Cigar Box: How to Build a Smokin' Cigar Box Guitar for Around $25, Part 5

We are finally going to finish our cigar box guitar.

The photo gallery below shows the final steps in making a fretboard, gluing it up and making a nut, bridge and saddle.

Now that you've finished your axe, do you want to show it off? Feel free to post photos on our wall at our Facebook page.

There are also some other cool sites for us CBGers. The one I use the most is cigarboxnation.com. It's free to join, and it's a great place for more information on building CBG and other musical instruments. You'll also find info on events, lessons and networking groups you can join.

So we have built a CBG. You probably want to learn how to play it, huh?

Here's Shane Speal. You might recognize him from our first article. Not only is Shane a CBG musician, but he's an excellent builder and teacher.

Below is a clip of Shane showing you the secret of the stubby slide. Although he is using a small glass slide, his main stubby slide is actually a 3/4-inch socket from a hardware store. They're cheap and have lots of mass (providing extra sustain), and the square fitting for the ratchet is perfect to jam your ring finger into.

He also has several helpful lessons and licks, so check out his YouTube channel. For more info on Shane Speal, visit shanespeal.com.

Here is Mike Snowden. We featured Mike in part 2 of our series. He is a master craftsman and one-man-band -- and yes, he has some great lessons to offer, from rock to blues. He even has a lesson on tuning your CBG on YouTube and on his website, snowdenguitars.com.

Here's Mike with a blues slide CBG lesson:

Secret Devil Tuning is a one-man-band who makes self-inflected punk-blues loud, dangerous, primal and pure, from Best (West) Virginia with love. It is a learning process. The main goal is to make as much racket with one person as others with a full band. All instruments are cobbled together, as is the music that comes out of them.

Check him out taking our secret guitar for a test-drive and playing a Karma To Burn cover, "10":

For more info on Secret Devil Tuning, check out his Facebook page.

I'd like to thank Shane Speal, Hollowbelly, Mike Snowden, Ben Prestage, Chris Fillmore, Elmar Zeilhofer, Reed Turchi, Secret Devil Tuning, Hawthorne Heights, the folks at CB Gitty and the folks at Guitar World for being a part of this. I would also like to thank my wife for putting up with my CBG addiction.

Our next project: A Beer Can Mic. Details soon ...Keep on playing!Brian Saner owns Saner Cigar Box Guitars, which makes custom handmade guitars and amps using local dry-aged wood in every guitar. These guitars are handmade and might have imperfections, but that's what makes them unique. Once you hear the howl of a CBG, you might not want to play a Fender or Gibson again. Get one at sanercigarboxguitars.com, devildownrecords.com/guitars and Main Street Gallery. Check out his Facebook page.

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