings, and some of them are quite decorative, such as inlaid pearl designs. For your CBG, you can do a number of things, from a very simple black dot with a sharpie, to drilling a hole and gluing in a plug of wood or a piece of metal bar stock. If gluing in a wooden plug, be sure to use a contrasting wood: if your neck is maple, use walnut, etc. Brass or aluminum bar inserts always look nice as well. You can also use colored plastic rod as an insert. You could even inset a vintage coin if you wanted, though you would have to be careful with how you drilled the hole to set it in, as a spade bit might go through your neck and out the back.

If you want to keep it simpler, you can get the wood-burner back out and create your own distinct designs; or you can get a custom fret marker brand made! Many guitar makers will do something a little different on the twelfth fret, such as two dots instead of one, as the twelfth fret is special.

Fret Markers (unfretted neck)

On an unfretted neck, most players still generally like to have at least some of the frets marked out, as a guide for when they are playing slide. Or you can mark out all of the frets with a wood-burner or other method if you want. Generally, at least the fifth, seventh and twelfth fret positions should be indicated, since these are frequently used in blues and other musical forms. As mentioned, you could mark these positions with wood-burnt lines, inset plugs/rods, or other indicators.

Beyond the fret markers, if a guitar is going to be set up for slide playing you can get even more creative with the fret board, wood-burning in designs, attaching metal hardware, setting in vintage coins, etching/carving designs, etc. It can also be a good place to carve/burn/brand in your trade name – between the seventh and twelfth fret markers being a good spot for it. The options are virtually endless!

Other Decorations

As mentioned above, wood-burnt (or carved) motifs that run up the neck and onto the headstock can be very attractive. For example, picture a vine motif that starts on the body of the instrument, winds its way up around the neck (both front and back) and then ends up on the headstock. If you are going to put some sort of clear finish on your neck (and assuming it is a lighter wood), you could attempt some sort of inked designs, or even written text – the idea of iron-on inkjet transfers also presents some interesting possibilities.

Generally the only rules for the neck are that you don’t want to compromise its structural integrity, and you don’t want anything that is going to interfere with the strings’ ability to vibrate. Also, when considering attaching hardware to the back/sides of the neck, think about how it will affect the ability to play the instrument. This is only a concern if your goal is a playable instrument — if you are building wall art, it is not such a concern.

The Sound Box (Body)

The sound box is the body of the instrument and for a CBG it consists of a cigar box. Cigar boxes come in a wide range of styles, sizes and shapes, with greater or lesser degrees of decoration. Some are fairly simple bare wood boxes with some simple logos/text branded into the surface. Others are large, intricately ornate pieces of art. These fancier boxes tend to be a lot harder to get ahold of, reserved for the most expensive cigars and special limited-edition releases.

While the sound box is (usually) the largest part of a CBG, it is also usually the part that doesn’t NEED as much decoration, as it tends to already have its own decoration that makes it immediately recognizable as a cigar box. You probably don’t want to tack on so much stuff that it is no longer recognizable (though of course you can if you want), so the challenge becomes how to tastefully add some decorative elements to help jazz it up a bit. This is especially true if you have a simpler cigar box that doesn’t have a lot of decoration already.

There are several fairly straightforward ways that the sound box can be dressed up without seriously altering the look and feel of the cigar box, which we present below.

The Neck Join

Sometimes the area where the neck joins/enters the sound box can end up with some uneven/unsightly edges. This is a perfect place to apply some creativity to cover the rough area and improve the overall appeal of the instrument. For the top of the box, a brass flat door pull can go very well here, as can some of the rusted tin accents we sell in our web store. You could also cut a thin piece of hardwood and wood-burn/carve it and then place it over this area, or just attach it without decoration. For the sides of the box where the neck goes through, you can also form a sort of “heel” or collar out of wood (or other material) to go around the neck where it enters the box. This can help cover up the uneven edges, as well as help reinforce the neck.

The Sound Hole(s)

Unless your CBG is a completely electric build, you are likely to have at least one sound hole drilled in your box to help it project sound. While you can of course leave these holes bare, it can be a very nice touch to insert a brass (or other metal) grommet to decorate the hole and cover any rough edges. Of course this is only applicable if you have standard round sound holes – if you have cut F-holes into your box, you’re on your own. We sell a nice variety of grommets in various sizes in our web store – from 1/4″ bushings in 4 finishes (nickel, brass, matte black and copper) up through jumbo 2″ inside diameter brass grommets, we’re sure to have what you need for your sound hole decoration needs! (Side note: the bigger grommets also make GREAT speaker hole covers for cigar box amplifiers!).

