What Is The Difference Between A Cigar Box Guitar And A Standard Acoustic?

Cigar Box Guitars are handmade instruments whereas acoustic guitars are usually manufactured unless they are custom built and expensive . There are similarities between the two types of guitar but several differences. See the table below for an overview and the rest of the article for more detail.

Comparison Of The Body Of A Cigar Box Guitar And A Standard Acoustic

A Cigar box guitar has a body that is often, but not always a rectangular box shape. It can be a traditional cigar box, a wooden box or a tin. Hubcaps and number plates, even shovels can be used. There are no rules. The body doesn’t even have to be hollow since many choose to use an electric amplifier.

The box is often abut 10″ x 7″ x 1″ but there is a huge range of sizes that can be used. A 1-stringed cango can use a standard baked bean tin. A bass cigar box guitar can be as big a box as the player can comfortably play.

Whilst you can spend money on buying kits, it’s perfectly acceptable to use any box or tin you can find. Some would argue that this is what making these instruments is all about. Using things that are lying around to make a home made instrument is where these so called “poor man’s guitars” originated.

Instead of making your own, you can buy one, but it will still be handmade and one-of-a-kind. Don’t be tempted by imported cheap instruments that are not really cigar box guitars but machine-made lookalikes.

A standard acoustic guitar has a shaped body made of wood. It is hollow so can be played without amplification. There are standard shapes which tend to have rounded sides with no corners. They usually have a waist where the body gets narrower. They are not unique since these are machine-made instruments unless you buy directly from a luthier.

Comparing The Necks Of Cigar Box Guitars And Standard Acoustics

The neck of a cigar box guitar often passes all the way through the body. This is called a through neck. This means that the tension on the strings is less likely to pull the neck out of shape.

A neck is usually made from hardwood to prevent it warping. Some people, however, use a softwood such as pine. The neck might not last as long without warping or even breaking.

The use of softwoods which are often cheaper or unknown found pieces of wood that are free is very much in keeping with the ethos of building these home made instruments.

The neck of an acoustic guitar has a truss rod running through it. This is to prevent the neck from bending. This is particularly important with six strings. I know of some builders who make six-stringed cigar box guitars. They insert truss rods, typically made of carbon fibre.

A cigar box guitar will have a narrower neck than a standard acoustic since it has less strings. Please don’t be tempted to vertically cut an acoustic neck from an old guitar. The truss rod could damage your saw and you.

Both kinds of guitar can have a heel, in fact an acoustic guitar will always have one. This is an angled piece of wood where the neck joins the body.

The Fretboard Of A Cigar Box Guitar

Some cigar box guitars have no fret board and have frets inserted directly onto the neck. You have to be pretty confident that you will not ruin the carved neck by incorrectly placed frets. There are also fretless cbgs which may still have a separately glued on fret board.

Fretboards are usually made of hardwood. They are often a contrasting colour to the neck. You can choose different woods or use a stain.

Fret board markers are a useful way to navigate the fretboard. The standard position for fretboard markers on an acoustic guitar are on frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24. The 12th and 24th frets are usually marked with a double dot. This means that the octaves can easily be found.

On a cbg you can put the markers wherever you like. I would recommend at least fret 5, 7 and 12. These are vital frets to be able to find quickly for one finger barred chords.

It is useful if the fretboard markings are also marked on the neck. This means that you don’t need to look directly at the fretboard to know where you are. This will help you to have a good wrist position for fretting, which will help prevent an and fatigue.

Comparison Of The Strings Of A Cigar Box Guitar And A Standard Acoustic

A standard acoustic guitar has six metal strings.

Higher sounding strings are thinner than lower strings. The gauge of a string is it’s thickness.

Usually, a thicker string gives a warmer, louder sound. However, thicker strings are harder to fret and bend because they are also stiffer.

Thinner strings sound a bit thinner, sometimes a bit tinny ,but are also brighter and easier to play. As a beginner cbg player, you might prefer a slightly lighter gauged set of strings to start with.

Although acoustic guitars are often called steel stringed guitars, some of the strings are not steel-coloured. These steel strings are coated with bronze or brass, giving them a more golden colour.

Phosphor bronze strings give a more mellow sound. These give a more relaxed folk sound and work well on smaller bodied guitars. They work well with piezo pick ups and are a good idea for your first build.

Brass coated strings give a brighter sound than those coated in bronze. Brass strings are often labelled as 80/20 bronze which is a bit confusing. This means that the brass is 80% copper and 20% zinc.

Electric guitars often use nickel and steel strings. These can be the pure metal or coated. You can use them for a cbg with a single coil or humbucker ( double coil) pick up.

