This week I've been hard at work building a cigar box guitar. I'm a lucky chap to be able to waste so much time on such things. It plays well, has quite a nice tone and holds its tuning.
There's loads of good advice on building them online, especially at cigarboxguitars.com. I got the idea from Make magazine initially, and then found out that- of course- there's a load of people making them, from the most basic up to the Stratocaster-with-a-cigar-box-stuck-to-it level. My fave builder is Chickenbone John.
I was worried about fretting it for fear I'd get the intonation wrong, but I think I'm going to go for it, because I want the sustain that frets give. I had a load of friendly help from the guys at Deimel guitars in Schöneberg, who have made axes for no less than Sonic Youth.
I've got lots of instruments already, but building a simple guitar was a wonderful thing: It's all your creation, from the look to the sound, and you feel that you have to work with what you've made. You can have the limitless capabilities of Max/MSP, but there is also power in having a limited palette.
I was worried about fretting it for fear I'd get the intonation wrong, but I think I'm going to go for it, because I want the sustain that frets give. I had a load of friendly help from the guys at Deimel guitars in Schöneberg, who have made axes for no less than Sonic Youth.
I've got lots of instruments already, but building a simple guitar was a wonderful thing: It's all your creation, from the look to the sound, and you feel that you have to work with what you've made. You can have the limitless capabilities of Max/MSP, but there is also power in having a limited palette.
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