Cigar Box Guitars

A Leather Rose box with a "Fat Bottom Betty" pickup cover hiding a ghosted MGB flat humbucker. This three-string has dulcimer fretting on a graceful MGB neck. Gold hardware with a hardtail bridge. With the dulcimer fretting on the specific scale this is very light and easy to play!

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

The Hoya Black Box is a 22-fret electric with an MGB mini pickup, chrome wingtip tuners, a hand carved laminated oak, purple heart, maple and cedar headstock. The sapele fretboard has oak fret markers and pearloid markers after the twelfth.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

Large dark green Cocodrillo box with a spalted maple neck, laminated maple and cedar headstock, MGB "Make it Holla" pickup, and black hardware. Long and lean. This MGB pickup has beautiful clean tones and scorching distortion, take your pick. 

Gold, gold everywhere, even the frets! The fretboard is a vintage business yardstick from Blackwell, Oklahoma, the sound comes from an MGB "Screamin' Pickup.' The neck is spalted maple, and the headstock is laminated with cedar and mahogany. The southpaw guitars sell quickly!

A shiny black Camacho box with the famous scorpion logo, and pearl knobs and tuner heads make this a sharp looking guitar. The single pole pickup ensures it can play as sharp as it looks. The headstock is laminated oak and purple heart wood, and the body has a pickguard piece to protect the finish.

This layered Partahas box has a gold hot rail pickup, gold roller top-loading hardtail bridge, gold and "bakelite" style tuners and boutique gold and green volume and tone knobs.

The fretless oak board has rosewood markers, and is topped with a rock-style cedar and oak headstock.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

Acoustic/electric resonator built on a patron box, using a full-size humbucker pickup. Volume and tone knobs are bottle caps from Fever Tree ginger beer bottles. The handmade neck is mahogany topped by a laminated mahogany and salted maple headstock.

The fretboard is a vintage yardstick for the Le Mars Globe-Post (Le Mars, Iowa), that published from 1902-1964.

Perfect for country picking or hard rock slide!

A three-string fretless with an MGB "Seven Fiddy" single coil pickup under an antique brass cover with matching hardware. The padauk fretboard is topped with a hand-carved oak and cedar headstock. Terrific swamp slide sound, and rocks hard with distortion.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

"Home of America's Sports Car" Kentucky plate honoring the home of the Chevrolet Corvette. Four strings on a mahogany neck with a laminated rock headstock made of mahogany, spalted maple and purple heart wood. A black humbucker is controlled by push/pull tone and volume with black speed knobs.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

1962 red Ohio plate on a handmade box. This three-string has a rosewood fretboard with 17-frets  and offset mother-of-pearl markers and side dots. Chrome hardware and a Fender-style single-pole pickup.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

A vintage yellow John deere yardstick is the fretboard for this 1975 Oklahoma farm truck plate guitar. Chrome hardware and humbucker pickup, ammo casing volume and tone knobs, and laminated oak and cedar headstock. She growls!

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

This 17-fret license plate guitar is a homemade box using "curbside" wood (discarded desk drawers, my favorite).  The layered hardwood headstock has an art deco feel, with antique brass tuners. A powerful MGB "Lucky 13" humbucker pickup is hidden just under the plate.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

This is primarily a slide guitar, although the rough nail frets are not far off.

This is an early work, and so not as polished or intoned as others, but as a  baritone-length guitar, it has a deeper rolling sound. You may need baritone guitar strings as some standard guitar strings will be too short for the middle run. Antique wooden tuners sit on a high-angled headstock, with strings stretched across a floating bridge at the tail. Black and gold hat volume and tuner knobs.

This three-string is an acoustic resonator using a discarded church communion tray (used to hold small cups of wine or juice for communion). It is completely acoustic, with the chrome chamber creating a very banjo-like resonance.

The headstock is oak and purple heart wood. The mahogany fretboard holds 21 frets with strings suspended on a red cedar floating bridge.