Another option to consider is drilling a number of smaller holes and using small 1/4″ or 3/8″ bushings as inserts, instead of a single larger sound hole. This can allow you to actually create a decorative design which can look really nice – though the practicality of this of course depends on the design of your cigar box. This same idea, of using smaller sound holes, can also be used to work with and compliment your box’s cover design.

The Back

People don’t generally think about the back of the CBG as a good place for decoration, and for good reason – it is almost guaranteed to be the least-often seen part of the instrument. However, there is no reason to ignore the back entirely. It can be an especially good place for some custom branding, or a good place to sign and number your special build or dedicate it to someone.

Refinishing the Box

Sometimes you want to completely redesign your cigar box from the ground up. In this case, you can strip it down to bare wood, sand off any branding, and start from scratch. Builders have painted all sorts of things on their boxes, from long-dead fathers of the blues to landscapes to abstract art and more. When you go this route, you truly have full artistic control over what your build will end up looking like, and you are guaranteed to end up with something unique.

Hardware Add-Ons

There are many things you can tack onto your box to add some decorative appeal. The list below outlines some ideas to help get you started, but a word of warning: if you get into this you may soon find that you are looking at the world in a new way. Everywhere you go, from the hardware store to the supermarket to a yard sale, you will be looking at stuff in terms of how it can be used on your next build!

Box Corners

Box corners are one of the best ways to spruce up your sound box. Putting a brass corner on each of the 8 corners of the box (4 on the top, 4 on the bottom) not only looks great, but it can help protect your box corners from wear and tear. These corners come in many styles, including two that we carry in our store: simple brass box corners, and solid brass trunk corners. These trunk corners can keep the surface of your box up off of a flat surface by about 1/4″, and look really great.

Custom Latches/Hinges

The latch and hinges of a cigar box can often be pretty chintzy, and this is a great opportunity to upgrade to something that will look a lot better. You can replace the thin press-in hinges and simple latch with more solid and decorative versions, which will not only strengthen your instrument but also look great.

Other Accents

Attaching metal accents such as coins, scrapbooking embellishments, brass door hardware or other items can really add a lot to your sound box. If you are building with a specific theme in mind, such as steampunk or automotive, then you can add items and designs specific to that theme. As mentioned above, you will find that there are a lot of products and items out there in the world that can be used on CBGs, from sink drain screens to door hardware to recycled electronics components and more. The only limitation is your creativity!

Things to Avoid

Although the sound box is full of possibilities for decoration and embellishment, there are a few things you will want to avoid. First, you really shouldn’t do anything that will interfere with the strings and their ability to vibrate, unless your goal is to make a pseudo-instrument for hanging on a wall as art. The ability of the strings to fully and properly vibrate is critical to the instrument’s tone. Likewise, don’t add so much stuff that the instrument can’t be comfortably held and played. There shouldn’t be any obstructions on the face of the instrument in the path where a player’s picking hand and arm tend to make contact. No matter how cool they look, anything that obstructs or inconveniences the player is not a good idea.

The Tail/Base

This is the “bottom” of the instrument, where the strings attach to the box, and where the end of the neck protrudes if you are using the neck-through building style. There isn’t generally a lot going on down here, but there are still some options for decoration. Some ideas are presented below.

Tailpieces/String Attachment

A tailpiece is a metal or wood piece that mounts to the bottom of the box/end of the neck, and to which the string ends attach. Tailpieces can range in complexity from short lengths of metal pipe, to brass hinges, to reshaped forks and spoons, to simple pieces of wood, to store-bought standard guitar or mandolin tailpieces. Personally, we feel that using a small decorative brass hinge works well. You mount one side of the hinge to the base of the box, and allow the other side to lay over the top. You may need to drill smaller holes in it for your strings to run through, and when it is strung up the hinge will adjust to the angle of the strings as they approach the bridge. This approximates what a “real” tailpiece on a store-bought guitar does, and it works quite well.

If you don’t want to attach a tailpiece, a simple method for neck-through builds is to drill small holes in the base of the neck and run the strings up through them. However, you will find that if you don’t add something for protection, once tuned to pitch the strings will cut into the wood. This is a good place to make use of some small bushings, rivet casings or other metal hardware. Not only do they protect the wood from the strings, but they also add a nice decorative touch at the base of the neck. Other builders have used items like brass door pulls, inset coins and brass rod, for this purpose.

