Whether you are buying for yourself or someone else, here is a list of useful accessories for the Cigar Box Guitar and a price comparison:
- Guitar picks or plectrums
- Plectrum Punch
- Guitar Strap
- Guitar Slide
- Tuner
- Spare strings
- String winder
- Guitar Case
- Amplifier
- Guitar Amplifier Cable
| inexpensive gifts | medium priced gifts | more expensive gifts |
| Guitar picks or plectrums | Plectrum Punch | Amplifier |
| Guitar Slide | Guitar Strap | |
| Spare strings | Tuner | |
| String winder | Guitar Case | |
| Headphones Only Amplifier | ||
| Guitar Amplifier Cable |
Guitar Picks Or Plectrums
It’s a good idea to have a selection of picks ( also called plectrums) of different sizes and different thicknesses and even different shapes. They aren’t expensive and there’s a great variety of colors and designs too.
Since they are small and easy to lose, it’s a good idea to have a collection.
When you first get or build your cigar box guitar, you might think that you will just play with your fingers and thumb, but you will find that unless you are playing fingerstyle, your nails will wear down. If I strum without a pick, I tend to use my index finger and the metal strings wear that fingernail down quite quickly. The pick is really like an extension of your finger nails.
Playing with a pick does need a bit of practice at first. Learning to strum with a pick did not present as much of a problem to me as picking individual notes. When you are using a pick to pluck individual strings, the pick can go up or down and it’s trickier to not hit the wrong string.
See this guide for choosing a pick
There are some links to guitar picks on the resources page
Plectrum Punch
A plectrum punch lets you cut out your own picks from waste plastic. They cost under £20 and you can make your own designs. This punch on Amazon comes with some plastics for you to cut. You can also cut up waste plastics like old credit and store cards with this punch.
Guitar Strap
Unless you will always play sitting down, you will find a strap a useful bit of kit. You can use a strap from a standard guitar. Just make sure it is adjustable and good enough quality to not fail and damage your instrument. See this guide I’ve written for choosing a strap
Slide
A guitar slide is a hollow tube that fits on your finger. It allows you to play on an unfretted or fretted guitar. The sound you get is unique. You will need to practice a bit to get the hang of playing with a slide.
Coming from a background in six string guitar playing, I was not really familiar with slides for guitar. Whilst it is possible to play slide on any guitar, unless the action is high there is a risk of a some nasty sounds from the frets. A guitar with high action means that the strings are a bit further from the frets than usual.
Slides are available from music shops or the internet and can be made of glass, metal or ceramic. If you cannot buy one it is possible to use a metal tube from a toolkit, such as a socket.
I have written a guide here on choosing a slide and how to get started .
Tuner
Even if you have a piano to tune your guitar, you will find a small clip on tuner invaluable. I love my SNARK which works by measuring the vibrations of the guitar. In fact this kind of tuner works for any instrument, just by clipping onto the instrument itself. This is a link to the one I have: Snark clip on electronic tuner available on Amazon
Pitch pipes that you blow and phone apps for a standard 6 string guitar are a bit trickier to use for a cigar box guitar.
However. you can use this method to tune to standard G D G:
- The D note on your Cigar Box Guitar is the same as the 4th (D) string of a 6 string.
- The higher G of the Cigar Box Guitar is the same as the 3rd (G) string.
- The bass string is an octave below this top string
Spare Strings
It’s always useful to have at least one set of spare strings. If you are buying for yourself, you will probably have your own favorites, but as a gift I recommend getting a set of 6 strings for a standard guitar. This will give a good variety of gauges that will cover a lot of the alternative tunings. See my guide here on alternative tunings for a cigar box guitar.
How To Choose Which Type Of Guitar Strings To Buy
- Choose electric guitar strings if the guitar has a visible pickup
- This will look like a metal rectangle or small round magnets under the strings
- Choose acoustic guitar all metal strings for a piezo pickup.
- You can tell it’s piezo pickup if you can’t see it but there is an output jack
- Classical strings are only really suitable for classical guitar
- Some cigar box guitar specialists sell sets of 3 or 4 strings for certain specific tunings which work really well
I have a guide to replacing and choosing guitar strings here
String Winder
This is a piece of equipment that really helps speed up changing guitar strings. It has a piece that fits over the machine head. The handle which means that you can turn the machine head quickly and easily. ( The machine head is also called a tuner- it’s the bit that the wires are attached to)
Case
You do not necessarily need a case for your cigar box guitar. As instruments go they are pretty sturdy and they will travel OK in a soft bag or just loose in a car, but if you can get one to fit your guitar it’s a nice addition.
I do have a hard case that came with the first Cigar Box Guitar I bought. Its a rectangular box, lined with a furry fabric. If you can’t find a specific cigar box guitar case, you could use any rectangular case of the right size and line it. Alternatively make a drawstring bag of the correct size.
Amplifier
An amplifier does more than just make a cigar box guitar louder. The effects that are built in to the amplifier mean that a totally different sound can come from your cigar box guitar.
If your guitar has no pickup then an amplifier will not work, but you can always add a pickup to an acoustic cigar box guitar. ( or choose a second guitar!)
You can tell if a guitar has a pickup because it will have an output jack ( this looks like a small metal socket on the end of the guitar)
Some pickups (called piezo pickups) are not visible from the outside of the guitar, but if you see a socket there must be a pickup installed.
Types Of Guitar Amps: A Guide For Beginners
- There are tiny amps that plug straight into the output jack of the guitar. You use headphones with this to hear the sound such as this one I bought my son one that needs headphones
- There are also very small battery powered amps. I bought this tiny one from Amazon for easy movement around the house. It can work with a battery or on mains.
- Slightly larger battery or mains powered amps. Many Cigar Box Guitar players like the Roland Microcube or Vox Mini. The kind that have drum backing tracks included are popular.
- There are also much larger mains powered amps. These are the kind that you would have seen performers use on a stage.
Just starting out, it’s probably best to either buy a small battery powered amp or a second- hand larger one.
I’ve written an article on amp settings for beginners here
Guitar Amplifier Cable
To connect your guitar to the amp you will need a cable or lead. These vary greatly in price and whilst you might not want to spend too much, it’s a false economy to buy really cheap audio wires. Make sure you don’t buy an ordinary audio lead ( like you would use on a phone audio output) as these do not have the right fixings on the end.
The other thing to consider is the wire length. You need a wire long enough to comfortably connect the guitar to the amp, but too long a wire will just end up coiled on the floor, possibly causing interference.
It’s worth having a spare lead because they can fail.