What Box Should I Use For My Cigar Box Guitar?

Cigar Box Guitars are traditionally made using discarded cigar boxes, but other wooden boxes can be used. Cardboard boxes are best avoided but metal tins can be used. A cigar box of approximately 10 inches by 7.75 inches by 2 inches is a good average size but smaller and larger boxes can be used.

If you are planning to use an actual cigar box, you will need to get one from somewhere. Tobacconists sell empty boxes that their stock has arrived in but if you don’t have access to such a shop, you can look on places like eBay.

What Size Box Is Good For A Cigar Box Guitar?

For a standard 3 or 4 string guitar in G D G tuning, a good-sized box is approximately 10 inches by 7.75 inches by 2 inches. I have done some research on popular cigar boxes used to make Cigar Box Guitars and have included the information in the table below:

Box name	approx length in inches	approx width in inches	approx height in inches
Arturo Fuente	11	9.5	2.25
Romeo and Julieta	9.75	7.75	2
Romeo Y Julieta Churchill	8	6	2.5
La Aroma De Cuba	10.5	7.5	2
Punch Presidentes Madura	11	9	2
Oliva	8.75	7.25	2

My favorite instrument is actually a little bit larger at 11 inches by 8 inches by 2 inches but this is from a box that was not originally a cigar box.

It’s important to make sure that the depth of the box is not too deep to make playing uncomfortable yet deep enough to get a good resonant sound. Some people cut down deeper boxes to make them suitable for use.

Scale Length And Box Size For Cigar Box Guitar

The scale length of a guitar is the distance between the bridge and nut. The 12th fret is half-way between the bridge and nut.

Although the scale length is an important consideration for a Cigar Box Guitar build, the length of the box can vary quite considerably for the same scale length. This is because the majority of the scale length is taken up by the neck rather than the length of the box.

As long as the bridge can be placed on the box such that the distance between the bridge and the 12th fret is half the scale length, the build should work. Measure accurately to ensure that the bridge does not need to be positioned either too near the tailpiece nor too near the neck.

It’s particularly important that you allow room for the bridge to be about an inch or so in from the bottom of the box. It’s also important to allow enough room for a coiled pickup to be positioned far enough away from the bridge.

The Difference A Smaller Box Makes On Neck Length For The Same Scale Length

Suppose you have a smaller box, say 8 inches long, but want a 25 inch scale length:

The 2 pictures above show the same scale length but the top box is considerably shorter than the bottom box. This is compensated by having a longer neck which allows for extra frets The double dots mark the 12th fret and you can see that there is room for more playable frets on the top guitar.

For example: A common scale length for a Cigar Box guitar is 25 inches.

A scale length of 25 inches means that the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge is 12.5 inches.

Supposing you want 17 frets with a scale length of 25 inches. A quick check on Stewmac’s Fret calculator shows that the 17th fret is just over 15.5 inches from the nut, meaning it is just under 9.5 inches from the bridge.

To be playable, the 17th fret needs to be either off the box or no more than about an inch onto the box.

The longer neck and shorter box allows for a 17th fret to be installed.

Some builders like to have as many as 24 frets but this is pretty unusual. You can probably see that for 24 playable frets, the neck has to take up a larger proportion of the scale length, so a smaller box is quite useful for these builds.

The Difference A Longer Box Makes On Neck Length For The Same Scale Length

The 2nd and 3rd pictures above both have longer boxes than the first. Unfortunately the 2nd picture shows that the 12th fret is now so close to the box that there is not much room for extra playable frets.

In the 3rd picture, the bridge is moved forward and this allows for extra playable frets. It’s important not to move the bridge forward too far though or it will make the instrument difficult to play.

Can I Make A Cigar Box Ukulele With A Small Cigar Box?

A box as small as 6 inches by 5 inches by 1 inch can make a Cigar Box Guitar. Much smaller than that might make it a little tricky to play.