Strap Attachment

If you are going to be attaching a strap to your CBG for playing standing up, you will probably be attaching one end of it to the base/tail of the instrument. Most straps are made to tie onto the upper part of the neck at the top, and go over a button of sorts at the bottom. Of course you can attach an actual strap button to the base for this, or you can come up with a homemade solution. One thing we have used on our builds is drilling a hole through a wheat penny and then screwing that to the box, using a couple of small nuts as spacers.

Other Decoration

As with most other areas of the instrument, the options for additional decoration here are pretty wide open. Many of the ideas that we mentioned above for the sound box also apply to this area, and you can also get creative with adding hardware to help the instrument stand up safely when leaned against a wall. This is also a good area for attaching dangling items such as beads, feathers, totems, voodoo charms, or shrunken heads, if you are into that sort of thing.

Things to Avoid

About the only things you’ll want to avoid down at the base of the instrument is anything that will make it difficult (or even impossible) to replace strings. You also don’t want anything to obstruct the path of the strings from the tailpiece/attachment area to the bridge.

Also it is always best if you design your string attachment method such that individual strings can be changed without all of them having to be loosened and removed. It can be a real pain for a player if he or she has to remove all of the strings to replace just one of them when they break.

Summary

This has, believe it or not, been a brief overview of some of the possible decorations you can add to your cigar box guitar build. As you progress in this hobby, you will likely find, like most of us have, that your ideas quickly outpace your ability to finish builds. That is OK! Keeping good notes can help, or you can just dive into each build and see what comes out – it’s up to you.

We hope you have found this article useful and that you’ve gotten a useful idea or two out of it. Be sure to check out our other articles related to building and playing Cigar Box Guitars, and also be sure to check out our store full of CBG parts and accessories!

The soundbox of a mountain dulcimer can conceivably be any shape, though most modern luthiers make teardrop or hourglass design. Others have been built from long rectangular or coffin-shaped boxes. This oblong box shape lends itself well to using cigar boxes, as they can easily be made from two or three cigar boxes butted together end-to-end. You’ll want to choose deeper boxes for the best volume. I’ve used Don Pepin Garcias and Las Cabrillas boxes with great success, but it might take a bit of searching to find matched sets (two identical boxes).I craft my cigar box mountain dulcimer soundboxes by bolting the cigar boxes together through the inside. (I added a squirt of glue first to the outside surfaces, for extra measure). Because they tend to be thinner than the tops, I use the bottoms of the boxes as the playing surface, so I take special care to be sure they are flush to each other.

Even two of the “exact” same boxes are sometimes a fraction of an inch different. Note that if the sides of the cigar boxes you are joining together are paper-covered, you might want to remove the paper to get a better join with the glue.

Be sure to check out our web store for a nice selection of piezos, jacks and other components at great prices!

Piezo Placement Options

A lot of new Cigar Box Guitar (CBG) builders (and more than a few veterans) tend to get a bit uneasy when the topic of piezo pickups comes up. Everyone seems to have a different idea of how to use them. Some folks say that they should be built into the bridge, others attach them to the exterior of the bridge; some mount them inside the box lid, others attach them to the outside of the lid. Add in concepts such as insulation methods, multiple piezos, volume potentiometers and wiring schematics, and the waters tend to get pretty muddy pretty fast.

This two-part article is meant to be a basic “here’s what you need to get started” approach to helping people install a piezo pickup into their Cigar Box Guitar build. We will cover the basics of what piezo to use, where you can put it, how to mount it, and how to wire it to a jack. We will also briefly discuss the topic of wiring in a otentiometer.

Be sure to check out our web store for a nice selection of piezos, jacks and other components at great prices!

What is a Piezo?

A standard piezo consists of a thin metal disk (usually brass, sometimes stainless steel), with a very thin wafer of ceramic glued to it. Wire leads are soldered to these disks (one to the metal part, one to the ceramic part). When excited with an appropriate electric current, the interaction between the metal and the ceramic can cause sound to be produced. Using piezos to create sound, rather than detect sound, is the most common usage of them in manufacturing. Many devices, from smoke alarms to alarm clocks to children’s toys, use piezos as a sort of miniature speaker to produce sound.

