Tunings

Below are some common tunings for your cigar box guitar. You will need a tuner.

The most common tuning for Cigar Box Guitar is open G: if you check out YouTube, you’ll find numerous examples of cbg’s played in the key of G. Usually these are 3 string, tuned GDG , but sometimes 4 String, tuned GDGB or DGBD. Open G is  a really good place to start. Most of Junkbox Guitars are tuned to Open

Tin-Can Guitar

The Tin-Can Guitar has its origin in the Thownships of South Africa. Kids who couldn't afford a real guitar built their own oil can guitar out of an old oil can.

Click here to go to the Oil-Can building instruction
Click here to go to the Oil-Can Guitars

The Original Flatpup

Extremely flat guitar pickups. Outside the box! The original by Elmar zielhofer from Vienna. perfect for the Cigarbox Guitar

here you find the Flatpup Pickups in our Shop

The scale is the length of the free vibrating strings.Scale length

The length between groove and bridge is called the bore. This is the total length of the free-swinging strings. The 12 fret is always in the middle of the scale. The fret spacing depends on the scale. Standard scales are 635mm or 650mm.

Gitarren Kopfplattehead plate

The headstock is the upper part of the cigarbox guitar or an electric bass to which the tuning mechanisms are attached. The strings are stretched over the saddle to the adjusting axles of the tuners. Today there are two main forms of the head: pierced head plates with rear wings: Mainly in concert guitars massive head plates with side wings: mainly used in guitars and basses with steel strings (electric guitar, western guitar)The head plate is also used on other instruments, for example the banjo or the mandolin.

CigarboxCigarbox

A cigar box is a box made of light wood, here also known as a cigar box. It serves on the one hand as sales packaging and on the other hand as body for the cigar box guitar. For the construction of a cigar box guitar the cigar box serves as a body and is the resonance body of the cigar box guitar.

Chords

- Several notes together form a chord. Chords are used e.g. for the song accompaniment and with letters (= chord symbols, guitar chords) over the notes and lyrics. Example: The chord called C major consists of the notes c e and g and is displayed as C above the notes or text.