Focusing On The Cigar Box

Here's how the cigar box should look when we're done with it. The fretboard should be able to fit snugly through the rectangular hole and rest under the lid while allowing the box to close. (Photo by Mark Feuerborn.)

Now that we have our strings and tuning pegs on their way, let's focus on taking care of preparing our cigar box for the fretboard.

The cigar box acts as the body to our guitar, wherein the resounding chamber is found. This hollow area of the guitar is what accounts for the volume of the guitar, and can be greatly affected by size and type of wood.

To make the cigar box into the body of the guitar, it needs a few holes. First, we'll need a hole saw and a coping saw, both available at your local hardware store. Once purchased, we will work towards making necessary holes to allow the fretboard to fit snugly inside of the cigar box. Using the coping saw, make a rectangular hole that matches the dimensions of the fretboard - 1 & 1/2 inches by 3/4 inches - so the fretboard can fit through on both sides of the cigar box. Do not compensate for the lid, as the indent cut that was made in the fretboard will allow it to snugly fit inside of the box. It's alright to make a cut that is slightly too large (1/32 of an inch room for error) if you are aiming to make a model that allows for the box to still be opened.

Next, we will utilize the hole saw to create our resounding chamber. This is a relatively simple task and the size of the hole for the resounding chamber is entirely up to the designer's preferences. The one rule is that the hole must not be placed in an area where the fretboard will exposed from the lid. Personally, I prefer to make as big a sound hole as possible without interfering with the fretboard. In my latest build, I am making two sound holes on opposing diagonal sides to see how it affects the sound the cigar box guitar will give. Some cigar box guitar makers even go as far as to create F-holes for their soundholes, though I have not tried this yet. Feel free to experiment on later builds.

The next post is an optional step that can be taken to make the cigar box guitar electric. If you are looking to make an entirely acoustic cigar box guitar, skip the next blog post.