Poor Man's GuitaR

This is The Bull Guitar, the first of its kind to be handmade by Martin Huff of Bledsoe, Kentucky (Harlan County).  The body of the instrument is made from old interior wood paneling and the horns serve as secondary sound…

This weird ukulele has been a pain in my butt for months, but it's finally FINISHED!  When CBGitty.com sent me their new Tenorlele Kit several months ago, I had all kinds of ideas for giving it cool sunburst finishes, Hawaiian…

Have you ever bought a guitar slide and had intentions of ripping new leads with it, only to discover when you get home that it’s damn near impossible to use? 

I’ve been there, too. 

Playing slide guitar takes a little…

CigarBoxNation.com member, Doug Thorsvik just posted this link to a massive 300 song cigar box guitar songbook.  The free PDF download is set up in EZ format, allowing you to play every song with just one finger!  And the selection…

Wanna be in one of my videos?  The folks at CBGitty have asked me to create a weekly video feature called "What's the Deal With Speal."  I'll be giving cool instrument ideas, maybe a lesson or two and showing off some historic cigar box guitars.  

I want you to be in the introduction!  

It's finally here!!!   Cigar Box Blues is a 30 minute documentary first shown on the BBC back in 2019.  I've been anxiously awaiting for this powerful BBC documentary on the UK cigar box guitar scene to be released to the…

Latest musical instrument added to the Cigar Box Guitar Museum collection.  

When someone mentions folk art instruments, a screaming electric lap steel guitar made with old guitar parts on a six pound slab of mahogany might not be the first…

All 70 issues of Experimental Musical Instruments Magazine are free to download!

You have no idea how excited I am for you right now...

When I came home from the hospital several weeks ago, I couldn't do anything except sit…

In the past week, literally thousands of you have held me up in prayer as I struggled in a hospital ICU with COVID.  

I felt every single prayer.

I am home now in what i consider a miracle.  Staff was…

Is this the greatest blues lyric ever?This past Sunday, my son Brennen and I were doing body work on his 1962 Corvair and I had a blues radio channel blasting the entire time.  The station kept dipping into some…

The following article is excerpted from David Sutton's book, An Obsession with Cigar Box Guitars: Over 120 Hand-Built Guitars from the Masters - 2nd Edition. (2019, CompanionHouse Books.) 

SHOP NOW:  We have autographed copies from the author for sale…

Hi all!

There's a "new improved" video up, "Boo-Gah-Dee-Ah."  I'm starting to go through the hundreds of lessons I've posted on YouTube over the last decade and update some of the videos.  In this one, I explore a really cool…

Let's get trippy!

This is probably gonna go down as one of my best slide videos ever... because it's so easy and cool!  Shane's DIY Sitar Slide Secret was just released on Youtube today and I can't wait for you to see it.  

Hi all!

Between guitar building and filming free Youtube lessons (scroll down for the latest), I haven't had the time to go to the barber.  I'm starting to get the mop-head look like the King Buzzo from The Melvins...   (Maybe…

The Youtube videos keep rollin... this time with an AC/DC classic:

You won't believe how EASY this song is to play on 3-string slide cigar box guitar.  Follow along with the TAB and split screen shots showing both hands.  

Shane…

Did Shane Speal promise to teach you Dick Dale's "Misirlou?"  Yeah he did!  Did he deliver?  Yeah he did!!!
 

I needed to give the shredders something to play after the last two beginner's lessons.  Practice this one a lot (the…

Hi all!

I'm churning out new lessons for you as fast as I can.  Two new ones were just released this week.  How to Play the Chords to Your Favorite Songs on Cigar Box Guitar and part 2 of the…

I just dropped a new video this afternoon, and it features a cool new cigar box guitar tuning:  

The Arkansas Tuning is basically the 4 low notes on a conventional guitar... but wow! ... it totally allows you to play…

I just brought a cool video back from the archives where I explore a strange double-neck cigar box guitar that was plucked from the New Orleans ruins of Katrina.  

Hi all!

Last night, I turned my camera on during a songwriting session in my music room to give you a glimpse at the song I'm working on.  Wesseh's oil can guitar was my instrument of choice and the music is a gospel song written by my Grandfather and his great uncle!