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4 String Cigar Box Guitar~ 1875 Sailors Choice Tobacco ~ Slide Bottleneck Dobro

Estimated price for orientation: 1 185 $

Category: Electric Guitars
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Description
Brand: Red Dog 4 string Guitar Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
MPN: Handmade & Homemade Cigar Box Guitar UPC: Does not apply


They all love it and so will you. Red Dog Guitars has been the Sailor's first choice at sea for over a 150 years. If you played this guitar for just 5 minuets you'd know why too!Who say's you have to only play old time Blues on a cigar box guitar? The best thing about these guitars is you can create sounds and styles from many difffenert eras, Have a listen to this vintage 60's kind of music played on a 4 string cigar box guitar ( Vox amp not encoded in sale -guitar only)This homemade 4 string cigar box guitar will provide that old time authentic Delta Blues Bottleneck sound like no other vintage guitar can. Super easy to get that vintage tone you've always wanted in your slide & blues guitar playing.I don't like to make big claims, it's either for you or not, all my guitars sound and play the same as I make all my guitars the same way. The recipe I use to capture that old time Blues sound works for me so I do everything the same. I make the pickups the same, the action and scale length, everything is the same in all my guitars, only the appearances and artwork look different, but all my guitars are really the same inside and out.     All hand drawn art and etched into the metal pickup, everything handmade and homemade. This Sailors Choice guitar is made to look old, but it's satin smooth and as soft as silk to touch, many hours of work is put into the 1950's style lacquer paint job. Super easy to get that vintage tone you've always wanted in your playing. If you want to play Delta Blues or slide guitar, I like to set my guitars up for killer slide. Go from gritty blues to clear country and everything in between. This is an all handmade and homemade cigar box guitar. This is a 4 string guitar that has all custom made metal work, pickup art with vintage lettering, and all handmade. I have been here for years and plan to be for the remainder of my life. Not to sound all "heavy duty" but it's the Lord's plan for me, I am sure of it!....in fact I have an unshakable conviction that I believe God wants me to make theses guitars because of the amount of happiness they bring to others, both through the actual guitar itself, but also through the music and even the photos...so many times people have emailed me and said that just the site of seeing some of the photos on my webpages has helped them find a new direction in life, either coping with serious illness, or some type of trauma, sadness or depression, I have heard all kinds of great stories of true life and health turn arounds, just by sharing a simple homemade guitar with them. From disabled Veterans to retired people looking for a new direction in life, when they see or hear one of these guitars, it really helps them open a new chapter....so it really is why I am here, not here selling ...but here on Earth!  If you have any questions, email me or better yet pickup the phone and call me! John 1-775-440-1127  

Shipping ANYWHERE in the World $55 - Because of the investment in time I put into my work, I will insure and ship the guitar to you and in return you can meet me at a pre set and fair price of Fifty Five dollars. No matter where you live....From any Hometown USA to The ARTIC CIRCLE or even as far away as The DEEP CONGO, it's the same $55 US dollars. Mailed Airmail and insured 7 to 12 days.You have a house? I will get it there for $55 even Steven, Anywhere in the world, Yes that means ANYWHERE on Planet Earth for just $55  
The pickup is hand drawn art by me and was many hours of work alone,

This "Sailors Choice" art is all original art hand done and handmade for just this guitar.


This guitar is American Folk history. This guitar is a recreation of the guitars used at the turn of the century by bluesmen in the Southern Delta. This guitar is completely hand made, but don’t let its simplicity fool you, It took me several hundred hours to transform an old used cigar box into a guitar that will easily outplay any Martin or Taylor in that raw down home Blues. Muddy Waters defiantly never played a Martin and owning a Resonator guitar was all but a dream, however Muddy Waters did play a cigar box guitar growing up on those banks of the Mississippi River. This guitar is the roots of blues history, and I've built it to be the epitome of a Vintage Classic yet this guitar will have a legacy for the next several hundred years. It will still daze and be as captivating then, as it does today. ...If it's not for you, no worries, just enjoy the photos.      If you looking for a super fun to play guitar and just can't seem to find the sounds of vintage American folk music on your store bought or factory made guitar, this guitar is both easy to play and sounds super great! My only sales pitch is to ask you this....If you're totally and completely bored with playing a regular guitar or tired of the continued invasion of Chinese made products and just can't seem to have fun making music then what you need is to go back to the roots of how American music was made. With a cigar box guitar it will take you back to the lost early days of blues music. On the plantations and in the fields this guitar is nostalgic of an era long gone, these simple, yet elegantly crafted instruments bring to life music once played in the deep south by legendary Bluesmen such as Muddy Waters, Lightin' Hopkin's, Buddy Guy, Hound Dog Taylor, and Big Bill Broonzy, and That ain't but a few!  
  Would you like to learn more about the history of the cigar box guitar?     What is a cigar box guitar?In the South it's common to hear stories that Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and all those other old-time Blues guys started playing guitar on a cigar box guitar. Not many people who follow Blues and Country music know this, but many famous Blues and Country singers started their career on a simple homemade cigar box guitar. One reason most Blues and Country music has such a distinctive sound is because it was derived off of music made on these simple instruments.  The precursor to the cigar box guitar as an instrument was the diddly-bow. It was a one stringed instrument where the player would take a glass bottle neck and run it up and down a string while plucking the opposite end of the string to achieve the tone they where after.These basic "guitars" did not have frets and this crude form of guitar playing is what evolved into the form of slide guitar were familiar with today. That is what is thought to be the creation of Delta Blues and slide guitar in the "Southern Delta."Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters to Elmore James, they were all influenced in some way by these early homemade instruments.  Many of them following along in their career as slide guitar players.  That's where the blues and slide guitar truly started at. On those plantations and cotton fields, homemade guitars and 'field hollerin' went hand in hand. Blues players didn't play Gibsons or Martins, they couldn't afford them. If you grew up in poverty and wanted to play guitar, you had to build a guitar yourself.It's well known Lightnin' Hopkins got his start on the cigar box guitar. If you would like to hear Lightnin' himself talk about his homemade guitar, watch this short video. Better than me typing it out, listen to the man himself telling you some of the history about this wonderful type of guitar.  
If this video does not load, enter this link in your browser or click (  ) 
 
