3 Easy Ways To Make Your Cigar Box Guitars POP!

Shane Speal shows reveals 3 easy ways to get a clean look on your cigar box guitar builds. 

These will make your cigar box guitars look more professional and give them that POP you'll be proud of.  

Watch the video below to learn Shane's tricks. 

Scroll further to see the step-by-step video breakdown done in images. 

Watch the Video

See the Step-by-Step Breakdown

"Hey, it’s Shane Speal.

I just finished this very simple four-string cigar box guitar."

This is the design that I came up with… wow, that was back in like 1995. The simple poplar stick through the body and sound holes on the side.

Got a family member that asked me to make one of these because they wanted to give it away as a gift. But I wanted to show you some quick and easy ways you can clean up a simple cigar box guitar.

Now, cigar boxes. I’ve got a ton and I get them from tobacco stores.

And quite honestly, the tobacco stores do not care how they open them or how they treat the boxes. And the corners get marred-up. The little paper covering over the wood can looked chewed up.

So, I like to add corners and C. B. Gitty sells these. I just started using these.

Box Corners

I like them. It’s like a trunk corner. And so you put those on and that cleans up all the ends. It makes it look more professional. It makes it look like a sturdier instrument.

Another thing I use is these neck collars. 

Neck Collars

That’s all this is.

And when you’re using a 1 x 2 piece of wood… as you cut your neck pocket, sometimes the cut can look rough. Well these cover up any bad cuts. And you just put them on and screw them in.

A third thing you can do… now I didn’t do it to this one because I have the soundholes here… is C. B. Gitty sells these colonial door handles.

Box Handles

A lot of times I will just place them right over the bridge to look like a dobro bridge cover. And then you don’t see the bolt or whatever you have as a bridge. And it just gives it… look at the classier look that it would give it, like that.

However, I didn’t add it for this one because these (the handle) would be covering them (the soundholes) a little... holes that I cut into it (the box).

But there you go. You’ve got the corners, you’ve got the neck collar, and the colonial box handles. Just three simple ways of cleaning up your cigar box guitar and making it look more “pro”.

So there you go. For C. B. Gitty, my name is Shane Speal. Happy building!

Get Shane's Parts For Yourself

Square Brass-plated Box Corners

Cigar Box Guitar Neck Collars - 1/8" Arctic Birch Ply

Black Colonial Box Handles