You will need to choose some strings for your build and you have a few choices to make;
- the material that the strings are made from
- strings from a 6- string guitar, 12 -string guitar or specialist cigar box guitar strings
- the gauge or thickness of the strings
Should I Choose Nickel Steel Strings Or Phosphor Bronze For My Cigar Box Guitar Build?
For a guitar with a magnetic pickup use nickel steel electric guitar strings. For an acoustic guitar use phosphor bronze acoustic strings. For a guitar with a piezo pickup I prefer phosphor bronze strings but nickel steel can be used.
If your build has an electric pick-up, you might think that you need electric guitar strings but that might not be the case.
Guitar strings sold for electric guitars are made from nickel steel and are designed for magnetic pick-ups. This is the single coil or humbucker type of pickup. These pickups need electric guitar strings because the sound is amplified much better when the strings vibrate over the magnets in the pickup.
However if you have built a guitar with a piezo pickup, I think you will get a better amplified sound if you use Phosphor bronze or acoustic guitar strings. This is because the pickup doesn’t contain magnets and works on vibration alone.
Some more experienced builders may even use both magnetic and piezo pickups in the same build with a 3 way switch to allow one or other or both of the pickups to be used to amplify the sound. In this case electric guitar strings are used. The piezo will work with electric guitar strings.
The reason I suggest using acoustic strings with a piezo is that I think it gives a better amplified sound and a better acoustic sound.
What Is The Most Cost Effective Way To Buy Strings For A Cigar Box Guitar?
The quality of strings does affect the quality of the sound of your guitar so even if you are trying to make money from your builds, I don’t think you should buy really cheap guitar strings. You can save money by buying in bulk from a specialist supplier if you are making a lot of instruments, but it’s worth experimenting first to see what kind of strings suit you and there a few ways of doing this.
My preferred tuning is G D G and I have written more about what I mean by this in the paragraph below about open tuning. For now I’ll just say that this is basically the same as the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings of a 6-string guitar ( the A string is tuned down to G)
When I built my first build( an electrified guitar with a piezo pickup, this is just what I did: I bought a pack of acoustic 6 strings and used the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings. I didn’t worry about gauges or anything.
I even used some strings I had from a 12-string pack that I already had at home on one build- that had a wide range of gauges in the pack.
Nowadays I prefer to buy from Chickenbone John, a specialist in Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories. I buy 3 string sets and I will buy 4-string sets when I need them too. I am a player rather than a builder so I don’t need to buy in bulk at the moment.
Strings From A 6-string Guitar Or Specialist Cigar Box Guitar Strings: Pros and Cons Of Each
A 3-string set costs just over £5 whereas a 6-string set from Amazon can cost even less, so why do I choose Chickenbone John?
I know I can trust the quality of strings from him and I also like to support him and what he does for the Cigar Box Guitar community. We have other suppliers here in the UK too and I know you do in the USA so you may feel the same way that I do about your preferred supplier.
I can buy a set of 3 strings knowing exactly what they are designed for as the description is on the pack e.g. “balanced tension light gauge” ( the ones I’m using at the moment) or “tight top, loose low” which I used before when I was getting to grips with playing slide guitar.
CBGitty sells individual gauges of strings in 12 packs which work out a very affordable way of bulk buying strings if you build a lot of guitars.
| factor to consider | 6 string or 12-string pack | 3 string pack from CBG specialist |
| quality | varying- choose high quality | excellent |
| cost | varying- don’t buy really cheap | possibly slightly more expensive |
| bulk buy | 3 packs of 6 strings are readily available | 12 pack individual strings from cbgitty.com and 3 pack bulk set of 3-strings |
How Do I Decide What Gauge Strings To Use On My Guitar Build?
The gauge or thickness of the strings affects the pitch of the note played and the kind of sound ( or tone) and also the ease of play so it’s important to think about this.
Each guitar string you buy is designed for a certain note on a certain range of scale lengths However we can use a particular gauge for a whole range of notes depending on what we want.
As a beginner builder, I suggest that you start with using lighter gauge strings for a guitar that will be played with lots of bending of the strings and a heavier set for a guitar that will be played with a slide.
What Do I Need To Know About Open Tuning?
As a builder I expect you will have heard of open G tuning. This is what most builders start with. The bass note is tuned to G, the middle string to D and the highest sounding string to G too. But just what is meant by this? I will illustrate by telling you how I tune my 3 string open G tuned guitar:
I am using .020, .028 and .042 gauge strings ( which are on the lighter gauge end) but I have also used this tuning with 042, 032, 024 strings and 3rd, 4th and 5th strings of a standard 6- string acoustic set.
- My highest sounding string is tuned to the G below middle C on a piano, G3 or 196 Hz.