 This excerpt is taken from documentary about the life and times Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins (1912-1982) Copyright / Fast Cut Films, in association with Sunset Productions. I have presented it here for educational and commentary purposes only in relation to the brief discussion about of the history of the cigar box guitar. (Copyright Law 107-Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use section; 40) All Copyrights for this material are the property of their respective owners.
  This story about what would make a poor person use a cigar box for a guitar in the first place began in the mid 1800's. The Cigar boxes that we are familiar with today didn't exist prior to the 1840's. Prior to then, cigars were shipped in larger crates containing 100 or more per case.  But after 1842, due to exploration of the West, cigar manufacturers started using smaller, more portable boxes with only 20-50 cigars per box. In the Old West and through out the late 1800's cigars were extremely popular. Card games, Saloons and of coarse those great Mississippi Paddle boats helped spread tobacco throughout early America and because of the widespread popularity of smoking in those days, many empty boxes would be just laying around. 
 Unlike times are today, the 1800's were a simpler time for Americans, when necessity was truly the mother of invention. Being that most American music was based off of stringed instruments, using a cigar box to create a guitar, fiddle, or a banjo was an obvious choice for a few crafty souls. The earliest proof of a instrument made from a cigar box that has been found is an etching of a Civil War solider at the "Siege of Charleston." c.1865  Even during the War, there was a passion for music in America as it was of great relief from the stress of war. After The Civil War, America was in ruins. Little money was had to buy instruments. One thing for sure about American resilience is that ingenuity was abound. After the War both Union and Confederate Soldiers along with now freed Slaves carried this creative homemade guitar back with them to almost every corner of America. People used left over wood, cigar boxes, biscuit tin cans, string, broom handles, baling and screen wire and whatever else was lying around the house, shed or barn to create these crude homemade instruments. Making a "home-made" guitar was the only choice for the impoverished.   Those humble beginnings of the cigar box guitar are what eventually gave this little known guitar a home in music history. This tradition of making and playing a homemade guitar continued from the 1880's for many decades up until the 1950's.....but it never stopped there, many small magazine articles from the 60's, 70's and 80's keep this art form alive.  Even though this form of guitar has faded into obscurity, some Blues and Rock musicians still enjoy playing them today.Here is a wonderful example of one being played today, it really does take you back in time, Watch this video of Billy Gibbons of ZZ-Top playing a homemade cigar box guitar. You will enjoy this song, have a listen,
This sound recording of Ry Cooder's song "Billy The Kid" is performed by Billy Gibbons of ZZ-Top and is an excerpt from a Mark Maron interview. I have presented it here for educational and commentary purposes only in relation to the brief discussion about of the history of the cigar box guitar as a long forgotten instrument in American history. (Copyright Law 107-Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use section; 40) All Copyrights for this material are the property of their respective owners.

 Today's modern and Chinese made guitars can't even come close to the true primitive sound these homemade guitars make. Cigar Box Guitars can be channeled into a creativity that many musicians desire for in playing with more authentic sound. Blues guitarist in particular, really enjoy playing cigar box guitars in the search of hearing "Delta Blues" in its purest form. Today you can still find guitar players who are looking for that raw and authentic sound and they chose to play cigar box guitars.
 If you have time, come check my guitars out, they are my passion to build and play. I enjoy seeing other people play them and seeing the joy they create in peoples lives.  Goggle "Red Dog Guitars" to see more of my work.
  
 If you are interested in the hobby of Cigar Box Guitars. I have 4 different disc available on the subject.Here is the list,1. Understanding 3 string Guitar - How To play lessons DVD2. How To Build - 3 & 4 String Cigar Box Guitars DVD3. Dust Bowl Blues - 3 string Cigar Box Guitar Music CD4. Cigar Box Americana - 3 & 4 string Cigar Box Guitar Music CDThe 3 string Lessons DVD is called "Understanding 3 string guitar." It covers all the playing styles heard in Blues guitar playing, both slide and finger style to help you get that old time vintage sound. Even if you've never played guitar before, it's never to late to learn how to play cigar box guitar, even if you are 70! Slide guitar is basically just one finger guitar. You can learn to play theses guitars, It is not hard at all.The How to Build DVD covers in-depth how to build 3 & 4 string cigar box guitars. These guitars are just as much fun to build as they are to play. Anyone can build a great guitar, even on you first time if you have correct instruction and explanation, you only need a few common hand tool that most people already have.I also have 2 different Cigar Box Guitar music CD's, The best way to learn how to play great cigar box guitar, is to listen to cigar box guitar music.One is called "Dust Bowl Blues." This is an all Delta Blues an all cigar box guitar CD recorded mostly with 3 sting cigar box guitar, it's all cigar box guitar and Blues music.The other music CD is called "Cigar Box Americana." This is old time Delta Blues and Southern Bottleneck cigar box guitar that has been recorded on both 3 & 4 string cigar box guitars and also using vintage amps and Retro Radios turned into amplifiers.All of the music and videos I have recorded are only on the topic of Cigar Box Guitar, no regular guitars are used. Email me if you have any questions, John