News
Shane Speal's Cigar Box Guitar Building "Tricks & Hacks"
Want to build better cigar box guitars? Looking for some solid advice on how to build CBGs that sell?In this post, we have three short videos from Shane Speal with insanely useful tricks and hacks to build your best cigar box guitars. After each video is a step-by-step breakdown done in pictures of Shane's years of hard-won advice. Insanely Useful Tricks & HacksHere's just some of of the CBG-building tricks you'll learn in this post:How to quickly and efficiently repair trim on pap
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17th Jun 2019
Easy DIY Pre-Amp: Makes Piezo-Equipped Cigar Box Guitars Sound Better
Reduced feedback. Deeper bass response. And no more "quack!"
I was complaining about certain tonal problems with piezo pickups when the idea for this standalone pre-amp came to me. It's deceptively simple... a $17 acoustic guitar pre-amp with a hacked input becomes a great EQ and signal boost. And it's all housed in a cigar box!Hear the Demo
First of all, here's how it sounds...
I built this prototype in less than one hour.
Here's how to do it:Parts NeededC. B. Gitty Pre-Am
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20th May 2019
Is It True What They Say About You (CBG Builders)?
Our customers are the best. You all build with resourcefulness and ingenuity, making the best of tough situations, all the while sharing what you learned with the rest of the cigar box guitar community. Your resourcefulness and ingenuity fuel your burning desire to solve problems, and to make some really cool stuff, like guitars out of cigar boxes.Your willingness to share your hard-won wisdom builds upon the foundation of inclusivity and selfless guidance with every cigar box guitar (CBG)
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12th Apr 2019
What's A Rod Piezo & Why Use One In Your Cigar Box Guitar?
What exactly is a rod piezo? And why should you consider using one to electrify your next cigar box guitar build?To answer those burning questions, in this article you’ll...
discover the differences between disk and rod piezoslearn the anatomy of a rod piezograsp the importance of a rod piezos constructionunderstand why rod piezos sound great in electric cigar box guitarsAnd after reading this instructive article, you’ll gain the confidence to build with rod piezos, thereby raising the level al
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1st Mar 2019
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 with a pre-amp that allows me to sculpt the CBG tones beautifully.But what I was experiencing were distorted tones and an overall crappy sound. I thought the problem was that the rod piezo lost contact with the box top.To improve contact with the
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8th Aug 2018