The Cigar Box Guitars, Shovel Guitar and other Instruments seen on the Bull TV Show - with illustrated screen shots

Hey all, Ben Gitty here! Recently I took part in decorating the set for the CBS TV show Bull, starring Michael Weatherly of NCIS fame and Freddy Rodriguez. They needed the scene to look like the workshop of an eccentric guitar builder, so I loaded up the Gitty van and headed down to Congers, NY ready to get to work as a set design consultant.

The episode with the scene aired on December 13 (you can watch it here on the CBS site - look for Episode 9 "Light My Fire"). We've gone through the scene with a fine-toothed comb to get these screen shots, so we could tell you about the instruments that made it onto prime time TV! I hope you enjoy it!

1. A. J. Gaither Arkansas Tenor 4-string Cigar Box Guitar
   
2. Vintage Edition "Phillies" Cigar Box Amplifier
   
3. 2-string Cigar Box Bass by Farley Andresen
4. 2-cent Genny 3-string Cigar Box Guitar and "Don't Tread on Me" Canjo. Just to the right of the canjo you can see part of Farley's shovel guitar hanging (behind the conventional acoustic)

1. Custom mini acoustic guitar body by Farley Andresen
2. New Hampshire License Plates destined for License Plate Resonator Guitars

On the pegboard in the background is a collection of tools, a good few of them brought by me - they originally came from my grandpa's workshop.

1. A. J. Gaither Arkansas Tenor (Model 2 Prototype)
   
2. Tabak 3-string Cigar Box Guitar with Built-in Amp by Farley Andresen.

1. (left) Orange 4-string Banjo by Farley Andresen and Dale Vigent; (right) Vintage Oil Can Canjo from the American Canjo Company.
2. Random instrument parts from the Gitty shop.

1. 2-string Washtub Bass built by Ben Gitty Baker.
2. Antique Vaudeville-era One-string Cigar Box Fiddle (free plans here)
3. 3-string Baritone Cigar Box Guitar by Shane Speal - as played on his album Holler!
4. Shovel Guitar - Free Plans Here!

For the record, I did not bring the mounted fish. or the toaster oven.

1. Timeclock Frankenstein 6-string Acoustic Guitar by Ben Gitty Baker
2. 3-string Metal Box Resonator Guitar by Mason Haynes
3. Cigar Box Fiddle by Jim Morris - see the free Plans here.
4. "Uncle Enos" Banjo by Martin Tauber - see the free plans he followed here.

1. GITTY sticker, on a rifle stock brought I brought. Farley swears that rifle stock is going to become an instrument someday.
2. 3-string Tabak Guitar with built-in amp by Farley Andresen. To its right, the Timeclock Guitar.
3. Hybrid Tenor Uke by me - the rusty saw blade was hastily added just before filming to cover the box branding due to legal/trademark issues).
4. Another hybrid tenor uke I built. Below the license plates can be seen instruments built by Mason Haynes (the blue resonator), Jim Morris (the cigar box fiddle) and Martin Tauber (the Uncle Enos-style banjo).

On the shelf on the right edge of the picture is the old radio speaker I earlier this year at a junk shop. It fits right in up there!

All told, this was a fun and amazing thing to be a part of, and I am proud to have played a role in getting cigar box guitars and other homemade instruments onto this popular prime-time TV show. Hopefully it will lead to even more people discovering the joys of building and playing their own homemade instruments!

- Ben "Gitty" Baker

December 15, 2016