News
The Reso-Electro Cigar Box Guitar Project - Pt. 1: Intro, Parts and Layout
Shane Speal's latest four-string cigar box guitar combines a wide array of CBGitty.com parts into an alternate-reality, retro blues machine. Follow along as he describes the gumbo of parts, techniques and creative ideas behind it. Here
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11th Mar 2021
Homemade Music Is Amazing | Gitty Gang Show #124
In this post, you'll see episode #124 of the Gitty Gang Show, this one titled Homemade Music Is Amazing. Scroll down to see a video of the entire show. Scroll a bit further to see timestamps directing you to your favorite show segments, along with
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24th Feb 2020
Shane Speal Live & The Poor Man's Guide
Join Shane Speal as he explores burning cigar box guitar topics such as scarf joints, new 3-string lessons, different types of slides, string tension, distortion, a brand-new monthly newsletter, and so much more!Video
Last week, Shane took the
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7th Jan 2020
No Gitty Gang? No Problem! Shane Speal Goes Live
The Gitty Gang couldn't do a show this past Friday, so the King of the Cigar Box Guitar Shane Speal stepped in to host one that everybody's still talking about!
Sometimes duty calls and the Gitty Gang can't get into the studio for the regularly
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16th Dec 2019
Selling Cigar Box Guitars at Festivals for Fun and Profit: Part 1 - by Shane Speal
Would you like to sell some of the cigar box guitars you build? Want to earn a little money to support your cigar box guitar addiction?
In this post, Shane Speal shares golden nuggets of wisdom from his years of selling cigar box guitars at fest
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5th Jul 2019
VIDEO: This Riff Will Help You Sell More Cigar Box Guitars
Want to sell your cigar box guitars? The king of the cigar box guitar Shane Speal shares his sure-fire riff to sell more cigar box guitars with the video lesson in this post. Shane Knows What SellsLet's hand this over to Shane so you can get
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3rd Jul 2019
Cigar Box Guitar Secrets: Antique Boxes, Vintage Fretboards & More
Want to build a cigar box guitar worth handing down to future generations? Want an antique-look and terrific tone for your next build?You can build that kind of cigar box guitar with a little help from Shane Speal. In this post you'll discover h
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1st Jul 2019
How to Mount Pickups in Neck-Through Cigar Box Guitars
Shane Speal explains how to reinforce the internal neck-through cigar box guitar-design for installing thicker magnetic guitar pickups.
To learn Shane's tricks on how to mount pickups in neck-through cigar box guitars watch the short video
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7th Jun 2019
![What Kind of Music Comes from a Cigar Box Guitar? [Answers Here]](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-jpvnhi/images/stencil/160w/uploaded_images/what-kind-of-music-comes-from-a-cigar-box-guitar.png?t=1558364357 "What Kind of Music Comes from a Cigar Box Guitar? [Answers Here]")
What Kind of Music Comes from a Cigar Box Guitar? [Answers Here]
Have you wondered, what kind of music can be played on a cigar box guitar? You may be surprised by the answer: nearly any style of music you can imagine. From blues to country, and from classical to rock 'n' roll, a cigar box guitar can be played in
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20th May 2019
VIDEO & PHOTOS: Shane Speal's Retro Tin Pan Alley Guitar
Last week, we shared videos and photos of
Shane Speal's Radical Red G-Bass. Well, Speal's back with another retro-inspired guitar, the "Tin Pan Alley" 3-String Paint Can Resonator Guitar Kit.
Watch the Demo
Here's his full demo video,
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8th Oct 2018
Troubleshooting a Gitty Preamp: Distortion and muddy tones
In this post, you'll learn what to do if your preamp-powered cigar box guitar sounds muddy or distorted.
Hi all! It's Shane Speal. Two weeks ago, I started having trouble with my main 3-stringer. It's a rod piezo-electrified build wi
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8th Aug 2018
Cigar Box Kalimba BLUES! How to change the tuning to an A Minor Blues Scale
Try this alternate Kalimba tuning for an authentic world music sound.
Last week, I bought the
C. B. Gitty Kalimba/Thumb Piano Kit as a way to break-out from building stringed instruments for a while. I was looking for an instrumen
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29th Jun 2018
4 Simple Slide Cigar Box Guitar Lessons For Your Best Licks Yet
Learning to play slide on your 3-string cigar box guitar can be hard.But not with Shane Speal's cigar box guitar lessons.Here's 4-part video lesson series from Shane Speal, the King of the Cigar Box Guitar. In it, Shane takes you on a ride from
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11th Jun 2018
Explore Alternate Cigar Box Guitar Tunings with Shane Speal
"You ever get bored playing the same things over and over again on your 3-string cigar box guitar?" asks the King of cigar box guitars, Shane Speal.Shane has been cranking out a ton of videos over the past few months, among which are loads of insanel
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29th May 2018
VIDEO LESSON: Lionel Ritchie's "Easy Like Sunday Morning" on 4-string cigar box guitar
This is what happens when Shane messes around at work! He stumbles across a Lionel Richie classic. LOL!!!
Tune your 4-string cigar box guitar to Open G (G-D-G-B) and play along to
Easy Like Sunday Morning.
Make sure to sing the "AHH AHH AHH
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6th Sep 2017
From Woodshed Tinkering to Product Launch - the Story of the Psycho Box
We've always got new product ideas in the works here at C. B. Gitty. From new kits and parts packs to cigar box amplifiers and guitars to expanded variations and options for existing products, there is always a lot "in the chute" waiting to be got
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13th Mar 2017
Dead Cigar Box Guitar Given "Frankenstein" Life with C. B. Gitty Parts, Psycho Knob
Shane Speal brought a dead cigar box guitar back to life using C. B. Gitty parts.
The guitar was a 3-string solid-body, built in 2007 by West Virginia builder, Tomi-O Hartwell, and was an essential axe in Speal's live shows for many years.
The
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8th Mar 2017
Build a Cigar Box Distortion Unit With This Easy Hack
Last year, C. B. Gitty introduced the Psycho Knob internal distortion, an easy-to-install circuit that added fuzz effects inside your guitar.
Now Shane Speal shows you how to hack the kit to become a standalone unit that can be used on a
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2nd Mar 2017
Sometimes you find handmade instruments in unlikely places
This past January I was out in Los Angeles for the winter NAMM show. NAMM is the National Association of Music Merchants, and it is the biggest music-industry trade show in the United States. I wrote an earlier post about one of the few innovative th
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25th May 2015
Shane Speal shows off his favorite Gitty parts on a new guitar
In this video, King of the Cigar Box Guitar Shane Speal shows off one of his recent cigar box guitar builds, featuring all of the great C. B. Gitty parts on it:
Shane Speal Signature 3-string TunersTeisco(tm) Del-Rey-style Gold Foil surface mount
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4th Feb 2015