Tasmania's Hand Crafted Cigar Box Guitars

Devil Guitars Tasmania evolved from our other Tasmanian small business, Supply Bay Design. I've always enjoyed working with my hands, and as a frustrated non-playing guitar player and Blues music fan, I developed an interest in cigar box guitars. My reasoning is that surely 3 strings is less complicated than 6, and a slide has to be more user friendly than using fingers than never do exactly what I want them to do anyway.

My interest in the Blues started at 15 when as a school boarder at Kingswood College in Box Hill, Victoria, I was given an LP of Levon Helm & The Allstars, by a fellow boarder who was returning to Somoa at the end of the school year. Weird how things turn out years later….. As a member of Launceston Blues Club, my partner & I attended the Royal Oak Hotel in Launceston where Bo Jenkins was playing one evening. During Bo’s performance he pulled out a cigar box guitar and launched into some AC/DC & Deep Purple numbers….. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!

It turns out that Bo hails from Arkansas U.S.A. originally, and his next door neighbor was LEVON HELM! Anyway ...

Prior to meeting Bo, I bought cigar box guitar number 244 from Dakota Hobo Guitars, and decided that I could build one of these instruments myself. And so began Devil Guitars Tasmania.



My guitars are predominantly constructed from cigar boxes sourced from the USA, where I buy in bulk to keep individual costs to a minimum. I try to keep my guitars as 'traditional' as possible, and give good value for money. Every guitar is hand built by me, and I use Tasmanian Oak for the necks. Medium nickel/silver frets are pressed into the necks, and the strings are D’Addario phosphor bronze.

Machine heads, pickups and other hardware are economy quality……if you want top of the range tuners etc, you can customize the guitar at a later stage yourself. All the later builds of my cigar box guitars are designed to be easily dismantled by unscrewing the neck from the box. Necks are generally one piece affairs. The cigar boxes are recycled goods so when I receive them they are given a wipe over with spot and gum remover. Some have anti smoking warning labels, and some have scuff marks on them……and these are left untouched as removing them would destroy the character of the box, and add to the cost of the build. The boxes are then coated with estapol to preserve the surface.

Necks are a combination of machine and hand carving. While care is taken to produce strength and a comfortable feel, there are minor blemishes which are left….once again, to produce a high quality finish would add to the cost of production. I don’t install truss rods because I use “thru box construction methods, and I believe the timber is strong enough without them, and only supports 3 strings……another cost saving.

Generally I don’t make to order……..I don’t need the stress. If you really really want a guitar built to certain specifications, send me an email or contact Rowena at Oatlands Handmade. She may have a guitar in stock that may be suitable. Rowena in another life was a guitarist/singer in a country & western band, and has been known to play our guitars over the phone for interstate prospective customers!
Bruce Trappes

Enquiries: devilguitarstas@gmail.com

Retail outlet: Oatlands Handmade, opposite Callington Flour Mill, Oatlands, Tasmania, Australia