This is a one-of-a-kind guitar.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shippi

The soundboard is an artist's vision of Egyptian temples on the water. Ghosted beneath is a "Lucky 13" MGB pickup, controlled by gold "Eye of Ra" volume and tone knobs. The box is handmade from rich red cedar, and an Egyptian coin commemorating an expansion of the Suez Canal is embedded in the walnut fretboard. The tailpiece is a gold door strike plate pulling strings over a floating bridge.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping

The box is an art collaboration by Norman-area artist and poet Barry Zimmerman. The street-chalk style box, a reverse-headstock carved from laminated cedar and oak, and a zebrawood fretboard with glow-in-the-dark fretmarkers give this guitar an utterly unique look. The large dog bowl resonates well for either acoustic or electric effect.

This guitar is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

This is an 18-fret three string guitar with four-pole pickup, walnut fretboard, oak fret inlays, bottlecap volume and tone knobs, with a handmade bridge on an upside-down cat food bowl, all built around a discarded cabinet drawer found by the side of the road. It is almost the size of an acoustic dreadnought, and has amazing resonating sound.

Built from reclaimed cabinet drawers, this four-string sports a multi-hardwood layered headstock, padauk fretboard with oak inlay, chrome hardware, and a full-size resonator pan and cover complete with traditional tailpiece.

Recently upgraded with a chrome humbucker pickup, volume and tone controls. Excellent for fretting or slide guitar, with a Mississippi Delta sound.

This 3-string electric fretless guitar sports a Rising Sun license plate on a handmade box with hardwood details, a hand-carved cedar and oak headstock, copper wire inlay fret markers, and Japanese magnolia blossom artwork on the fretboard. A five-yen coin is set in the headstock ("Go-Yen" in Japanese means good luck).

This three-string is an acoustic resonator using a discarded church communion tray (used to hold small cups of wine or juice for communion). It is completely acoustic, with the chrome chamber creating a very banjo-like resonance.

The headstock is oak and purple heart wood. The mahogany fretboard holds 21 frets with strings suspended on a red cedar floating bridge.

This is a one-of-a-kind guitar.

The guitar is a firebird-style MGB Comet body dressed in copper foil tape and steampunk art. The handmade oak neck and sapele fretboard has 18 frets, an angled hand-carved cedar and oak headstock, glow-in-the-dark fret markers, and a gear set in to the second fretspace. The tuners and cable jack are red brass color, and an antique clock key serves as the floating bridge. The tail piece is a bronze door strikeplate.

The amplifier has a main speaker under the grille and a midrange speaker that plays out of the side into the busking case. The space is for people to throw money in; it also holds a secured latching box for picks, slides, capos  and such. At the back of this space is the battery pack and switch for the lights (3 AA batteries). The 9v battery that powers the amp is hidden under the faux dial. The steampunk decor matches that of the guitar. A cable comes with the set and fits nicely in the space.

I invariably make the guitars affordable, hopefully, as these are supposed to be an homage to "poor man's guitars." But this set took a great deal of extra work and is utterly unique. There is nothing else like it; and there won't be anything else like it, since I will not make another.

The guitar has a rosewood humbucker pickup that can play and shred with the best of them. The set grabs attention from passers-by. It is a busking set unlike any other.

Twin speakers set in a vintage Samsonite hard shell suitcase with a Footnote 5-watt amplifier. Comes with a battery pack that holds 8 AA batteries for busking and such. Also usable with a 9v AC adapter (not included). The amp plate also contains ports for pedals.

Batteries last a surprisingly long time. Strong sound.

Monster eyes, a hazard sign, and chrome red-eyed skull volume knob. Very portable tabletop amp with good sound.

This amp is for sale at The Cottage in Bethany, Oklahoma. Call (405) 603-7493 for purchase and shipping.

This old suitcase is brought back to life as an amp with a 12" speaker and smaller midrange. Simple on/off volume knob, travel stickers, and space inside for cables and stuff!

This Bluetooth speaker contains a midrange and tweeter combination that throws big, beautiful sound. Perfect for a bookshelf or cabinet top. Plug it in and rock music around the house from your phone or tablet!