Builder Feature: Todd Neal of Mt. Pilot Cigar Box Guitars

If you have ever wondered about whether you might be able to sell your cigar box guitars, this is a story you should read.

Todd Neal has been building cigar box guitars since he bought his first kit from C. B. Gitty 3 years ago. From there he has expanded his passion into a bona fide side business, selling his creations at festivals and shipping them all over the world.

His first exposure to CBGs was when he saw a man selling them at a festival.

“They were plain and the necks were square, but sounded great,” Todd said. “I told my wife ‘I believe I can make one of them!’.”

He got on the Internet and did some searching when he got home, and started reading about CBGs, their history and watching videos of the music that they can make. Soon after he discovered C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply and had his order in for a kit.

“The kit arrived at the time of a close family member’s death after a battle with ALS,” he said. “I took it to the basement and started building. It was great therapy. I put a piezo in the first build and plugged into an amp and was like ‘Wow, I built that!’.”

From there, he said, “it was on.” From that beginning, Todd built some guitars for Christmas presents, and began thinking about local festivals. With the encouragement of his wife and family, he took the plunge and set up a table.

“People at the festival could not believe their ears when they heard just how good one of these 3- or 4-string instruments sounded,” he said. “Their faces went from a confused look to one of disbelief. I was smiling ear to ear.”

Then the calls for custom builds started. Todd created a Facebook page to share his pictures and to help promote his growing business. He now ships guitars all over the world and continues to love building them. His only regret?

“I wish I had known about this form of instruments long before now,” he said.

Todd’s story is a great example of how building cigar box guitars and other homemade instruments can move from being a fun hobby to a fun and profitable business venture. While for most people it will never get to the level where it could replace a day job, building and selling cigar box guitars can be a nice “side business”, if only to help cover the costs of the parts. There are thousands of festivals, craft fairs and flea markets around the country (and the world) where you could set up a table for very little money and have a go at it yourself. For more on that, check out this series of articles in which “King of the Cigar Box Guitar” Shane Speal outlines his methods for selling CBGs at festivals.

As the only Cigar Box Guitar Parts Superstore, C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply is a driving force in helping to enable builders to start selling their creations, both through offering the widest array of CBG parts, and also creating a knowledgebase of free how-to-build and how-to-play materials.

“C. B. Gitty has been a great source of products, information, in building my guitars,” said Todd. “I have placed many orders with them and the customer service is great. If there’s a problem with an order or question about a product, ask and you will get an answer. I think you will not find a better place for as much information on cigar box guitars, as well as other types of instruments, as well as all the parts you need to build a good guitar. Check ‘em out, you will be glad you did.”

As for the cigar box guitar and handmade music movement as a whole, Todd feels that we are in the midst of a major comeback.

“I believe that this movement of roots-style instruments is a great thing, being shared by so many,” he said. “The people and the music being made from these instruments is amazing. I love seeing kids playing them, dancing to the sounds they make. That is one reason I do it, I personally like to hear music a young kid is making rather than hear about a score on a video game. Not that there is anything wrong with video games, just that when you make music, it comes from you – emotions – it comes from inside of ya, what it is at the moment.”

For more information on Todd’s Mt. Pilot Cigar Box Guitars, and to see pictures of his creations, check out his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mt-Pilot-CBGS/1420114348254204?fref=ts