"Pure and Simple" 3-string Cigar Box Guitar: Flying Bridge Model #1

The vision behind this cigar box guitar was to build a great-sounding, fun-to-play instrument that we could sell at a crazy low price. To do that, we went with a "stick on box" method of neck mounting, a straight headstock, and a single sound-hole. What sets this instrument apart though is the innovative "flying bridge", which transfers the string vibrations around the neck and down to the box lid, which in our (fairly crude) testing almost doubled the volume! The result is a great-sounding, fun-to-play and highly affordable cigar box guitar that we are proud to offer under the C. B. Gitty brand name!

Built in C. B. Gitty's workshop, located in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire, USA, these are great cigar box instruments - if you have been looking for a great-sounding, well-made cigar box guitar that you can tune up and start playing right out of the box, then look no further!

Check out the great features and specifications of these guitars below. Please note that these are handmade instruments, and that the appearance of individual instruments may vary somewhat due to differences in wood grains, etc. There may also be minor differences in hardware, but overall these are identical cigar box guitars. The instrument shown in the photographs is representative of this model and is not the exact guitar you will receive.

Features

• Beautiful Paper-covered Arturo Fuente "Chateau Fuente" Cigar Box
• Open-gear Tuners with pearloid buttons
• Beautiful oiled American White Ash neck
• Hand-marked fret markers
• Shiny brass sound hole insert
• Threaded nut
• Hard Maple "Flying Bridge" designed by C. B. Gitty
• Black string ferrules

Specifications

• Scale Length 25"
• Overall Length 36"
• Box Size 9 1/2W x 9 3/4" H x 1 3/8" D
• Number of Strings 3
• Intended Tuning G D G
• Fretted No
• Neck Wood White Ash
• Pickup Style None

Be sure to see our selection of guitar slides, strings and tuners for more great gear to go along with your guitar!

*** WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING ONE OF OUR CIGAR BOX GUITARS ***

A cigar box guitar is a rude, often crude, gritty home-made instrument, and there aren't really any rules when it comes to making them. They are about as far as you can get from the glossy, soul-less factory-made instruments hanging on the walls of most music stores today. The CBGs we sell are meant to invoke the sorts of instruments that the founding fathers of blues would have built from stuff they had laying around - an old empty cigar box for the body, a piece of scrap lumber for the neck, scrap pieces of woods, lengths of bolt, old keys, etc for the nut and bridge, miscellaneous hardware such as a hinge half for the tailpiece.

Every instrument that bears the C. B. Gitty name is built to a minimum standard of quality and playability, but you need to know that cigar box guitars are for the most part primitive and primal instruments that bear little resemblance to the shiny mass-produced things you see hanging on the wall of a guitar store. Each one is a unique, hand-made creation, as much instrument as art. They may have some rough edges, some nicks and scuffs, some "interesting" intonations, high actions, a bit of twang or sitar-buzz on certain strings, etc. That is part of what the CBG is all about. There are builders out there who turn out high-end professional-grade cigar box instruments, and charge hundreds of dollars for them, and that is fine. You just need to know that these instruments are built with a different purpose in mind. If all of that sounds good to you, then great! If it makes your blood pressure shoot up and causes you to start muttering about "real" instruments and the finely honed traditions of luthiery... then you probably shouldn't buy one of these!