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I like to build instruments that will cover the full sonic spectrum.  If I'm looking for something that will cover the upper end, a simple PICCOLO cigar box guitar is the perfect solution.A piccolo cigar box guitar only has a 12.5" scaleIt is tuned to Open F (FCf)It's just as easy to build as a regular cigar box guitar.Demo video: HOW TO MAKE THIS PICCOLO CIGAR BOX GUITAR:Follow our instructions for making a classic 3-string cigar box guitar.  Instead of using a 3 foot length of pop …

Our customers are the coolest people we know and we always read your letters.  Here's one that blew us away this week...Dear C. B. Gitty, I've attached a photo of wine box bass my grandson and I constructed using CB Gitty parts. The box came from a winery in Prosser Washington, Airfield Estates. Cody my grandson things the bass is “badass.”  The bass does have a great voice and in the picture Cody is playing it for the first time. We finished the bass on the Saturday before Chri …

It was a special morning at the 2017 New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival when our own Shane Speal got to interview several cigar box guitar builders who attended.  Instead of just asking a few questions, Speal actually took their respective guitars for 'test drives' and offered some input from a performer's point of view. In the first of a many part series, we proudly present Shane's interview with Florida builder, Rob Wrobel. Wrobel presents two of his cigar box guitars to Speal:&n …

It doesn't take much to make a musical instrument. You can sandwich an elastic band between two popsicle sticks to make a kazoo. You can even bang two rocks together to hold a beat. But what about crafting a single-string bass from a 5-gallon bucket and other cast-off objects?Well, that's exactly what you'll see here. Using a grimy bucket rescued from a burned-down restaurant, two broom handles used to sweep an old factory floor, and a handful of miscellaneous bits, a single-string, 5-gallon buc …

Legacy. Heirloom. Memorial. Commemoration. What do these words mean? When something momentous happens in our lives, such as the passing of a dear friend whose life impacted many, how do we find a way to commemorate that?  Eulogies, headstones, some photos and kind words shared on Facebook... for me, that wasn't enough. When my friend Charlie Boyle died of cancer on July 11, 2019, it was like a hole had been ripped in the hearts of those of us who loved him. For years we'd been g …