| consideration | CBG | Ukulele |
| scale length | generally 16-25 inches | 13-19 inches |
| pitch | generally lower pitched but you can choose a very short scale if you prefer | higher pitched than most cigar box guitars |
| string composition | steel- slightly harder to play as a complete beginner | synthetic- softer on the fingers at the start |
| number of strings | 3 or 4 | 4 |
| ease of play | very easy at the start | quite easy at the start |
| tuning | open tuning | reentrant or linear tuning |
| body | rectangular | curved |
| genres of music | any, but will not sound quite like a classical guitar | any, but will not sound quite like an electric guitar |
| community | very helpful forums and groups | very helpful forums and groups |
| building your own | fairly easy with kits available too | you can build a cigar box ukulele |
Finger And Hand Size Considerations
A soprano ukulele is difficult to play if you are an adult with large hands unless you find one with a slightly wider neck and even then you might struggle. Concert, tenor and baritone ukuleles will probably be comfortable for most adults to play, but it is really worth going to a music shop to try different sizes to see what suits your hand and finger size.
Cigar box guitars come in such a wide range of scale sizes that most adults will find a scale size that suits. Don’t forget that the width of the neck is definitely something that makes a difference if you have particularly small or large hands.
Which is Bigger- Ukulele or Cigar Box Guitar?
Ukuleles come in 4 main sizes plus a bass with these average scale lengths:
- A soprano ukulele has a scale length of 13 inches
- A concert ukulele has a scale length of 15 inches
- A tenor ukulele has a scale length of 17 inches
- A Baritone ukulele has a scale length of 19 inches
- A bass ukulele or U Bass with an even larger scale length of up to 25 inches
Cigar Box Guitars are handmade instruments and come in a variety of scale lengths, generally from to 16- 25.5 inches. ( The scale length is the distance between the nut and the bridge of the instrument)
Differences In Pitch Of Cigar Box Guitar And Ukulele
A ukulele generally sounds higher than a cigar box guitar because the scale length is shorter, but you can choose a very short scale cigar box guitar.
What Kind Of Strings Are Used On A Ukulele?
A ukulele has synthetic strings. This can be nylon or a synthetic gut called Nylgut. Other compositions include fluorocarbon ( my current favorite) and even wound nylon strings with a metal core. Metal strings put too much much force on the neck and bridge for a ukulele unless it is one of a special kind of ukulele with a truss rod in it.
People who have tried to put metal strings on a ukulele may thing at first that its ok, but they will find that the bridge will lift or the neck will bow or both.
What Are Cigar Box Guitar Strings Made From?
A cigar box guitar can use nylon or synthetic strings, but because of the the through neck can also take metal strings. These can be phosphor bronze, like those on an acoustic guitar or nickel core like an electric guitar. The pickup used will govern which type of string is used (if one is installed). A piezo pickup works with phosphor bronze whereas a magnetic or coil pickup including a humbucker needs to have nickel strings.
How Many Strings Does A Ukulele Have?
Ukuleles have four strings usually although there are a few eight stringed instruments on the market. These work in a similar way to a 12 stringed regular guitar, in that some notes are doubled up and some notes are repeated.
How Many Strings On A Cigar Box Guitar?
Most cigar box guitars have 3 strings, but some prefer the richer sound of 4 strings. If you choose to have a four string cigar box guitar as a beginner, you will find it a bit harder to get hold of tab music, but there are a couple of options for you .
If you have a background of playing a ukulele or a six string guitar and can read music, you can convert tab from one of these instruments ( but it will take some time, especially from standard guitar tab because you will need to decide how to use the narrower range of available notes.) If you are coming from ukulele to cigar box guitar, you may want to tune the strings in the same way as the strings are tuned on a ukulele: G C E A
Re-entrant And Linear String Tuning – What Is The Difference?
A Cigar Box Guitar is tuned in linear tuning with the pitch rising across the strings from bass to middle and top strings.
A soprano or concert ukulele is tuned G C E A. The ukulele has a distinct sound among stringed instruments, partly due to the fact that it has re-entrant tuning. This means that the string that is in the position traditionally used for the lowest string ( the 4th string) is tuned an octave up.
