Building a Cigar Box Guitar Step by Step

[@ecalzo]

Thank you Del.. i'm in the middle of building 2 more CBG.. this thing is addictive i cannot stop me from building more and more ... what the heck ..The gold here is all the awesome info you're giving to Us all.. thank you from Italy ..

[@chrisbellis4762]

As always a totally brilliant presentation, full of golden nuggets of information. I thought the tip about running the drill bit backwards to countersink the hole for the screwhead was outstanding. Thank you for sharing everything with us all Regards Chris

[@puggiepuggang8760]

Mr del,sir with all respect,u are the king of CBG BUILDS,now i want to be good like u and build my own one,thanx alot sir

[@mikehumphrey5]

Dude I'm new to your channel and I got to say I love you brother I love your spirit bro truly a child of God we are a peculiar people for sure. God bless you and Maranatha

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

I appreciate that :-) Welcome aboard !!!!

[@guzzoofoz]

Watching a CBG built and played, never gets old. Love it. 👍🇦🇺

[@2EnjoyEverything]

i love your hilarious dad humor, cbg's and MUSIC!!! keep it up!

[@hovlandbound]

That looks like a great box. I wish I could get my hands on a good box like that! I need to start looking again. Thanks again for a great video!

[@rickreed123]

I come for the information and stay for the jammin.

[@sixstring001]

Gold Top! Needs a Humbucker. 😜 That’s a really cool looking box. Great job Del.

[@douglas_kmg365]

It’s good practice to twist those wires from the pickup/control to the jack. Twisting the ground wire with the hot wire will cause any inductive hum that is common to both wires to be cancelled out.

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

hummmm i’ll try that out next time

[@talbertwilgar4254]

I've made solid body guitars with Fender necks in the past but recently I did a 3 Stringer with a jewelry box turned out good used nails for the frets but it worked

[@johnmitchelljr]

Thank you. Your countersink kink is good.

[@TheLookingOne]

Hey Dale, Why do you remove top face of the neck inside the cigar box below the shelf to where the pickup is mounted? For an electric guitar, could the entire top face of the neck be in contact with the bottom of the cigar box face plate when both the bridge and pickup are going to be mounted on the top face of the cigar box? Would it sound okay as an electric? If it has some small sound holes, would it sound okay acoustically? How much back angle did you put into it?

[@Chiefleif91]

Doing gods work 💙

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

He’s helping me

[@Chiefleif91]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar how can I contact to help me

[@andylane8815]

I have no power tool's so I'll be doing it this way too. All of my tools will be antique as well as my guitar's. I plan to see if I can make one after taking the measurements from another build. I'll be making 2. One for me and one to sell I hope. Thanks for your inspiration cause I was going crazy. California is not good.

[@ПтицефермаОлииМиши]

Thanks from the Rissia! I like that you do. Maybe I'll finally make my first guitar myself. I'm 55 years olds 😭

[@riverwindflutes]

How thick should the headstock be so that the tuners don’t stick up too high or too low ? Thanks

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

depends on how long the shaft is… ? each one is unique

[@nboldrini]

Del. I really like your channel. You cover lots of subjects. I am building an ammo box 3 string guitar. I am going to use a piezo bridge pickup and I am looking for a less "twangy" sound. I am using a 6 string Strat style neck attached to the end of the box and not through it. this leaves me a lot of interior room. Would gluing a piece of 1/4" plywood onto the underside of the "top" help to cut down the metal sounding vibrations and thus help the overall sound?

[@caitlinoutdoors3911]

I just got my hands on some boxes. I’m a very competent wood worker (I teach it). How do you know where to cut in your frets?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i have templates… 😀. many !! heheheee

[@caitlinoutdoors3911]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar ok, so how do I figure out where to cut the frets?

[@JaySDunham]

Just wondering if the top would resonate better if the neck under bridge were notched out like you do for the center of the top. Have you ever tried it that way? You could always glue the piezo to the top under the bridge and allow some space below that when you notch it out.

[@frankschrodinger1424]

How much break angle with a hard tail bridge?

[@clawhammer704]

Have you ever used a guitar pickup like a humbucker? What do you think of them. You got a good build going on.

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

definitely 😎

[@studawg66]

How do you decide what scale length to build with each guitar? I think you have built about every length, but I don't think I've heard you explain what you like best about each. If a newbie were to build one guitar, what scale length would you recommend for acoustic playing?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

I like the 23 inch scale... smaller seems more balanced for the smaller boxes

[@studawg66]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar thank you! Hope to try my hand at this soon. Local cigar shop just gives away boxes.

[@talbertwilgar4254]

Hey brother I like your style love you work keep it up

[@delorissamuelson6988]

Thanks for briefly discussing the bridge/tuning. 👍👍. Appreciate the video!!