Comparison Of The Tuning Of A Cigar Box Guitar And A Standard Acoustic

I will cover this in more detail in another post. I just wanted to add a few words on deciding which strings you will choose for your cbg if you just buy a standard pack designed for a standard acoustic.

This is the tuning of a standard acoustic guitar: E, A, D, G, B, E (from the lowest note to the top).

For a standard G D G tuning on a cigar box guitar you can use the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings of a standard acoustic set. There are different options for a 4-stringed guitar, covered in another article.

You will need to tune the 5th or A string down to a G. The 4th or D string stays as a D. The 3rd or G string stays as a G. This is only a guide and there are many options available, depending on how you want the cbg to sound.

Looser strings are easier to play so you might choose to slacken these strings. This could mean playing the same strings tuned down as low as E B E. Unless you are playing with someone else, you can choose any tuning that makes a pleasing sound for the guitar. Just remember that for open tuning, fret the lower string at the seventh fret to get the pitch for the next string up. The top and bottom strings should be an octave apart.

Which Strings Should I choose For My First Build?

When choosing strings for your own build, there are so many to choose from. Nickel, steel, bronze or brass. You might even choose classical guitar strings which have a mix of nylon and wound metal.

In addition to the choice of material for the strings, there are the various gauges to choose from.

This post has more information about string choices.

I would suggest you experiment with different string types as they are a fairly cheap way of changing the sound of your guitar. If you find your fingers are getting sore when you play with nickel strings, you might want to consider trying wound strings.

Buying Cigar Box Guitar Strings From A Specialist Supplier

You can buy packs of 3 or 4 strings suitable for a cbg if you buy from a specialist supplier of cigar box guitar parts.

If the strings are sold with a number rather than a letter, this refers to the gauge. This is a measure of the thickness and is measured in thousands of an inch.  For example a ‘30’ gauge string is .030” (thirty thousands of an inch).

Nickel strings, like those used on electric guitars, are often sold numbered as .046, .032 and .030. These are sometimes labelled as 46, 32 and 30. This is considered a slightly heavier gauge set. A lighter set would be something like 42, 28 and 20. These strings are and are good for humbucker and single coil pick-ups.

Wound phosphor bronze are good for piezo pick-ups. These often have a “w” after the number and are labelled as .042w, .032w and .024w or similar.

For strumming, you might prefer an unwound high string, such as a set with .042″ wound, .030″ wound and .009″ plain steel. You can also buy sets with the top two strings being plain unwound strings.

Look carefully at the descriptions on the website you are buying from, order them and have fun as you experiment.

How The Attachment Of The Strings On A Cigar Box Guitar Is Different From That On A Standard Acoustic

The strings on an acoustic guitar are attached to the bridge at the bottom of the guitar. If the strings on a cigar box guitar are attached like this they would probably pull the saddle off the guitar body. The first instrument I made without a through neck was a tenor ukulele and even the nylon strings pulled off the bridge. I needed to add a reinforcing block under the box lid to secure the bridge. The force exerted by the string tension was too much without this extra block of wood.

Even if we could attach the saddle securely, the neck is likely to warp under the tension of metal strings.

So, on a cigar box guitar, the strings are often attached to a tail piece placed beyond the bridge. This can be made of metal or is the part of the through neck that extends beyond the box.

The through neck of the cigar box guitar gives extra stability. You can read my post here on why a cigar box guitar has a through neck.

The Uniqueness Of A Cigar Box Guitar

A Cigar Box Guitar is not a cheap- sounding copy of a more expensive “proper” guitar. They can sound amazing! Obviously your early builds will probably have a few faults, but you can still have a lot of fun playing.

Your instrument will be unique and you can modify or decorate it however you want.

A standard guitar will not be unique. You may be worried about damaging it., especially if it was expensive.

Amplifying A Cigar Box Guitar And A Standard Acoustic

Although a guitar is classed as acoustic, that doesn’t mean it can’t be amplified. Either during manufacture or after, a magnetic pickup or piezo can be installed. This converts the sound to an electrical signal for the amplifier. There are some that clip on and are removable.

A Cigar Box Guitar can have a piezo which picks up vibrations on the box lid. You would usually install a piezo inside the box under the saddle.

You usually find a single coil pick up or a humbucker (which is a double wound pick up) is mounted in the box lid, under the strings, near to where the fretboard ends.

Some builds use both piezo and coiled pickups. Often a switch is inserted to use either or both at once.

This post has more information on types of pick-up

A pre-amp can be installed in both types of guitar. This affects the volume and tone.

In Summary

A cigar box guitar has some similarities to a standard acoustic ( and some similarities to an electric guitar)

All guitars are fun to learn to play, but if you’ve never heard of or thought of a cigar box guitar, I’d really recommend it. Read all about how to get started in this article An Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Cigar Box Guitar