Have you ever heard of a cigar box guitar? With its origins dating back to Civil War soldiers, these specialty instruments have been around for close to 160 years. In the central Massachusetts town of Westminster, a local guitar player is strumming up quite the business with Dream Catcher Cigar Box Guitars. For 60 years, Eddie Nasiatka played guitar in rock-and-roll bands.
But when the effects from arthritis in his hands made it tough to play a traditional six-string, he decided to dive into making a three-stringed version using used cigar boxes for the guitar’s body. "The first one I built wasn’t a total failure, but it worked. Then I jumped into what I still call No.
1. And it came out beautiful," Nasiatka said. He explained what he looks for he makes guitars.
"You try and get ones that’s all wood. The sound is much better," he said. Just like traditional guitars, cigar box guitars have a neck with fretboards.
Small cabinet vents serve as sound holes. Nasiatka’s electric versions are outfitted with components for a smoking sound Jimmy Hendrix would be proud of. "Each one’s different.
Even if I have two boxes the same, they’re different. The neck makes a difference — the vibrations, the type of pick-ups on the electronics," he said. According to Nasiatka, it’s the ease with which the instruments can be played that makes them so desirable.
Tuned to an open G chord, every fret down the neck forms a different chord. As a result, it’s considered a one-fingered .