What To Do After Attending A Cigar Box Guitar Festival

Cigar Box Guitar festival season is a fantastic time of year filled with great music, terrific people, and one-of-a-kind musical instruments.

For those of us who cannot attend festivals, there are scores of rockin' videos, shared around the internet, featuring various talented cigar box guitar performing artists.

After watching these supremely talented performers rock out on their handmade musical instruments, there are thousands of people inspired to build their own cigar box guitars.

Likely, even you.

At C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, we are here to help each and every one of you who want to experience the joy of crafting your own musical instrument.

Whether for a beginner or advanced builder, we have all the products necessary to build a cigar box guitar. Moreover, we also have the most significant library of resources to learn how to build and play them, too.

So, exactly how do you build a cigar box guitar (CBG)?

Glad you asked.

You Can Do It

All over the internet are endless perspectives on how to build a CBG.

It can take way too long, bouncing around from website to website, trying to find a complete how-to-build guide with proper suggestions for practical, tried-and-true guitar components.

However, there's only one place that curates all that information into one site, free of fuss and muss, and filled with clear and concise building and playing information.

CigarBoxGuitar.com, chock full of the best guidance you need to build and play, is the premier how-to repository of CBG resources.

For example, here's the most concise, easy-to-use set of cigar box guitar plans, totally free to download, and available only on CigarBoxGuitar.com.

In the plans, complete with clear, full-color images, are instructions on how to build your first CBG with the simplest of tools and materials.

To that point, here's the list of suggested tools from the guide:

• a drill (power or manual)
• drill bits
• a small saw
• and a ruler

Now that's a manageable list of tools you can find in your home or that of a friend.

Sure, the tools look easy enough to gather, but what about all the parts that make the guitar?

That, too, is a short list:

• a cigar box
• a 3-foot long 1 1/12-inch x 3/4-inch
• 3 guitar tuning pegs
• a couple bolts or pieces of wood dowel
• 3 guitar strings
• and 6 roundhead screws, approx. 1/2-inch long

You see, building a CBG can be a straightforward project requiring very few parts.

Looking to keep your guitar under a tight budget? No worries.

The free PDF plans even include alternatives to store-bought items that you can find around your home for use in your guitar.

But what if you don't have one or two essential components, such as tuning pegs or guitar strings?

Again, no worries. We've got you there, too.

We Can Help

C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply is your one-stop general store for CBG parts.

Over the past 9 years, we've expanded our line of goods to satisfy builders of all experience levels. Many of those products are made right here in the Gitty shop located in Rochester, NH.

And with a finger on the pulse of the cigar box guitar movement, we take great care to speak to the needs of first-time builders.

Your first (or any) CBG needn't be a sophisticated collection of exotic parts, intricately woven into a rarefied instrument.

You can build a supremely satisfying, fully-playable guitar, as noted above, with just a handful of parts.

For instance, we've got classic, open-gear tuners with the perfect combination of form and function.

Plus, we carry the world's largest selection of cigar box guitar-specific string sets.

And if you want to make your guitar electric, we've got the simplest, and most economical, solutions for you to turn your instrument into a stage-ready or back porch performer.

Join The Community

Speaking of performers, CigarBoxNation.com is a wealth of video performances, tutorials, and shared experiences from the world's largest online community of CBG enthusiasts.

Over the past ten years, CigarBoxNation.com has grown with everyday people like you and me, filling the site with useful building and playing information, hacks, experiments, and most importantly, human connection.

Whether while building or after completing your CBG, you may have questions, concerns, or just want to share pictures of what you made.

Cigar Box Nation is the perfect place for all that.

The Nation is nearly 20,000 members-strong at the time of writing this. Each member is a welcoming, inclusive enthusiast helping others enjoy their experiences in handmade musical instruments.

On the Nation, there are well over 100 interest-specific groups and over 2000 forum topics in which members share building advice, how-to-play lessons, gear recommendations, and all sorts of fun conversation.

So, if you want to reach out for help or find an inspiring new idea, Cigar Box Nation is your place.

Or, if you simply want to connect with the friendliest collection of CBG enthusiasts on the internet, Cigar Box Nation is waiting for you.

Build And Play Your Own

As you can see, there's no shortage of resources to get you started and continue on your journey into the world of CBGs.

Like so many of us enthusiasts, you may find that building one isn't enough and that CBGs become much more than just a hobby.

So let's get you started on your CBG journey.

First, get yourself started on CigarBoxGuitar.com by looking around and downloading free plans to build your first CBG.

Then go to CBGitty.com to get all the parts you'll need for your first, or one hundred and first, build.

Finally, become a member of CigarBoxNation.com for all the best entertainment, inspiration, and education you'll find on the internet.

And remember, just like Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker says, "If you're having fun, you're doing it right."

Now come on and join the cigar box guitar revolution!

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