[@MrJwsjohn]

Hi Del, could you use a router to do the bulk of the shaping for the neck? if so, what type of bit would you recommend?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

1/2 round

[@darinhart]

Do you glue the neck in ? Enjoyed the video

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i use screws

[@harrykeel8557]

How do you go about setting the action? And how high should the strings be from the fret board?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

see my master class video series... i talk about all that 😎

[@R3LI2UI]

Just starting to look into this (great posts btw!!) I thought the neck was supposed to be hardwood to keep it from bowing?

[@arduinoman3983]

How do you find a good cigar box to build a cigar box guitar. If you could. Can you provide a link?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i don’t find them ... they find me 😆

[@CanadianSmitty]

Any big difference between doing this neck through style vs the GB Gitty lag bolt option?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i never tried the bolt on

[@geraldmorin2206]

What's a good size box to use ?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i like arturo fuente

[@chuckearp3564]

I love watching you build a gutair! I have all the materials to build my first one, but haven't had the courage to go for it! Any words of encouragement?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

don’t do it.... it’s very very addicting and you’ll never stop.... beware. take it from me... heheheee 😎

[@bowrifleandpcpshooting3839]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar HAHAHHAH

[@paulfosbery6026]

Dell..! During the wiring of the Piezo, volume control and output jack, I was desperately waiting for you to attach an earth wire to the metal hinge, to earth the strings and stop them from buzzing! Did you forget at that stage?...LOL...!

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i usually only ground when using a magnetic pickup. the piezo is an acoustic pickup, a crystal style transducer. i'll try grounding it and see if it helps or if there is any change.??

[@jeroenravesloot]

Hi there new to this channel. Really nice. One question I might have missed - did you attach (glue or anything else) the lid to the box at all? Thanks ;-).

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

welcome welcome Jeroen 😎. the short answer is no. the long answer is watch my 2020 master class video series... it’s a detailed step by step documentary of one of my typical builds. you may find it interesting 🤔

[@somuchvine]

Thanks for an excellent channel. As a beginner of building CBG's I just wonder what type of potentiometer do you use for a piezo pickup? I have a couple of regular 250k and 500k but I'm not sure if they are usable with piezos? Thanks in advance. /Per from Sweden

[@alexandretst11]

Dell, excellent your video, a question: How did you attach the fretboard? sorry my english is not perfect because i am brazilian

[@DonnyT744]

Great video.

[@MikeTheSith200]

Watching this video to see what roundover bit Del uses on the neck and he just cuts that part out ! lol

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

1/2 round usually

[@delorissamuelson6988]

Another great and informative video! Thank you, thank you!!

[@airamiam]

Enjoy your videos a lot! When you use a piezo is there always some noise when you touch the neck and box?

[@Gyrokosher]

I think he usually sandwiches it between loads of hot glue, it dampens it slightly.

[@airamiam]

THANK YOU!

[@scottblevins2308]

How do you connect the neck to the box?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

i use long sheet rock screws and drill pilot holes thru the back of the box... thru the mounting blocks into the neck wood. If you watch my 2020 Master Class Video series you can see the process from beginning to end :-)

[@nickfalzone6869]

Great video Del, but for the sake of completeness, could you give us your neck dimensions? Here in England, we don't have a plethora of picket fence posts laying around and nobody seems to sell disposable wooden rulers/paint stirrers, so it would be nice to know what the starting dimensions of your neck wood and fretboards are, just to give us a base line. Oh, and based on that, what measurements do you use to create your neck angle?

[@rickwatkins4720]

Wickes sell hardwood (hemlock) banister spindles 1000x41x41mm. Nice and straight (and inexpensive). Using this to build my second CBG and it seems to be just right.

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

be sure to check out my master class video series...

[@ericshaffer9823]

That gold top is money! A nicely comprehensive review of the process. Going to dig in the vault for your back angle video. If the heel is cut for the back angle and the block is flat, are there ever issues getting the heel to be stable? Thanks again, another gem!

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

if there is then just sand or file to make surfaces fit.

[@ericshaffer9823]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar thank you. Haven't tried the back angle yet, so getting mentally prepped

[@ericbouv4070]

Nice but... Why a hook at the end of the neck?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

for the nail in the wall … easier to just hang . easy to remove if not needed. primarily for display

[@reltcl1995]

How wide and long is neck

[@morfvidal]

show muito bom visto aqui no brasil

[@davidvenne1134]

How much does a cigar box guitar cost to build? I only ask because I would like to do something like this in a physics class at school.

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

you can spend as much or as little as you want.

[@davidvenne1134]

@@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar What is the least you can spend and still make a working guitar?

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

You don't have to spend a dime...Zero... nadda... just look for opportunities to recycle... upcycle... invent... hack... imagine... create... explore...experiment... re-purpose... thats in keeping with the spirit of the instrument and the tradition of the music.

[@kingtkuehn]

Rock on!!!

[@فيصلفيصلبلغيث]

جميل جدا good

[@davidparrigon8979]

Del, you need to wear safety glasses until you cut your strings off. You only get two eyes!!

[@PuckettCigarBoxGuitar]

I SEE your POINT!!