INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to the first museum dedicated to the humble cigar box guitar. We have gathered the facts & legends, pictures & players and stories that span over 150 years.

The cigar box guitar is the symbol of true resilience.
Countless numbers of these contraptions were created by children and adults alike when money was scarce but passion for music was overflowing. They used wood boxes, broom handles, screen wire and whatever else was lying around to create their instruments.

And many of these curious guitar builders became blues and rock stars. Rock 'n roll pioneer Carl Perkins reminisced about his childhood cigar box guitar that he made with a box, stick and baling wire. Years later, he would take the knowledge he first learned on that down-home axe to create "Blue Suede Shoes."

Blind Willie Johnson, Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Christian; they're just three more examples. Of Charlie Christian, a schoolmate said: "[Charlie] would amaze us at school with his first guitar - one that he made with a cigar box. He would be playing his own riffs...but they were based on sophisticated chords and progressions that Blind Lemon Jefferson never knew."
-Ralph Ellison, schoolmate of Charlie Christian

This website has been created to give the cigar box guitar a home in music history. Everything is presented 'magazine-style' with articles, pictures, sidebars and factual snippets. There's a whole lotta things to click and many pages to see!
... have fun looking around.

-Shane W. Speal
editor and cigar box guitarist

Infrequently Asked Questions!

What is a cigar box guitar?
Simply put, it's a stringed instrument that uses an empty cigar box as it's resonator. They are not necessarily of the same design as a normal 6-string acoustic guitar. For example, some cigar box guitars have only 1 or 2 strings. Many do not have frets up the neck, but are played fretless or with a slide.


Who made cigar box guitars and why?
The origins of most cigar box guitars stem from poverty. Many times, the builder was just a child who desperately wanted to rock out, but had no money to buy an instrument. In addition, cigar box guitars were made and played by Depression Era jug band members who specialized in making instruments out of anything.


Are there any rules to making and playing a cigar box guitar?
Absolutely not! This is perhaps the most enduring trait of the instrument. This is not like a violin or piano that have snooty traditions attached. Creativity rules in cigar box guitardom. Remember, it was intuitive children with open minds who made the majority of these suckers.

So why did the cigar box guitar lose it's popularity with childeren?
You've got to remember, most of these were made in the Depression Era. Kids (and adults) had no other choice but to invent the things they wanted. Now, anybody can go to their local dollar store and buy a toy guitar. Even Wal-Mart sells semi-good acoustic and electric guitars.