Musician Speal shares his decades of experience in building, playing, and customizing classic DIY instruments in this delightful guide. It was hearing Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House” that caused him to abandon his beloved thrash metal and punk, and go down a bluesy rabbit hole, eventually leading to cigar box guitars. Readers will learn not only how to assemble and play the basic three-string model, but how to customize it, whether by making sound holes using furnace grates, adding text to the neck with a woodburning tool, or installing an electrical pickup. Ideas for further customization, such as using a paint-can lid for an even more distinct tone, are also detailed, as are descriptions of additional DIY stringed instruments like a one-stringed violin, electric stand-up washtub bass, and even a microphone made out of a beer can, all accompanied by clear instructions, shopping lists, and plenty of helpful photos. Speal makes no pretense of having discovered the cigar box guitar all by himself, citing numerous articles and anecdotes that testify to the instrument’s well-established place in American music history. His passion for and obvious love of his instrument of choice shines through in this terrific study.
—Publishers Weekly
With the stunning imagery, great stories, and Speal’s accompanying YouTube videos, falling in love with cigar box guitars isn’t hard to do.
—TheManual.com
With each story, readers will discover the magic of the DIY music movement.
–Bass Musician Magazine
The bible of cigar box guitar making.
–Michael Copado, CigarBoxNation.com
This is one of the best books I’ve seen on cigar box guitars yet.
–Rickey Ganey, CrocBite Guitars
Thanks for all the lessons, building tips, and general awesomeness!
–LOCHS Handmade Cigar Box Guitars
The book is mind blowing.
–Jim Burt, Handmade Music Clubhouse
Shane Speal, an avid cigar smoker, guitar player, woodworker, and author, is not only building some of the best cigar box guitars, he’s also serving-up a lesson in American history.
–Cigar Advisor Magazine
Anyone interested in folk music and old time music should pick up this book! It’s crazy fun!
–Catherine Hankins, Cleveland Public Library, Brooklyn Branch
This delightful book by Blues musician Shane Speal not only contains detailed instructions for how to make your own cigar box guitar, but wonderful stories about the Blues musicians that Speal has played with during his career and their handmade instruments. Speal carefully explains the why and how these instruments work, in spite of being made of inexpensive, common materials. Want to make an electric instrument? Speal also includes a section on electric guitars. The book has many crisp, clear photographs to guide interested crafters. A must-buy for public libraries that host MakerSpaces.
–Deb Jung, Librarian, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Making Poor Man’s Guitars presents authentic stories of American DIY music including step-by-step projects that showcase antique instruments and how anybody can build amazing musical instruments using locally found and inexpensive items.
–Acoustic Guitar Review
Making Poor Man’s Guitars is part do-it-yourself guide, part cultural history (there are chapters devoted to specific instruments and how to re-create them), part coffee table picture book and part social manifesto.
—Arkansas Democrat Gazette
From the Back Cover
INSTRUMENTAL AMERICANA
Not all legends are written in books. Sometimes they’re written inside the instruments that people make. Making Poor Man’s Guitars digs deep into the past to find the music that connects with the living soul of America. Shane Speal, the “King of the Cigar Box Guitar” and creator of the modern cigar box guitar movement, brings the making of music and musical instruments back to its roots. This book presents the authentic stories of American DIY music with step-by-step projects and interviews with music legends. From a simple two-string tin can guitar to an electrified washtub bass, Shane shows how anyone can build amazing musical instruments from found items. Sidebars present the fascinating backstory of the music, capturing struggle, poverty, and the blues within the artistic side of cigar box guitar building.
“Shane Speal… the acknowledged leader of the CBG movement.”
—Premier Guitar Magazine
- How to make your own cigar box guitars . . . and why!
- Step-by-step projects for building amazing handmade musical instruments.
- First-hand accounts that tell the poverty-stricken backstory of DIY music.
- Fascinating photographs from the golden age of blues and jazz.
“Speal has undoubtedly popularized the cigar box guitar perhaps beyond his wildest dreams.”
——GUITARNOISE.COM
“Not only did Shane shift my views on the cigar box guitar, and the genre of music he is pioneering, but I felt like I just unearthed the Holy Grail—forever changing my views on a genre of music that has the roots of simplicity and soul that lay within each of us.”
—GLENNWATT.COM
About the Author
Shane Speal is a musician, historian, and instrument builder, self-proclaimed as the “King of the Cigar Box Guitar,” and recognized as the creator of the modern cigar box guitar movement. He is the creator of CigarBoxNation.com, a network and history site for cigar box guitars. Shane has recorded more than 10 self-released cigar box guitar albums, and publishes Uncle Enos zine, dedicated to cigar box guitars and other primal poverty art/music.
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