Fortunately for CBG builders, the piezo can also be used in a different way: to pick up sound vibrations, which can then be amplified by other circuits such as those in a guitar amplifier. Basically, the amplifier sends a small current through the piezo element (though not enough current to cause the piezo to MAKE sound). When the piezo is affected by vibration (such as the vibrations of a guitar sound board when strummed), those vibrations cause the metal and ceramic to interact in such a way that the current is modified. These fluctuations in the current through the piezo are picked up by an amplifier, increased and reproduced on a larger speaker. The end result is that we hear our instrument in an amplified form.

There are other types of piezos beyond the metal/ceramic disk we have described, but since that is the most common kind available (and the kind we carry in our shop), it is what we will be discussing here.

It is worth pointing out here the difference between a magnetic pickup (like those in electric guitars) and piezos. Magnetic pickups pick up sound when their magnetic fields are caused to fluctuate by the vibration of steel strings near them. These fluctuations are increased by an amplifier and reproduced as the familiar electric guitar sound. A piezo, on the other hand, has nothing to do with magnets: it picks up vibrations only. In this sense, a guitar with a piezo pickup is really still an acoustic instrument – the acoustic vibrations are just being amplified, in a similar manner to playing into a microphone.

Choosing a Piezo

Piezoelectric elements (piezos) come in various shapes and sizes: encased vs. unencased, wired vs. unwired, brass vs. stainless steel disks, disk form vs. strip form, etc. Sizes can range from quite small varieties around 10mm in diameter to very large 50mm disks. We will discuss each of the key factors below to give you some groundwork to build from when considering what to use on your build.

Size

There tends to be a lot of discussion about what size of piezo element is best. We sell piezos from 20mm to 41mm in our shop, and builders are always asking us which is best. Opinion on the matter tends to be pretty evenly divided. Some builders claim that the larger piezos are better at picking up bass tones from an instrument, which would therefore give you a deeper tone and less of the higher treble tones. Other builders, including Ted Crocker who has worked extensively with piezos and done a great deal of testing, believe that there is no perceivable difference between different sizes of piezos when it comes to using them as instrument pickups. Our advice is: use what makes you happy. If a bigger piezo strikes your fancy, you feel it sounds better or works better in your build, then go for it. If you want to be more economical, go with the smaller piezos.

Encased vs. Unencased

All of of the piezos we sell are the plain unencased disks, which is how you want them for use in a cigar box guitar. Radio Shack and other retailers sell piezos (for outrageous prices) which come encased in a plastic housing. These piezos are manufactured this way because they are intended to be used as sound producing devices, instead of sound detecting devices. While you can certainly glue or screw the encased piezo – housing and all – right to your build, this is really not recommended. You will always get much better sound if you mount the unencased piezo in your build, perhaps sandwiching it between some other material (such as leather or thin wood) first. Cutting the piezo disk out of the plastic encasement can be tricky to do without ruining the element itself, so our advice is to avoid the encased piezos and always buy the plain disks.

Brass disks vs. Stainless Steel

You don’t see the stainless steel disk piezos as much as the brass piezos, but they are out there. There isn’t all that much difference in how the metal affects their behavior as a pickup, but what the stainless steel DOES do is make it a LOT harder to solder wires to them. In our opinion, trying to solder to stainless is simply not worth the time and effort. Stick with brass disks and you will be much happier. All of the piezos we carry in our web shop have brass disks.

Wired vs. Unwired Disks

In our web shop we offer most sizes of piezos we carry in both pre-wired and unwired form. The only difference is that the pre-wired piezos have 2-inch leads soldered to them already, while the unwired ones are just the plain disks. While soldering leads to piezos is not hard, it can be a pain for people without much soldering experience, or without a good solder station setup. As such many folks prefer to get the pre-wired ones. It should be noted however that the 2-inch wires are really not long enough for attaching the piezo directly to a jack, so you usually have to attach extender wires anyway, whether with solder (preferred) or tape.

HOW TO SOLDER A PIEZO

To solder lead wires to a piezo, choose a generous length of thin-gauge insulated copper wire and start off by stripping off about 1/8″ of insulation. Then twist the strands of each wire together firmly (assuming a multi-strand copper wire). Now heat the wire and apply a small amount of a good electrical solder to it. This is called “tinning” the wire, and is always recommended to make the later soldering process much easier. Now apply two small beads of solder to the piezo disk: one to the metal portion, and one to the ceramic portion. Be sure that you don’t connect the brass and ceramic with solder, as this will short out your piezo. The size of the beads should be as small as you can make them, but big enough that there will be enough to surround your wire lead.