- The middle D string is the D below that, D3
- The lowest sounding string is the G below that, G2, which is 1 octave below the highest sounding string.
- The highest sounding G string is the same pitch as the third string of a 6 string guitar
- The D string is the same pitch as the fourth string of a 6 string guitar.
Read the paragraph below on how to make sure that you are tuning to the correct octave if you are unsure what all this means.
I have also successfully tuned these strings down to E B E ( E2, B3, E3 reading lowest to highest)
You can use even thicker strings such as the low open G set sold on CBGitty which have these gauges: .044 .034 and .026
There are other open tunings available and also other tunings that are not as popular but are used by some players. I have written an article which includes the gauges needed for these tunings based on a set of strings for a 6-string guitar. You can read it here: 9 Different Tunings For Cigar Box Guitar
Read This Very Important Tip For Buying Strings For Cigar Box Guitars
Whichever strings you choose, whether phosphor bronze or nickel steel, heavy or light gauge, a pack of 3 strings or 6, I really recommend that you buy a spare set of either identical strings or an alternative. There is nothing more annoying than a broken string when you first string up your instrument or when you change the strings.
Why Do New Strings Break When I Put them On My Cigar Box Guitar?
The main reasons that strings break when they are installed is:
- poor quality strings
- damaging the string as you install it
- tuning the string too high
Poor quality strings can have defects in the metal causing stress points which give way as the string is tightened.
Strings can be damaged as they pass through holes in the the tailpiece or adjustable bridge and slots in the bridge or nut. This is not a common problem as long as the strings pass cleanly through the holes which should be smooth, but I have had a string that was damaged as it passed through the slot in the nut on the very first build that I had made with a nut I had made myself. The friction of the badly cut nut caused a weak point in the string and it broke. To be fair they were really cheap guitar strings too so it might not have been all my fault.
Tuning strings on a new instrument can prove really tricky because it can be difficult to get the string tuned to the right octave. Not all tuners, mine included, tell you which octave the note is. So the string will register as a G but not a G2 or the corresponding frequency.
How Do I Know I Am Tuning My Cigar Box Guitar Strings To The Correct Octave?
If you aren’t sure of the correct octave, you can end up with a guitar tuned way too low that sounds all flabby. Alternatively you can try to tune a string an octave too high causing it to break. As I’ve said, not all electronic tuners tell you which octave a string is playing, just the note name.
If you don’t have a piano to tune to or another instrument that will help you to get the correct octave, guitar pitch pipes are really useful.
I mean the the old-fashioned 6 tube blow pipe. You blow into the tube and it plays the notes E, A, D, G, B and E.
I have a metal one that I’ve had for years, pictured below with my Snark clip-on tuner, but I found this plastic one on amazon.com and this one on amazon.co.uk 
The D is the note you want to use for your middle string and the G is the highest sounding note. The lowest G is not available but you can tune it to an octave below the top string. Also if you fret the string at the 2nd fret it will play the same octave A as on the pitch pipe.
A further check is that you can use the guitar itself to check the octaves:
- The 7th fret of the lowest sounding string is the same note and pitch as the open middle string
- The 5th fret of the middle string is the same note and pitch as the open top string
- The 12th fret of the lowest string is the same as the open top string
Tuning Your Cigar Box Guitar Build For The First Time
Hopefully you now have all the information you need to know about what strings to choose, how to buy them and how to get them in tune, but there is one last tip I want to let you know:
New strings do not stay in tune.
It’s so aggravating. You get your guitar all nicely in tune, play a few chords and marvel at how great your workmanship sounds and then…. it sounds terrible again.
This is because new strings need stretching. When they are tightened with the machine heads or tuning pegs they are stretched so they vibrate to the correct pitch but then they slip out of tune again. This is not the pegs themselves slipping ( well hopefully they are not really cheap badly made machine heads). It’s the strings themselves.
To overcome this ( at least a bit- only time will help the strings to settle) you need to stretch the strings and this is how you do it:
Use your strumming hand to firmly but carefully pull the string away from the neck of the guitar around about the 12th fret or away from the body about halfway between the 12th fret and the bridge. You aren’t trying to break the string, just stretch it. I find about an inch is enough, but I’m guided by the tension o the string.
This will make the guitar go really out of tune so tighten the strings again with the machine heads until they are in tune. Repeat the stretching and re-tuning a couple of times, up to 5 or 6 times if the strings need it.
You have just saved yourself a lot of retuning time in the next few weeks.
I tune my strings every time I play, but this is to correct very minor tuning alterations caused by changes in the weather( yes really – temperature, humidity and pressure all affect the tuning). However by stretching new strings I find that my guitar stays in tune much better.