In early America starting sometime in the 1860's, poor people of all walks of life began to make homemade guitars and other stringed instruments out of old wooden boxes and scavenged or found wood from places such as barns or old homes.

  These homemade instruments were popular through out much of the history of early America. Many of the pioneers of Blues and Rock n' Roll music got their start in music by playing these long forgotten guitars.

  From the Mississippi Delta to the Appalachian mountains, poverty did not stop people from wanting to create music. In fact, it made the desire even stronger.

 Many people just went out and built their own instruments from stuff they found in their house, shed or barn.

  Homemade guitars are part of the past, but still part of the present.

 Many times people have emailed me and said that just by hearing one of these guitars or seeing a photo online has helped them find a new direction in life. Many of these people were coping with serious illness, trauma or some type of sadness. I have seen time and time again all kinds of people, from military veterans to lost teenagers, male and female all find a new path in life and even break out of the bondage of sadness.

  It's also worth mentioning all of the people that have always wanted to learn how to play a regular guitar in the past but never could learn the complex fretboard math and music theory. Once people discover how easy it is to play and create great music on a cigar box guitar, a new spark of excitement happens in their life. 

  These guitars are easy to understand and fun to play. It's especially easy to learn how to play a 3 or 4 string, and slide guitar is a great choice to start with, more on that topic on the following page of this website.

  So, what am I saying with all this?

  I've spelled out a clear and good reason to NEVER bury your desires or give up on your dreams of learning to play guitar,  try playing a cigar box guitar...Even if you are 75 years old, it's never too late! 

 Blues music is simple by its nature to learn. It's a primitve music that is built without structure, keys, or music theory. 

 Anyone can learn to play one of these guitars. They can be learned by ear without the need for complicated music lessons. If playing a standard guitar has given you problems in the past, you'll enjoy the freedom and simplicity of playing a cigar box guitar. With a little dedication and practice, you'll sound like a champ in just a few months.

  If you're someone trying to replicate vintage 1920's and 30's music, a resonator guitar will take you back in time. They're awesome musical time machines that were invented and played in the 1920's and 30's before electric guitars were in use. 

  The strings sit on top of a bridge that pushes down on a metal cone inside the body of the guitar and as you strum the instrument, it vibrates the center of the cone and projects volume out of the face of the guitar with a distinctive bell like metallic sound. 

There's instant amplification, No electricity needed...but plug one into an amp and they become gritty little screamers!

This is where the "Blues" all started.

An old used cigar box, reclaimed wood made into a guitar neck, and homemade music.

This painting is of "L. Rupert" 1898 at the G.D. Flynn Brewery New River Falls, MA

  Many Blues and Rock musicians today still enjoy playing these homemade guitars. Listen to this video below. It is a recording of Ry Cooder's song called "Billy The Kid."

It is preformed by Billy Gibbons of ZZ-Top. He is playing a guitar built by Kurt Schoen.

  This song is an excerpt from a Mark Maron interview from Youtube of a 2015 Podcast.  All Copyrights for this material are the property of their respective owners. Click Play below

    What is "Old School Blues?"   I guess trying to discribe music is like trying to explian a color in words?   Where would I start??? 

....it's part science, part art? 

     Muddy Waters was asked this exact same question and his answer was "it's music from them days gone by."   

    I recorded myself with a 1980's Fostex Tape deck - I haven't got rid of my cassette tapes just yet!

     Let's take a trip out west with Dave Lynas. He was a pioneer from the goold ol' days, I guess you could say like Johnny Appleseed....well, kind of.... 

The only thing is, Dave drove a 1955 Chevy truck and went from town to town looking for treasure from the wild west. 

He seems to only come home with rusty junkyard parts.

  The history of homemade instruments is everywhere. In most people's family history, there's usually someone in their past who had a passion for music, yet didn't have any money for a proper instrument. 

They just did what everyone else did a 100 years ago, they made their own.

Yep, we also make swamp deliveries too ...and in person!

  These simple guitars are built with just a few basic hand tools that most people already have.

You mostly use screwdrivers and glue along with some basic hardware store odds and ends. As for tools, you don't need many tools at all to build a homemade guitar.

The body is just an old used wooden box and that part is already done for you, once you start, you're already half way done!

 That's what is so fun and interesting about this type of guitar construction, these guitars are simple by nature. They can be built using old or used guitar parts, or you get creative and make your own parts with stuff from around your house. 

 If you've read this far, you're now down in the fine print, we're at the bottom of the page. You should try playing one, you'll have a blast. There's a lot of history that you'll hear and relive every time you play a homemade guitar.

Well, I'm officially at the bottom of this page and out of room to type. I do sell fully built guitars and other Blues related stuff as well, it's all on the next page.

The current guitars that are for sale are listed at the very bottom of the next page. 

The next page >>>

click here