Cigar Box Instruments

Cigar Box Instruments
Originally these were homemade instruments, where at their simplest, a neck of some description was added to a small wooden box, a taut string was attached to the top of the neck and to the base of the wooden box crossing some kind of thin floating bridge near the base end. The note the instrument produces can then be varied by holding the string down at different points on the neck and this kind of instrument is known as a Diddly Bo.

Starting from this degree of simplicity enhancements and improvements can be made, depending of the skill of the person making it. More strings, better necks, better bridges, some method for changing the strings tension so tuning it, bracing and sound holes, even pickups and electrics, leading to these home made instruments being able to emulate pretty much any type of wooden chordophone you want; Guitars, Mandolins, Violins and of course Ukuleles of all scales.

When this type of instrument was first made in the US, the commonly available, and pretty ideal in its thickness of wood and size, was the box that cigars came, (and good ones still do come), in, hence the "Cigar Box" in the title. Of course it doesn't have to be a cigar box though, any smallish thin wooden box will do, though cigar boxes are a pretty ideal size for a Ukulele body and the labels on the cigar boxes add a certain level of decoration to the finished article that certainly these days adds to the attraction.

The simplicity and make it yourself nature of the instruments has been the starting point for many a luthier, with some specialising in only making cigar box instruments and others, though they have gone on to make fully crafted traditional chordophones, still making the occasional cigar box instrument for fun.

The popularity of this instrument is such that there are a number of commercial instrument manufacturers who include a version this kind of instrument in their catalogue, with the construction of the box being part of the manufacturing process and no tobacco ever having been stored in them. You can also buy Kit Ukuleles that have a box rather than a more traditional body.