For the soprano and concert ukulele this means that the 4th string and the 1st string are actually only what is called one tone apart. If you press down on the second fret of the G string, you make the same note as the 1st string, at the same pitch, i.e. the same octave.
Some people choose to either buy a non re-entrant tuned ukulele or simply replace the 4th string with a low G string. This makes for a low G or linear tuned ukulele. You may need to widen the slots on the nut and bridge to accommodate the thicker string.
Can I Play Music For A Re-entrant Tuned Ukulele With Linear Tuning?
Tab music is written for re-entrant or linear (low G) ukulele but you can use them interchangeably in some cases.
If you play low G tab on a re-entrant ukulele, you will not be able to play the bass notes, since they will sound at an octave up. If you play re-entrant tab music on a linear tuned instrument, the chords will have added bass notes. This adds a fullness to the sound that some people prefer, especially for strummed chords.
However trying to play melody music written for a re-entrant tuned ukulele on a linear tuned instrument will give you more difficulty, especially if the music is written in the campanella style.
Campanella music is translated to bell-like. This style of music makes use of the fact that the G and A string are so similar in pitch and that a melody can often be played on these two strings so that each note can be left to ring out.
Strings that are left ringing out and not played for a note or two give a bell-like tone to the music. This can only really be achieved on a re-entrant tuned instrument.
Alternative Tunings For Cigar Box Guitars
Cigar Box Guitars are often tuned to open G: G D G or open E: E B E or open D: D A D but many tunings are possible. I have written an article here with lots of ideas for Different tunings for a cigar box guitar The article explains which strings will work for different tunings. Please don’t just try to retune your guitar to a different tuning because you risk the strings breaking.
Alternative Tunings For Ukuleles
Similarly to cigar box guitars, you can retune your ukulele to different tunings. Again you have to be careful not to put too much tension on the strings or they will snap. It’s usually OK to tune a string up or down by a tone so G C E A could be tuned to G C E G to give an open tuning of C if you want to see what playing in open tuning is like.
This will give you a C chord if you strum the open notes, an F chord if you fret at the 5th fret and A G chord at the 7th fret.
There is also a baritone ukulele which is tuned to D G B E like the top four strings of a 6 string guitar.
Comparing The Body Of A Ukulele and Cigar Box Guitar
The body of a ukulele is like a miniature guitar. The body of a cigar box guitar is a rectangular box.
The rounded shape of a ukulele body makes it comfortable to hold against your body as it has no sharp corners, but it is really small. It is often played without a strap and is held by the strumming arm.
The body of a cigar box guitar can be a variety of sizes and you can choose a box size that suits you. Sometims I find that the corners of the rectangular box stick into my body a bit awkwardly, but usually a small change in position solves this problem.
Ukulele Genres of Music
Ukuleles can undoubtedly be used to play all genres of music but the nylon strings will never give the sound of a heavily distorted electric guitar.
A cigar box guitar can have
- synthetic strings like a classical guitar would have
- phosphor bronze strings like an acoustic guitar would have or
- nickel strings like an electric guitar would have.
This means that the cigar box guitar, especially if you include the effects that can be gained from an amplifier gives a much wider range of sounds.
So, depending on what style of music you want to play, this may effect the choice of ukulele or cigar box guitar.
Community
There are plenty of opportunities to connect online through forums and Facebook groups for both ukuleles and cigar box guitars.
Playing in person with other players may be pretty dependent on where you live. I do not know of a single other cigar box guitar player in my locality but I do know other ukulele players. There are probably a lot more adult ukulele players worldwide than cigar box guitar players, but there are some around so I think it’s a case of looking out for other people who share your passion
Building Your Own Instrument
Once you get into playing cigar box guitars, you will find that there is a lot of fun to be had by making your own custom instruments. You do not need a lot of tools. Common hand woodworking tools will be enough although an electric drill is helpful.
You can also buy kits to make Cigar Box Guitars.
Whilst it’s a specialist job to build a ukulele, you can in fact build your own Cigar Box Ukulele.
How Can I Find Out More About Cigar Box Guitars?
This website has lots of information. The menu will help you to find what you are looking for, but you might want to start with my Absolute Beginner’s Guide and Why Should I Learn Cigar Box Guitar? and for tips on buying a cigar box guitar read this article about Cigar Box Guitar Quality