Now take the stripped, tinned end of one of your leads and place it against one of the solder beads. Touch the soldering iron tip to it, and hold it just until the solder melts and the wire sinks into the bead. Immediately remove the heat and hold the wire steady for a few seconds while the solder hardens. Resist the urge to blow on it – it will form a stronger bond if it cools at its own pace. Repeat this process for the second lead, and you should be all set.

Disks vs. Strip Piezos

Specialty piezos are now available that come in strip form rather than the traditional round disk form. Rod-shaped piezos are also available. Some companies that make professional-grade pickups for stringed instruments have begun using these strip piezos in their pickups. However, it can be hard to find these piezos on the market, and we have not yet been able to find a wholesale supplier of them for our web shop. They can provide an interesting alternative, but are beyond the scope of this article.

Conclusion

This ends Part 1 of this article. In Part 2 we will get more of the nitty gritty “need-to-know” information regarding WHERE to mount a piezo in your build, as well as HOW to mount it. Click here to go to Part 2 of this article . Also, be sure to check out our web store for the various electronics components we offer, including various sizes of piezos, jacks and also potentiometers!

Don’t forget that you can get most of the parts shown in this article, including piezos , jacks, volume potentiometers and potentiometer knobs , right in our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply Web Store!

The basic concepts presented here can be built upon and experimented with in your own building adventures, with great results. It is important to remember that adding electronics to your CBG doesn’t  have to be some kind of black magic. Granted, you can get extremely complicated with it, but the point is you don’t HAVE to. You can get good results and have a lot of fun with something as simple as a piezo, a length of wire and a jack.

We will present three different diagrams here: a simple piezo to jack setup; a piezo to jack with a volume pot added in; piezos wired in series and parallel to a jack; and a dual piezo setup that includes a 3-way switch for switching between the two piezos.

One more thing before we can get started – it can make things a LOT easier if you use a jack with a nice long threaded shank that will reach through the side of a cigar box. The Neutrik-brand jacks we sell in our web store are selected specifically because they have a nice 9.5mm shaft length perfect for getting through a cigar box side with a minimum of gouging and thinning. This can save you a lot of time, and time is money, so check it out!

So enough talk, let’s get started!

Diagram #1: Wiring a Piezo to a Jack

This diagram shows about the most basic wiring setup you can get: a single piezo transducer wired directly to a mono (two pole) jack. This is the setup that many first-time CBG builders use when looking to be able to plug their build into an amp. Many builders stick with this basic setup and never feel the need to get any fancier – and there is nothing wrong with that! This setup will give you a very straightforward sound, which is very dependent on where the piezo is placed and how it is mounted in the box – see our articles on piezo basics for more info on that.

One question that gets asked a lot is whether the polarity of what piezo wire you connect to which pole on the jack matters. Or in other words, does it matter which pole on the jack you wire the red or black wire to. The simple answer is that no, it doesn’t – you will get the same sound regardless of how you connect it. HOWEVER – it is a very good habit to always connect the ground (black wire) to the ground pole. With a straight piezo-to-jack it isn’t critical, but as wiring jobs get more complex it makes troubleshooting a LOT easier if you are consistent throughout!

The only other thing to note is that most piezos come with pretty short wire leads (in the range of 2 inches) that you will have to extend to reach your jack. Pretty much any kind of small-gauge copper wire will do – piezos do not require any special shielded wire or anything like that.

One more thing – DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY AT RADIO SHACK. We sell a range of piezo sizes, both wired and unwired , in our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply web store at great prices. Check it out!

Diagram #2: Piezo, Volume Potentiometer and Jack

This setup builds upon the concepts of the last diagram but adds one little twist – a volume potentiometer (pot) that allows you to control the output volume of the signal, in the same way that a volume knob on your stereo does. Really a pot is just a variable resistor that increases or decreases the total resistance as you turn it, which in turn allows more or less current through the circuit.

There are two main types of potentiometers available on the market, identified by the type of their “taper” – audio taper, and linear taper. We recommend always using audio taper pots for volume controls, as they will give you a smoother rate of increase and decrease. Also, for piezo volume control, a resistance rating of either 250KOms or 500KOhms is recommended, with 500KOhms being the one most builders go with.

