Ever heard of or seen a cigar box guitar? Well if you come along to P&P ‘24 all will be revealed. You will discover Rob Gray and his amazing Dirt Pie Guitars in the barn. You will probably hear the cool sound of Rob strumming along, entertaining us with his wonderful music, before you actually get to meet him.
The cigar box guitar is a primitive instrument made from a cigar box and a stick .They typically have 3 strings tuned to an open G chord.
The earliest known illustration of a cigar box instrument dates to 1876 and shows an American Civil War soldier playing a cigar box fiddle. Plans for a 5 string cigar box fiddle where published in 1884 in an American comic called Uncle Enos. Cigar box guitars and fiddles were important in the rise of jug bands and the blues, often used
alongside the washtub bass, jug, washboard and harmonica.
With an old cigar box, a piece of broom handle and some baling wire a guitar was born.
DIRT PIE GUITARS
None of my guitars are set loose from the workshop until I am happy with how they play and how they look. I am not in the business of making things that
are all shiny and new , but if you happen to be searching for a guitar that looks like it was
discovered in the back of a derelict barn , then you are in the right place.
Each Dirt Pie Guitar is a unique hand made musical instrument. The cigar boxes I use must have just the right amount of age and patina to pass muster. The necks are made from a sustainable hardwood. The nuts are made from recycled bone dominos and the bridges are made from recycled ebony piano keys. They all have 14 frets and are fitted
with a piezo pick up , giving you the option to play through an amplifie
