He sounds like Chris Whitley. Very cool!

Shredding? Shredding? ......... shredding.
There are better ways to describe what that gentleman is doing, And doing well. Good find.

/shredding?

Hey, that's me!

You can do some cool stuff when you abandon conventional tuning:

Link (new window)

You can do some cool stuff when you abandon conventional tuning:

true indeed.
However--you are often limited to what keys you can play in.

Very few guitarists will show up to a "jam" session in D-A-D-G-A-D or C-A-C-G-C-E or whatever. Open chord tunings are cool but can be tricky when everyone else is tuned to the same "fourths" and can go anywhere in a moment.

btw--the cigar box dude from the video isn't really "shredding"
I would call it more "droning" I suppose.

Not shredding. Not a guitar. But well played.

satriani didnt 'shred' in his clip either. this was kinda cool, id like to know more details about how he made it.

/off to check out his site

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Hey, that's me!

Nice work Goonie_Goo_Goo, I'm a big fan of the homemade guitar stuff.

If you haven't seen it before, check this guy out

youtube vid^

website^

craigdamage: true indeed.
However--you are often limited to what keys you can play in.

Very few guitarists will show up to a "jam" session in D-A-D-G-A-D or C-A-C-G-C-E or whatever. Open chord tunings are cool but can be tricky when everyone else is tuned to the same "fourths" and can go anywhere in a moment.

true, but do you(or anyone else)know if bela fleck tunes to something open? i cant imagine improvising like he does if thats the case.

ok i finally found on his faq that he almost exclusively uses open G. if not its open in whatever other key. that is completely insane.

Maybe next time he can make a metronome out of a cigar box.

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Hey, that's me!

sweet!

Sphaux: Maybe next time he can make a metronome out of a cigar box.

Ha! True...very true. When I do gigs around my area (York, PA), I usually show up with a plastic bucket and drum sticks. I then ask the audience, "who's drunk enough to be my drummer tonight." Seems to work great.

Oh yeah, for the D.I.Y. Farkers: Here's free plans on HOW TO BUILD A CIGAR BOX GUITAR (just like the one I'm playing): Link (new window)

What the best place to get a cigar box to start with? Maybe a garage sale or ebay? I looked all around the house and the onlything I have thats even close to the right size is an old chrome toaster. It would look cool next to my guitars but not sure if it would resonate.

craigdamage: You can do some cool stuff when you abandon conventional tuning:

true indeed.
However--you are often limited to what keys you can play in.


Open tunings: In addition to 3-string cigar box guitar, I play instruments (cigar box and otherwise) ranging from 1-8 strings, including regular guitar. I've been messing with open tunings so much that I've almost completely abandoned traditional tunings. For guitar, I favor open D and Open A. Hell, all sitar and sarod music is open tunings. So is most of the old guys playing slide blues. If you're worried about different key signatures, have a capo on hand.

mahavishnunj

I know there are MANY different tunings for banjo.

I have seen Bela Fleck with several types of banjos and odd looking guitars. I really have no idea.
I just know he is a monster of a musician.

This is on ebay but I don't wanna spend $25 to cut it up and make my first one

thesubliminalman: What the best place to get a cigar box to start with? Maybe a garage sale or ebay? I looked all around the house and the onlything I have thats even close to the right size is an old chrome toaster. It would look cool next to my guitars but not sure if it would resonate.

Any tobacco store has 'em. Most sell empty boxes for under $5

One more cool detail...
For less than the price of one American Standard Stratocaster, I have this:

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Open tunings: In addition to 3-string cigar box guitar, I play instruments (cigar box and otherwise) ranging from 1-8 strings, including regular guitar. I've been messing with open tunings so much that I've almost completely abandoned traditional tunings. For guitar, I favor open D and Open A. Hell, all sitar and sarod music is open tunings. So is most of the old guys playing slide blues. If you're worried about different key signatures, have a capo on hand.

i had a homemade fretless that i messed with tunings on, but ultimately gave it away and got a good fretless thats tuned normal. i just cant get used to the difference. i wish i could, you can make the already weird sounding fretless sound even weirder(as you obviously are well aware). frank gambale uses some 'secret' tuning, but it sounds absolutely no different at all to how he used to sound.

Goonie_Goo_Goo: One more cool detail...
For less than the price of one American Standard Stratocaster, I have this:

i dont see one floyd rose, lightning graphic, or skull on any of those. fail.

Goonie_Goo_Goo: One more cool detail...
For less than the price of one American Standard Stratocaster, I have this:

You must be king of the rednecks

Awesome!

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Hey, that's me!

Awesome, I enjoyed it. Got any place to download your music?

drredhook: Goonie_Goo_Goo: Hey, that's me!

Awesome, I enjoyed it. Got any place to download your music?

Just the free stuff I have on my Myspace. I have downloading enabled: www.myspace.com/cigarboxguitar (new window)

Good work!

Sphaux: You must be king of the rednecks

*blushes*

By the way, any York PA Farkers in here? If so, I always show up at the First Capital Dispensing Company (aka First Cap) every Wednesday night around 9 for their open mic. That's where I work out new material. Should I have an impromptu Fark Party?

Goonie you went green! Awseome! You are indeed the king!

For those that wanna follow Goonie's instructions, I did and it came out pretty cool. My only mistake was using a hinged cigar box instead of a recessed one, so it is slide-only. But wicked fun to do.

The Dynamite Monkey: For those that wanna follow Goonie's instructions, I did and it came out pretty cool. My only mistake was using a hinged cigar box instead of a recessed one, so it is slide-only. But wicked fun to do.

Pics or it didn't happen...

;)

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Pics or it didn't happen...

I know you have asked me before... its such a pain in the ass...

I promise someday!

The Dynamite Monkey: Goonie_Goo_Goo: Pics or it didn't happen...

I know you have asked me before... its such a pain in the ass...

I promise someday!

Hey monkey I got my crappy music up show us yours. Link in profile. Sorry no cigarbox...yet...

Goonie_Goo_Goo: One more cool detail...
For less than the price of one American Standard Stratocaster, I have this:

Awesome :D

Goonie_Goo_Goo: Sphaux: You must be king of the rednecks

*blushes*

lol

on a semi serious note, whats going on with the doubleneck on your page? i see the difference in string size, i was just wondering how its tuned and such.

Goonie_Goo_Goo:

Weird, I just noticed that on some computers, my replies don't even show up... But if I log in on that specific computer, I can see 'em again. Is Fark in the Twilight zone?

Cool Goonie_Goo_Goo, very cool!

Very cool... kinda reminded me of the banjo intro to KMFDM's WWIII. No, really. Check it out if you don't believe me.