As you can see from the diagram, one of the piezo leads (red) is wired to the first contact of the pot, and then continues off of the second contact and on to the jack. The other (black) is wired to the third contact of the pot and then on to the jack. As mentioned above, pretty much any smaller-gauge copper wire can be used for this purpose, and shielded wire is not required. Be careful when soldering to a pot though as it is possible to burn them out with too much heat. Tin your wires and don’t let the pot get too hot!

That is about it for this diagram. When wired up in this way and plugged into an amp, the total volume output by the piezo will be controlled by the potentiometer. Properly installed into a cigar box guitar, this will allow the player to make on-the-fly adjustments from the instrument, which definitely has its uses. Pots are pretty cheap and as we’ve seen they are not that hard to wire in, and can really be a nice extra touch for your CBG, especially from the point of view of a player.

This diagram shows two ways that multiple piezos can be wired to a single jack. It involves some basic electrical circuit theory – the concept of wiring in parallel and wiring in series.

Basically, wiring in series means attaching two or more components “end to end”, so that a single pair of wires ends up at the terminal, in this case the jack. The left portion of the diagram illustrates this – one lead from each piezo runs to the jack, and the other two leads are connected together. This in effect means that the electrical current that gets translated into sound always travels through both piezos, so that each affects the signal of the other. The effect of wiring in series is to increase the total impedence of the circuit, which can definitely have an effect on sound – a topic that is too advanced for this article.

Wiring in parallel differs in that each component has its own leads that run back to the terminal. As shown in the right side of the diagram, each piezo’s leads are directly connected to the jack. So instead of a single signal running through both piezos, each piezo sends its own distinct signal back to the jack, where they join and run to the amp.

There is some divided opinion amongst builders as to which is better, though in our opinion you will usually get better results with wiring in parallel as opposed to in series. In general, the higher the impedence of a circuit, the less current flows and that translates to less volume. But as with most things related to cigar box guitars, the best way to decide is to try both and see which sounds better to you. A good “controlled’ experiment would be to mount two piezos in a cigar box guitar build that has the inside accessible; then try them wired in parallel versus in series, and see which sounds better to you.

Diagram #4:
Multiple Piezos, 3-way Switch & Jack

This diagram is the most advanced one yet, and the final one we will cover in this article. It involves the use of two piezos, a three-way switch and a jack. The purpose of the circuit is so that you can have two piezos in two different locations in your instrument, and switch between them while playing. In the far left (or right, depending on your wiring) switch position, you would have just the signal from piezo#1 getting to the amp. In the far right position, you would have just piezo #2. And in the center position, you would have both piezo one and two in parallel. This is similar to how electric guitars allow you to switch between different magnetic pickups, or blend them together, for different tonal qualities.

It should be noted that the black wires all are joined to the switch chassis on the right side of the switch in the diagram, while the red wires each are wired to a separate terminal, with the center terminal being the one that runs to the jack. The black wires are attached only as a “ground”, and they should not in any way make contact with the red “hot” wires. It is not always necessary to ground the black wires, but it is a good habit to get into.

To take this concept further, if you wanted to add a volume pot to this circuit, you could either add it between the switch and the jack, for a “master” volume control, or you could get even more adventurous and add two separate volume controls, one for each piezo. These would go between each piezo and the switch, and would allow a great deal of fine-tuning of the signal coming from each one. This diagram could also be expanded to support more piezos – either wired in series or in parallel. There are also switches available with more than three positions, which would allow even more flexibility (and wiring complexity) – but to be honest, we think there comes a point with a cigar box guitar where one has ventured into the realm of overkill. But the options are there!

Conclusion

Well, that completes our overview of basic piezo wiring diagrams for cigar box guitars. We hope that you have found it to be helpful, and that if you have been on the fence about wiring up your CBG you are now ready to dive in! There is of course a lot more that could said about this topic, and much more advanced diagrams that could be offered. We leave it up to you to experiment to your heart’s content, and see what kind of great (or not-so-great) sounds you can produce. As we often say with cigar box guitars (actually it’s more of a mantra): there are no rules. If you try something and don’t like it, rip it out and try something else! Of course when it comes to electronics, this is a lot easier if you don’t permanently seal your box. But if you did – well, it’s a great excuse to build another one!

Good luck with your electrified building!

