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Video created and produced by Glenn Watt.

We can make all the parts in the world at C. B. Gitty, but it takes a true talent to choose the right parts and the right placements to make something special.  Add to that, the eye of a brilliant builder and you have cigar box masterpieces such as the instrument above by Mike Willmouth.Notice the extra scallop of the fretboard at the headstock.  The volume/tone knob and switch were placed at the lower cutaway side, giving the face of the box a complete wood look without any extra hard …

We're totally gonna steal these licks!  Historian, author and all around Renaissance man, Charles Atchison just posted this video giving an overview of the main parts of Stairway to Heaven.  (Which means he took an 8 minute song and condensed it down to under 2 minutes for us!)Atchison is the author of The Folk Art Instrument Reference book on building homemade instruments.  It's over 200 pages with more than 400 pictures and illustrations.  Copies are in stock right now. In …

I'm an electronics idiot. There, I said it! I suck when it comes to soldering and breadboards and all that crap. I couldn't wire my way out of a paper bag.But then C. B. Gitty came out with a pre-wired cigar box amp kit, and I just had to dive in and try one out. And then another, and another.The Gitty amp kit is a simple 2.5-watt amp that delivers living room volume in a tiny package. Most of their pictures show a standard cigar box with a hole cut in the middle and a speaker with …

With his cigar box guitar built with breast cancer awareness in mind, Mike Boswell knows well the grace of a gift.The soulful, haunting melody of Amazing Grace hangs in the air. Mike stands back, grateful to witness the performance on a guitar he built. Although he doesn’t yet play his own instruments the way he’d like, hearing what can be done with his work is inspiring.Mike Boswell is a builder and like the lot of us, he’s got a thing for cigar box guitars.The performer gives a high appraisal …