NO TWO PEOPLE ARE ALIKE. . .
B.B. King, Bo Diddly, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin' Hopkins: Not only do you recognize the sound of their voices, but you know the sound of their instruments.
Here's just a few examples of the many unique instruments I've built for unique people, like you!
THE BEALE STREET BROOMSTICK
A three-stringed acoustic-electric diddly bow
This was the first of many three-stringed diddly bows. With an old broom handle, and hand-made bottle cap pickup, a few tuners, and a lot of Mississippi Mojo, this guitar started a wave of entry level cigar box guitar builds. Along with my iconic Mississippi Mop Handle, it's the perfect instrument on which to learn southern style slide blues.
SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK
Six-stringed electric guitar
With wire from an old pair of hair clippers, a few screws, and magnets, this was the first hand-wound pickup I built. I was thrilled by the tone and had to find a suitable home for it. So, I mounted it in my old first grade supply box (a King Edward cigar box), and created a six-stringed electric guitar, complete with push-pull tone and volume control.
THE PROHIBITION EDITION
A concert scale ukulele
Take a 1932 Mississippi license plate, a Spanish cedar cigar box, a mahogany scarf-jointed neck, ukulele strings, and what do you have? . . The perfect place to hide something from "the revenuers"! This custom ukulele has beautiful tone, as unique as the instrument is. I'd love to build the perfect ukulele for you!
BARNWOOD MOJO
Fretless Four-string
It's not just how an instrument is built that gives it character, but what it's built with that matters most! What better to do with a piece of 100+ year old Meridian, Mississippi heart pine barnwood than build a simple fretless slide cigar box guitar? A piezo disk pickup insured that this barnyard boogie could growl!
JAVA ELECTRIC
Three-string Fretted Electric
Take a hand-wound single coil pickup, a maple neck, and radio knobs from a '66 Mustang, put them together and you get one rockin' ride through any amplifier. But, the acoustic qualities of the box make it fun to play unplugged too, for some deep roots sounds!
CIGAR BOX AMPS
Plugged or Unplugged?
The choice is yours! Each of my cigar box amps is powered by a 9 volt battery, so it can go anywhere you go. Great for busking on Beale Street or impromptu jams with friend, they are the perfect compliment to your cigar box instrument. Choose either 2.5 watts or a little more juice with 3. Each amp can serve as a preamp with adjustable overdrive to make your mainstay growl some muddy blues!
What do you dream of playing? I'd love to begin building it for you today!