Topics covered include: the importance of tinning your iron and wires, what good solder joints look like, soldering to a tone/volume pot,  soldering to a piezo, and wire aesthetics. If you have been uncertain about your soldering skills, this tutorial is a great place to start improving.

SOLDERING TIPS

Firstly some tips & myths.

Tinning the iron- Melt a little solder onto the tip of the soldering-iron. This helps the transfer of heat from the tip of the iron to the joint being soldered. Quicker transfer of heat means less time being heated – (this is a good thing). Do this after plugging in your iron and occasionally during soldering after cleaning the tip. Tinning a wire – Melt a small amount of solder onto the stripped & twisted end of your wire. This makes your wire easier to insert into the holes of pots/jacks/etc. It also helps heat-transfer during the soldering process. Lead solder & lead fumes – Lead boils at around 3000°F, Most soldering takes place well below 750°F. You are not breathing lead fumes. The smoke and fumes you’ll get are from the flux. These fumes are still dangerous and soldering should always be carried out in a ventilated area. Always wash your hands after using lead solder, it may not be in your lungs but it will be on your fingers. Lead-free solder – Lead-free solder does not flow as well as lead solder, try to get lead solder if you can. An important note: the flux-fumes from lead-free solder can actually be worse than the fumes from lead solder. Tip cleaning – The tip of your soldering-iron should be cleaned after the initial tinning and before soldering each joint. A lot of irons are supplied with a small sponge, which you moisten. Wiping your iron on a wet sponge will clean it, but will also cool it, which you don’t really want. A better tip-cleaner can be easily and cheaply made: go to a grocery or dollar store, and pick up a pack of the copper pan-scrubbers. Hot-glue one to the inside of a large jar-lid. To clean the tip, simply jam it into the scrubber, a wiggle, and you’re done. Mechanical vs. Electrical – Your solder joints need to be both physically strong, as well as electrically conductive. A strong joint is no good if it causes a short, and a weak joint is bound to fail eventually. The way to achieve consistently good results when soldering is through good methods, especially when it comes to good preparation of your wires before soldering.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

As with most things in life, the key to consistent success is practice. This is especially true when it comes to soldering. The more you do it, the easier it will seem – especially if you practice good methods from the beginning. So let’s start with a way that you can practice soldering, and help teach yourself how to do it right. This method was first outlined (to the best of our knowledge) by Stephen over at buildyourownclone.com, and it’s a great method, so we present it here. Start by finding a piece of softwood, such as pine, and put in eight snall nails, as shown in the example photo. Then take a piece of wire that you’ve stripped all of the insulation from, and wrap it around the nails as shown in the photo, to form a sort of grid.

As always, start by making sure the tip of your soldering iron is properly tinned. Then place the tip where the wires cross, in order to heat up the portion of the wires that you will solder.

One of the keys to good soldering is to not expose elements to too much heat from the soldering iron. You want enough heat to let the solder properly flow into the intended area, but not so much that anything melts or gets “cooked”. The entire process of heating and soldering the wires in this exercise should only take about a second.

Exercise Results: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.. Top-left – This “ball” of cooled solder is what is called a cold joint. This occurs when the wires (or other components) aren’t heated up enough, and the solder doesn’t flow into the joint. Cold joints won’t be as strong as a good strong joint. Top-right – This is an example of a what is called a “dry” joint. This occurs if the components/wires are moved before the joint fully cools. Always let your solder joints cool on their own, don’t blow on them to try to speed it up. Bottom-right – This is another example of a cold solder joint that has the additional problem of having had too much solder applied. Always remember – glooping on more solder is almost never the answer. You want just enough for a good joint, and no more. Bottom-left – Finally, success: this is a good, strong solder joint that saw the wires properly heated before solder was applied, as well as just the right amount of solder used. Remember: your solder joints should always be shiny and contain just enough solder to hold the parts together.

For great deals on potentiometers, piezos, jacks, hook-up wire and other CBG parts, be sure to check out our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply Web Store!

SOLDERING WIRES TO A VOLUME/TONE POT

Bare wires are not your friend when you are soldering. They lead to shorts and other problems. Always make sure that your wire leads are kept short and tidy.

Start by stripping about 1/4″ – 3/8″ of the insulation from the end of your wire.

If you see any loose strands of wire in the piece you just stripped, cut off the end and do it again. If the strands are broken, your resulting solder joint will be weaker.

Once you’ve stripped the insulation, twist the strands of wire together.