The last box that I ordered online turned out to be much smaller than I’d expected: I think I got my inches and cm muddled. I’ve been using it for storage, but I am tempted to make it into a Cigar Box Ukulele.

Cigar Box Ukuleles do not necessarily need to be 4 stringed, reentrant tuned and use synthetic strings. They can be smaller versions of cigar box guitars with 3 nickel strings and a coiled pickup if you like. Ukuleles are traditionally tuned to G C E A with the G tuned to the octave above the C, 1 tone below the top A. This makes it an interesting instrument to play.

A Cigar Box Ukulele needs to have a box large enough that you can hold comfortably to play. A traditional ukulele is held differently to guitar in that it is held between the body and the arm, rather than resting on the knee when played sitting down. Some players prefer to use a strap, particularly when playing standing up, to avoid arm strain.

I have seen Cigar Box Ukulele players rest the box on their knee to play, but they are using a longer scale.

If you make a Cigar Box Ukulele, you can have a longer scale length than a traditional uke which has a scale length of 13 – 19 inches, depending on whether it is a soprano, concert, tenor or baritone.

When I get my new shed up and have a woodworking space again, I will be trying to build a longer scaled ukulele with the small box I talked about earlier and I will post instructions on here along with making a YouTube video so you can hear it.

Can I Make A Cigar Box Guitar With A Larger Wooden Box?

Comfort is the thing to consider here. You can certainly make an instrument with a larger wooden box but it needs to be comfortable to play.

A box as big as 12 inches by 9 inches by 2.5 inches can be used for a Cigar Box Guitar. This could be a larger cigar box or a wooden wine presentation box or a hinged wooden art box.

In fact any wooden box of a suitable size that is not too heavy could be used. You won’t want to use one that has very thick walls nor one that is too bulky. You can also make your own box from thin wood.

A larger box can be comfortable to play as you won’t have the corners of the box digging into your leg as you play, but a box that is too deep can make it a bit awkward to use your strumming arm. You can always cut down a deep box if you have the necessary woodworking tools.

If you are cutting down a box, I suggest you draw an accurately measured line to cut on and cut slowly and accurately so that the lid will sit completely flat.

Many people like to use larger boxes to make bass instruments as the larger body makes for a fuller more resonant sound, but bass instruments don’t necessarily need to have a long scale length or very large box. It’s all about using heavy gauge strings so that they naturally play lower notes.

From the pictures in an earlier paragraph, illustrating the effect of box size on scale length, you can see that a larger box size may mean that you want to have a longer neck and a longer scale length too. However you can have a large box with a shorter scale length- it just means you will need to have fewer frets.

Is A Cardboard Cigar Box Suitable For Making A Cigar Box Guitar?

If you tap a wooden box and a cardboard box, you will notice that the sound from the wooden box continues for longer than the cardboard box. The wood, being a harder material is naturally more resonant.

It is possible to make an instrument from a cardboard box and if you intend to use a pickup, the sound might not be too bad, but I think if you are going to the trouble of making your own instrument, a cardboard box is a bit of a false economy. It won’t last as long as a wooden box and probably won’t sound as good either.

If you find that the cigar box you have bought unseen is in fact a cardboard box ( as some are), you could try spraying it with an aerosol varnish as this will stiffen up the cardboard and make it more resonant.

Can You Make A Cigar Box Guitar From A Tin?

Metal bodied Cigar Box Guitars have a resonance that is slightly different to wooden bodied instruments. They sound slightly more “twangy” and are a good choice for country, blues and banjo-style music.

Rectangular biscuit tins, round sweet tins and even old oil cans make great sounding instruments. ( Oil cans need to be thoroughly cleaned before you start cutting them. Fuel vapors are very flammable) Cutting the tin presents different problems than cutting wood. Ensure you make sharp edges safe.

I have made a fretless 3-stringed guitar from a rectangular tin and even though it’s fairly small tin ( 7.5 by 9.5 by 2 inches) it’s surprisingly loud, even acoustically. I’ve put a small piezo inside and it sounds even better amplified.