The photo shoot for this assignment took place over several months using different cameras to document the fabrication of this Cigar Box guitar.

Cigar box guitars have been around since the 1800s and were originally built using scraps. Cigar box guitars were used in jug bands alongside washboards, harmonicas and jugs, they were a primitive instrument for those living in poverty. There has been a modern revival in the art of making Cigar Box guitars and a quick Google search will reveal a number of sites dedicated to the craft.

This particular cigar box guitar is more of a cheater cigar box as it’s not a cigar box at all but a Craftsman router bit box. The neck, internal structure, electronics and hardware all came from an old Epiphone Les Paul. These features make it great to play with solid tune and long sustain with a tone somewhere between acoustic and electric. This pictorial gives a little insight into how such a instrument would be created.