Cigar box guitar

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Cigar box guitars

The cigar box guitar (short CBG , English cigar box guitar ) or delta blues guitar is a primitive, often self-made stringed instrument that consists of an empty wooden box, v. a. Cigar boxes, used as a resonance body. Today, CBG is a collective term that is also used to designate instruments made from other wooden boxes. The earliest models were often only strung with one or two strings, while the modern ones typically had three or more. This instrument is closely associated with the blues , youth and playing with the bottleneck .

construction

Modern CBG from a wine box. The tuning machines are attached to the body

The structure of a CBG is not subject to strict rules, but a CBG is usually divided into the three parts head, neck and body based on the guitar .

The CBG was originally a purely acoustic instrument. Therefore, the body consists of a wooden box, which is provided with sound holes and serves as a sound box. Due to the origin and history of these instruments, cigar boxes are traditionally used as the body; But any other wooden box that is comparable in wall thickness and size is also suitable for construction.

In many cases, the neck consists of a simple square timber or, in the case of particularly rudimentary models, also of a broomstick. The presence of an extra glued-on fingerboard or a fret is not mandatory. However, this occurs especially with modern models, v. a. from semi and professional construction, reinforced on.

As with most types of guitars, the head is used to attach and tension the strings using tuning mechanisms. Even if it is possible to put on an extra head plate, the head traditionally consists of the recessed end of the neck. The absence of a head is also possible, provided that the tuning mechanisms have been attached to the body.

Such instruments are made by v. a. self-made, which is also part of the CBG philosophy. Numerous individualizing characteristics in the design and appearance of the instruments are therefore the rule. This includes B. the shape and number of sound holes, the presence of a special resonator, a fret or pickups . The latter have almost become the norm when building modern cigar box guitars. In contrast to their historical models, the models of the Modern Revival are more likely to be assigned to the electric guitars than the acoustic ones.

history

Cigars were packed in boxes, crates and barrels as early as 1800. However, the small-format cigar boxes, which are similar to today's, have only existed since the 1840s. Previously, cigars were shipped in larger boxes containing 100 or more cigars per box. However, from around 1840 onwards, cigar manufacturers used smaller formats that were more portable and only contained around 20–50 cigars per box.

The earliest evidence of an instrument made from a cigar box is an illustration that was copyrighted in 1876. This shows two camping civil war soldiers, one of whom is playing a cigar box fiddle . The illustration was created by the illustrator and artist Edwin Forbes, who worked on the side of the Union Army. The depiction was in Forbes' Life Stories of the Great Army .

Furthermore, in 1884 Daniel Carter Beard, the co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America, published plans for a cigar box banjo in Christmas Eve With Uncle Enos . These plans may have been published in Beard's American Boy's Handy Book in 1890 under the new title How to Build an Uncle Enos Banjo . These plans showed instructions for building a fretless but playable five-string banjo from a cigar box.

While it seems that the earliest instruments made from cigar boxes were extremely raw and primitive, this wasn't always the case. Bill Jehle, curator of the National Cigar Box Guitar Museum and author of One Man's Trash: A History of the Cigar Box Guitar, describes two purchased, well-built, and playable cigar box fiddles dating from 1886 and 1889. The older one was made for one eight year old boy and is playable. The construction of the younger ones even suggests an instrument to be played seriously.

Bo Diddley at the Long Beach Blues Festival (1997)

The cigar box instruments were of particular importance during the formation of the jug bands and the blues. Many of these musicians were black Americans who lived in poverty and had no money for a “real” instrument. Therefore, they also played a number of instruments that were self-made, often those that use wooden boxes such as B. Use cigar boxes as a sound box.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the use of homemade musical instruments increased. During this difficult time, the blues was a popular pastime in the southern United States. A “real” musical instrument, however, exceeded the financial means of most people. The result were the creative, homemade musical instruments, such as B. the production of guitars from cigar boxes.

Many guitar, jazz and blues greats took their first musical steps on a CBG or at least owned one of these instruments in their younger days. These include: B. Blind Willie Johnson, Lightin 'Hopkins, Charlie Christian, Carl Perkins, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Roy Clarks, Albert King, Hound Dog Taylor, Big Bill Broonzy, Buddy Guy, Louis Armstrong, Pee Wee Crayton and many more. The blues musician Bo Diddley was so convinced of the CBG as a blues instrument that he never gave it up during his entire career.

Modern Revival

Harry Manx and his cigar box guitar

In the United States, the resurgence of these instruments is known as the "Cigar Box Guitar Revolution". This modern revival is related to the increase in CBG farmers and CBG artists. Every summer, underground musicians tour the east coast of the United States as part of the "Master of the Cigar Box Guitar Tour". In addition, there is a growing number of small instrument makers who are adding cigar box guitars to their sales range. In addition, professional guitar manufacturers are now also starting to add the CBG to their range. So z. For example, the company Saint Blues produces cigar box guitars with three and four strings as standard.

The resurgence of cigar box instruments is probably also related to jug bands and the DIY culture, as a cigar box is a cheap item, disregarding factors such as strings and time. Many modern cigar box guitars can be viewed as a kind of exercise in instrument making and as a measure to give the instrument a personal touch. Here z. B. thought of adding pickups and resonators in the body of the CBG.

The modern revival of the cigar box guitars in the United States was the subject of the documentary "Songs Inside The Box" in 2008. This was recorded primarily during the annual "Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza" festival in Huntsville, Alabama.

Cigar Box Guitar Museum

The Cigar Box Guitar Museum, a public exhibit all about the CBG, is located in Speal's Tavern, a small blues club in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania. The curator is the cigar box guitarist Shane Spael and the exhibition includes over 40 old and modern cigar box guitars. Shane Speal is also the curator of the National Cigar Box Guitar Museum in York, Pennsylvania, which opened in 2004.

Mood

There is no defined tuning for the cigar box guitar. It can be voted as follows.

  • open tuning ("open tuning")
    • three-string: z. B. A - e - a or G - d - g
    • four-string: e.g. B. A - e - a - cis ′ or G - d - g - h
  • classical tuning of a six-string guitar (E - A - d - g - h - e ′)
    • three-string: z. B. Section A - d - g
    • four-string: e.g. B. Section d - g - h - e ′
  • "Magic jazz tuning": A - e - g
  • "Hawaiian tuning": A - e - f sharp

Web links

Commons : Cigar box guitars  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hyman, Tony (1972). Handbook of Cigar Boxes. New York: Arnot Art Museum
  2. ↑ http://www.cigarboxguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/UncleEnos.pdf
  3. ^ Beard, Daniel Carter (1882). The American Boy's Handy Book. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-87923-449-0 .
  4. ↑ Jehle, William (2010). One Man's Trash: A History of the Cigar Box Guitar. ISBN 1-4538-0239-8 .
  5. ↑ http://cigarboxguitars.com/about/hall-of-fame
  6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated February 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.saintblues.com
  7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Archive link ( Memento of the original dated February 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.saintblues.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.saintblues.com
  8. ↑ http://www.songsinsidethebox.com
  9. ↑ http://spealstavern.com/cigar-box-guitar-museum
  10. ↑ http://cigarboxguitars.com/about/museum
  11. ↑ How Do You Tune A Cigar Box Guitar? on jagshouse.com, accessed August 17, 2015