Because we sell anything and everything, we often get ads for the interesting, the unusual and the extremely specialized. One of the best parts of working here is that we learn so much about so many different things. Here’s where we feature an ad that made us sit up and take notice.
Sure, the ad said “no frets”, but fret we did when we got two ads for cigar box guitars. We had no idea that such a thing existed, and – lo! – here were two of them up for sale:
1-STRING CIGAR BOX GUITAR Didley Bow, $60. +(HAWLEY) 570-226-0587
3-STRING CIGAR BOX GUITAR no frets, $110. +(HAWLEY) 570-226-0587
Unsure if there were simply a collectible oddity or a legitimate instrument, we did a little research and our curiosity became rather, well, high-strung by what we found. We were impressed by the craftsmanship involved in many of these guitars and were floored to discover that cigar box guitars have been played by the likes of Paul McCartney, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and even Charlie Brown (in some early 1950’s comic strips).
With a history that predates the Civil War, cigar box guitars have played a pretty heavy role in the development of jug band music and blues. And there are, apparently, cigar box fiddles & cigar box banjos as well; we’re hoping that one or two of those might show up in our pages. With this gig? You never know!