CigarBoxGuitars.com  -  How to Build a Cigar Box Guitar

A two-string slide guitar made from a canoe paddle. Built by Shane Speal. How to build link included

Vintage plans from 1923 showing a simple banjo made from a tin pie pan.

Build an eight-string lyre with cigar box resonator. The plans call for zither pin style pegs and a wooden frame.

How to build a fretless, four string cigar box instrument. Full parts list & step-by-step diagrams. From 1927

Build an 8 string mandolin from the tin of a canned ham. Common hardware store parts used. Full instructions.

Here's an easy project that will give you a goofy electric echo microphone that you can use for cool effects in a recording or on stage.

Several people asked about measurements of the Little Joe banjo, so I traced it and made a PDF. Download it here

A look inside the Mailbox Guitar reveals an extremely simple bracing system made from poplar scraps. The wood was leftover from some cigar

Create frets for cigar box guitars using copper wire from a craft store. Tools: hammer & needle nose pliers.

This simple hinged board gets perfect glue joints on cigar box guitar headstocks. Easy design for any builder.

Ukulele body is made from an actual styrofoam beer cooler... and it sounds great! This has got to be the most freakish-looking uke ever!

This strange instrument was built in an hour using an antique bellows handle and several modern cigar box guitar parts.

Download and print this page for an easy to use 23" fretting scale template, as shown on page 173 of Making Poor Man's Guitars.

I put a Lace Alumitone Matchbook pickup in a $25 cigar box guitar! This has to be the most unfair gear review ever! This was my version o

The mic is perfect for blues harmonica or lo-fi vocals...and all you need is an old handset and guitar jack. Follow along with the video.

Have you ever noticed the wooden back piece of a conventional banjo. These are called resonators and their job is to keep the sound...

These plans for an experimental diddley bow use an electric door bell clapper as a Dick Dale-style hyper tremolo picker. Fascinating...

Before the blues showed up in the 1920's, there were minstrel shows and Vaudeville theater. Central to many of these shows was a...

This is probably the easiest electric diddley bow pickup/bridge combo I've ever seen. It is based on a one-string "diddley bow" guitar...

An old time cigar box guitar sometimes needs some accompaniment, so we offer some classic free plans for a hot-rodded washtub bass guitar....

How to Tie Fret Knots Parts needed: monofilament nylon fishing line (10 to 15lb test). Tools needed: Scissors Small file Fret Calculator....

Don't try this at home! These plans were discovered by cigar box guitar builder and researcher, John "Reddog" McNair. I'm not sure...

Pictured: A small round box ukulele, circa 1920's. The following plans are less detailed than others in our archives, but they give some...

(Pictured: 5-string cigar box banjo, circa 2005. Unknown builder. The design is similar to the banjo plans featured here.) Shane's note:...

These historic plans from 1922 show how to build a five-string mandolin from a cigar box.

This article was taken from the original CigarBoxGuitars.com archives. You’ll need Wine bottle with long neck Glass cutter Masking tape...