(½ cm) thin wood from the same stock was attached with nails. A house-shaped sound hole is carved near the floating bridge. It is strung with two gauges of fishing line.
The angled headstock has two hand- carved tuning pegs which still work great. The frets are small pieces of nickel and copper that have been hammered over the sides and positioned at an approximated do re mi scale, similar to a diatonic dulcimer fretboard.
To get a better idea on the frets, I called up Derick Kemper, my current harmonica player who is also a professional blacksmith. He took one look at the guitar and said, “The frets are definitely hand hammered of some kind, but the tailpiece that holds the strings is an actual horse’s bridle. I know because I just got back from shoeing horses!”
Take note at the wear marks on the face of the guitar. This instrument has been played . . . and played hard. Whoever built this definitely made the instrument they were searching for. The neck contains sweat marks and wear.
The guitar was discovered somewhere in New England. Amazingly, it is still very much playable.
1886 Newspaper Article: A Juvenile Sits on a Beer Keg and Gathers a Crowd
GALVESTON (TX) DAILY NEWS, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1886
Historic cigar box banjo plans, first published in 1886.
Perched upon a lager beer keg in an obscure locality in the city, sat a diminutive musician yesterday. His legs were crossed, his lips were moving, and his hands were playing a [homemade] guitar. This instrument was rudely but cleverly fashioned, and exhibited traces of an inventive genius in its maker.
A [cigar box] of the usual size constituted the body, and the handle was composed of a piece of lath about [8"; 20 ⅓ cm] in length, over which strings of tightly-drawn India rubber were laid, and caught at the end on roughly-made keys. The box was completely enclosed, with the exception of a round hole in the center for a [sounding board].
Altogether, it was an original instrument, and though crudely constructed, was capable of emitting melodious strains. Considering the imperfections of it in the comparison with a genuine guitar, the player handled the strings very deftly.
When seen, he was earnestly playing a tune, and no one appeared to enjoy it more than himself, though the barkeeper whose keg he was sitting upon came out and shaded his eyes on the curious object. The selection was an old-time melody, and he soon had a crowd of sympathizers around him. While playing, his different antics and motions were peculiar and amusing. His lips went in and out, keeping perfect time to the music. He swayed himself from side to side, shut one eye, then the other, then rolled both up until only the whites were visible, apparently in a perfect delirium of enjoyment.
In the midst of all this a great catastrophe occurred. The strings all snapped but one. But to the wonder of those present he continued to draw music out of his one string. As he finished and crawled down from his perch, he was variously interrogated, but jumping into a small wagon hitched to a good-sized goat, he rapidly made off amid the shouts of the crowd and uproarious laughter.
It was evident that he did not wish to be bothered and had his goat handy for any disagreeable emergency.
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