Four-string Custom Box Guitar

After I’d started down the cigar box guitar-building path a couple of mates and I were talking about how cool it would be to create a swampy back porch blues set.  And given one of them was approaching a “special” birthday I decided I would add a third model to the mix as a birthday present for him. Bass player with a stomp box or single kick drum to tap away at, a violin and a cigar box guitar sounded like a nice setup – all I needed to do was build stuff!

Background
As detailed in the three-string cigar box guitar post, making a custom body shape was the key point of difference. Aaron wanted a Les Paul like look that did make it a little challenging given that it is quite a wide body and the pine plank I use for the “frame” didn’t allow for a large version. Still, how it has ended up looks proportionally okay. I also decided to go with a four-string model partly because I the second home made pickup I made wasn’t working (!) and I had a spare P-Bass four-pole pickup at hand, and partly because it was nice to try something different.

Construction
Again, refer to the three-string cigar box guitar post for details. The only thing that’s really any different with this one is the nut construction. While it works well it doesn’t allow for a quick change of nuts to adjust the action as the others do.

Performance
This one sounds really good! I do like the way the four string version sounds and will probably end up building one for myself. It’s not quite as raw and there are a lot more fretting options (a la Keith Richards).

What’s Next
Again, I’d like to add a ribbon piezo under the threaded rod to see how that sounds.

The Rest Of The Family
Three-string cigar box guitar
Two-string bass cigar box guitar