Cigar Box Guitars are a great instrument for people who've not played a guitar before, they are simple to learn and heaps of fun. If you're new to the world of guitar playing the information here is essential reading.
The parts of your guitar
- The body - The cigar box is the body of your guitar, the part that you hold in your lap and that houses the mic or pickup and any wiring associated with them. If it is an acoustic instrument or if it has a piezzo mic in it, then it will also have a significant effect on the sound. If your guitar has an electro-magnetic pickup it will have less an effect, if any.
- The bridge - The body of your guitar also supports the bridge. Many cigar box guitars use a bolt for a bridge, my McTrustry uses an old key. The bridge supports the strings and, along with the nut, defines the length of the vibrating section of the open string, and therefore its pitch.
- The neck - Traditionally the neck on a cigar box guitar was simply a piece of wood attached to the box, these days some will add frets but they are not necessary if you want to play slide. You will want some kind of markings on the neck to help you locate the notes you're after. Many cigar box guitars will mimic the dots on most guitars which are on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12 frets. My McTrustry also marks the position of the 10th fret (and for very good reason). Your starter pack will tell you which notes you'll play at these positions.
- The nut - at the top end of the neck the nut defines the other end of the vibrating section of the open string. ehind the nut the string connects to the tuning keys.
- The tuning keys - sometimes called tuning pegs are used to tune your guitar, as you wind them tighter the pitch increases, and conversely the pitch gets lower as the tension on the string is reduced. Hopefully your neck is made of hardwood and will stand a good deal of tension, the keys too have to be able to maintain this force so don't wind them too hard, you'll feel when the key starts to resist too much.