Builder's Diary: The Art of Tröegs Guitar by Shane Speal & GoodThree

Photo credit: Ole: www.photole.com

by Shane Speal

Two months ago, I was invited to take part in a collaborative project headed up by the GoodThree branding and design firm.  The idea was to pair a beer by the Tröegs Brewing Co. of Hershey PA with a cigar by Casta Cigars of York PA and then build a cigar box guitar using elements from both brands.  The completed instrument would then be entered into the annual Art of Tröegs contest (www.troegs.com/about/art-of-troegs).

When I sat down to meet Derek Smith from GoodThree and Jonathan Kindig from Casta Cigars, I was immediately thrown a curve ball.  "We don't have cigar boxes at Casta," said Kindig.  Their exclusive hand-rolled cigars get in humidity-controlled packages. 

It was up to me to find a proper substitute; something that would look good and sound good, too.

I immediately suggested the C. B. Gitty 8.5" x 11" Acoustic Box Kit.  

The box kit was perfect for the project.  GoodThree created artwork for all sides and had a local screen printer transfer it.

They even planned out a soundhole that would expose the Tröegs name printed inside the box.  All parts were then delivered to my shop and I got to work.

I started by cutting the neck notches out of the box sides, using a C. B. Gitty Neck Notching Template (an essential tool in my shop) to make the perfect cut out shape.  The sides and back of the box were then glued up and clamped.  Common rubber bands helped with the clamping process.

I approached this box kit guitar the same way as almost every other cigar box guitar I've built in the last 25 years:  The neck would go through the box and come out the other side. All wood is routed out underneath the box lid, allowing the neck to only touch the box at the beginning, end and directly under the bridge.  Strings get anchored at the butt end of the stick.   I used multiple swipes from my table saw to make the routing cuts.  The photo above shows the how the box lid will fit perfectly into the route.

Using a C. B. Gitty 23" Fretting template, I drew the frets onto the poplar neck and then woodburned them using a sharp chisel tip.  The fretting template also gave me perfectly aligned fret dot markers that I filled in with a blunt woodburning tip.

The neck was drilled for four strings and two coats of spray polyurethane were applied.  While the finish was drying, I cut out the sound hole in the box top.  Once the finish was dried and cured, the parts were glued together, revealing the cool logo hidden inside the sound hole.

Photo credit: Ole: www.photole.com

After waiting 24 hours for all the glue to dry, I installed a set of Shane Speal Signature Tuners and acoustic A-D-G-B strings for an Open G tuning.  Stove bolts served as nut and bridge and a Gitty prototype string tree was applied behind the nut.  

One final touch was to craft a handmade stubby slide from an actual Troegs La Grave bottle.

Photo credit: Ole: www.photole.com

There's always a thrill when you tune up a cigar box guitar for the first time.  This one sings like a symphony!  Gitty really did a great job with the box kit.  Not only is it perfect for a special event project such as the Art of Troegs, but it's also a fantastic sounding resonator.  I'm in love.

I finished off the build with a taste of the beer and the deep enjoyment of the Casta cigar.  GoodThree found the perfect pairing.  Adding some cigar box guitar blues into the mix opened up heaven inside my little shop.

Shane Speal, April/May 2018

wwwSpealGuitars.com