Born from a love for the blues and a passion for instrument design.

It began in a small workshop in the heart of Bristol when Tom and Pat were inspired to design and build a stringed instrument that was steeped in tradition, yet quirky and enjoyable to play. The grand-daddies of the delta blues founded the movement on homemade instruments, and thus spawned ‘the blues’ from a time(s) of hardship and economic depression. Blind Willie Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimi Hendrix, Hound Dog Taylor, Big Bill Broonzy are to name a few of the old time players, whilst today Sea Sick Steve, Jack White and Johnny Depp still keep the cigar box guitar tradition alive.

A cigar box guitar strips your playing back to the bare bones and there is a wealth of tunings to try – we strongly recommend experimenting with ‘open tunings’. Open tunings remove intricate and difficult chords structures and focus emphasis on your rhythm and melody – the way blues was meant. D, D-minor, G, G6, C6, E5…. There are many to try and each will give you a slightly different feel whether your preference is Delta, Hawaiian, Old Time, Rag Time, Boogie-Woogie, Roots, Hobo – the limit is your depth of experimentation. With a cigar box guitar the fundamentals of blues, rock’n’roll and folk are made easy and a ‘CBG’ combined with a bottle-slide will open a new musical door for you. But don’t be fooled – these little beasts, simplified guitars though they are, should not be under estimated.