Now apply heat to the bare wire with your soldering-iron for just a second, and then touch the solder to the wire. The solder should melt and flow into the wire cleanly. This is the process known as “tinning”, and it is one of the key soldering habits to get into. Tinning your wires every time before soldering them to a component will make your soldering endeavors much more uniformly successful.

Once tinned, bend the wire into a 90-degree angle, as shown in the photo.

Once bent, insert the tinned end of the wire into the potentiometer lug.

Lightly crimp the wire down, as shown. This is part of what we discussed before about joints being physically strong – whenever possible, take steps like this to add additional strength to your joints.

Now, apply the soldering iron to the lug and touch your solder to the junction area, for one or two seconds. The solder should quickly melt and flow smoothly into the joint of the wire and the lug. You should not end up with a misshapen blob of solder, just a clean, smooth joint. Also note that there is no reason for the hole in the lug to be completely full with solder – all you need is enough solder to firmly join the wire to the lug.

Some builders like to add heat-shrink tubing to insulate the soldered lugs, to help reduce the chance of any short circuits. It is by no means required, but it can make your build look more professional, so it is worth considering. Sometimes those little touches make a big difference to a prospective buyer.

SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW NOT TO DO IT

Burning the insulation with the soldering-iron might not affect the joint but it does look unsightly, and coats your iron in molten plastic. Just watch where you’re sticking that thing, OK?

In this photo you can see that the lug has been completely filled with solder. There is no need for this, as mentioned above – all it does is waste solder, and apply unnecessary heat to the component.

A common mistake is to just jam the wire ends into a lug without tinning the wire first. This almost always causes individual wire strands to be separated and to jut out, as shown in the photo. This can cause short circuits and other problems, and is really an awful habit to get into. Always make sure to tin your wires before insertion, and you will never have this problem.

Just… UGH!

SOLDERING WIRES TO THE BACK OF A POT

There are times when you need to solder a wire to the rear-casing of a potentiometer, to use as a ground wire. This can be a tricky task if not approached correctly, so it is worth discussing the method here.

Many potentiometers have a protective coating on the casing, and they can also be greasy or dirty from the manufacturing process. It’s almost impossible to solder to a surface that’s not clean, so lightly sand the rear casing of the pot, or use steel-wool to take ensure the casing is a nice shiny metal surface. See the ‘before & after picture’ below for an example of this.

Now strip the insulation from the end of your wire, so that 1/4″ to 3/7″ of copper is exposed. Twist the strands together and tin the wire, as shown above. Then lay the tinned end of the wire flat against the pot-casing.

Touch the tip of your soldering-iron against both the wire and the pot-casing (to heat both parts equally). Apply a small amount of solder to the junction between the wire and the pot-casing. This whole heating/soldering process should not take more than 5 to 7 seconds. (This seems like a long time, but you need to heat the pot-casing sufficiently to allow the solder to flow). Your resulting solder joint should form the shape of a ‘limpet’.

The blob of solder shown here is the result of not heating the pot-casing for long enough. While it initially seems ok, you will find, with a small tug, that it is merely the flux holding the joint together. This is not a good solder joint.

For great deals on potentiometers, piezos, jacks, hook-up wire and other CBG parts, be sure to check out our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply Web Store!

SOLDERING WIRES TO A PIEZO TRANSDUCER

Wire-dressing is an important part of any soldering project. For something delicate like a piezo transducer, it’s a good idea to twist your wires together neatly before soldering. I have seen the piezo crystal pulled off the brass disc due to mishandling after soldering. A neat twist makes your wiring easier to use, easier to follow, and it’s easier on the eyes. You decide …

Strip 1/8″ to 3/16″ of insulation from the ends of each wire, twist the strands together and tin both wire-ends.

Lie the ends of the wire flat on the middle and outer parts of the piezo-transducer. It is good working-practice to always use black for your ground/earth wires

Touch the tip of your soldering-iron against both the wire and the piezo transducer surface (to heat both parts equally). Apply a small amount of solder to the junction between the wire and the piezo transducer. This whole heating/soldering process should not take more than 1½ to 2 seconds.

Note: There is no need to apply a ‘blob’ of solder to either the wire, or the piezo-transducer, before soldering. If your wire is tinned, this will sufficiently transfer enough heat for soldering.

Naz NomadFor a showcase of some of Naz’s creations, check out this link to his Flickr page.