Cigar Box Ukulele

Kit Assembly Product Number 36-009-01

Instructions View this guide in full color online:

[Link]/CBUkeKit
Maybe you’d like to play a little love song for the apple of your eye, or possibly plink your way over
the island rainbow like the late, great IZ. Maybe you’re looking to build your first instrument by hand.
No matter what your motivation, you too can play soft, mellow tones on your very own hand-built ci-
gar box ukulele in no time.

This guide will walk you through the assembly of the C. B. Gitty Cigar Box Ukulele kit. Using just a few basic
tools you will construct a fully playable, great-sounding
and awesome-looking concert (also known as alto) cigar Need Parts?
box ukulele, sure to be the envy of friends and neighbors
alike. The ukulele is a very fun and easy-to-play instru-
ment with a unique, happy sound, and your cigar box uke Visit [Link]/ukulele-parts/ for
will provide many hours of musical enjoyment.
our full line of uke parts and hardware!
Kit Inventory

Refer to the labeled photo above to identify each of the parts in your kit. Verify that everything is present and
that you are familiar with what’s what.

A. Cigar box—styles will vary, but you can be sure that it will be a nice, authentic cigar box of a good
size for a ukulele body.
B. Hardwood ukulele neck blank
C. Rosewood ukulele fret board
D. Set of nylon ukulele strings
E. Rosewood ukulele bridge
F. Bone ukulele saddle
Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 1
 G. Neck bracing block
H. Bone ukulele nut
I. (4) washer-head screws
J. (3) drywall screws (two longer, one shorter)
K. Bridge/tail bracing block
L. (4) Ukulele tuners

Tools Needed
The following tools are what we recommend for completing this kit—they are the same ones we used when
making this guide. You may be able to substitute other tools and methods, but please before using any tool
(hand or power) make sure you follow all safety recommendations!

 Drill (hand drill or press)

 Wood File or Rasp
 Wood glue
 Clamps (at least 2 or 3)
 1/8” drill bit
 A Phillips screwdriver
 A ruler or measuring tape
 A pencil
 Small wood saw (optional)
 Hole saw/Forstner bit/Spade bit for sound hole (optional)
 Sandpaper (recommended)
 Scratch awl (recommended)
 Blue painter’s tape (recommended)
 A digital chromatic tuner

The diagram below shows a completed cigar box ukulele built from this kit, with all of the key components la-
beled. Refer to this diagram throughout the rest of these instructions, if you are not sure of where we’re head-
ed.

Part 1—Attaching the neck

Step 1—Install the Neck Brace

To start building your C. B. Gitty Ukulele Kit, take the neck bracing block and fit it against the inside of the box
on which you’ll be mounting the neck. The block should not extend above the rim of the box edge, but if it
does, use a file or rasp to make it flush.

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 2

Usually the shorter ends of the cigar box are
chosen for the ends of the instrument (as Figure 1
shown above), so that it will have a horizontal
orientation and be more comfortable to hold.

Be sure to think about how the box will be

aligned when the instrument is held, so that
the printing/wording on the box will be the right
way around when the instrument is being
played.

If the box has a loose paper lining inside the

box, do your best to remove it from the surface
you will be attaching the neck bracing block to.
You will want a clean, solid box interior onto
which to glue your neck brace.

Liberally apply wood glue to your block of

wood and spread it around. If you use your
finger to do this, keep a rag handy ‘cause
you’re about to get messy.

Now use two (or more) of your clamps to firmly

clamp the block to the prepared inner box sur-
face, as shown in Figure 1.

Be sure to follow all of the directions of use of

your glue, and let dry for the amount of time
indicated. Figure 2

Once the glue has fully set up, remove the

clamps and inspect your work. You should
now be ready to proceed to marking the box
for installation of the neck.

Step 2—Marking for the Neck

Now it’s time to mark the box for the location
of the neck. As an overview, you will want the
neck to be mounted to the cigar box exactly in
the center of the side you glued the neck
brace to.

The top surface of the neck should end up

flush with, or slightly above (1/16” or so) the
top of the cigar box. Having the surface of the
neck be just a bit higher than the top of the
cigar box can help keep the string action low-
er, which makes for a better-playing instru-
ment.

It can be helpful at this point to put some blue

painter’s tape (removable masking tape) on the box end you’re marking for the neck. The prevents you from
having to make marks directly onto the box’s surface.

The tape should be able to be carefully removed later, before mounting the neck, without damaging the box
surface.

Find and mark the center point on the neck side of the box, as shown in Figure 2. Also mark the center of the
Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 3
 Figure 3 Figure 4

neck that will be joined to your cigar box. Line these two marks up together (Figure 3).

With the top of the neck brought even to the top of the lid, trace the heel of the neck onto the box.

Be careful to hold the neck firmly in place without letting it move, while tracing the outline onto the box sur-
face/masking tape. Figures 3 and 4 show how we did this. If the neck heel extends below the bottom edge of
the box, mark it for cutting/filing off later.

Step 3—Drilling the Neck Mounting Holes in the Box

You can now set aside your neck. On the box, you should have an outline of where the neck will be mounted.

In this step, you will be marking out where the mounting screw holes will be placed, and then carefully drilling
both the cigar box and the ukulele neck. Be sure to use all appropriate safety precautions when drilling, being
especially careful to never have your hand or fingers over the point where the drill bit will emerge.

Figure 5 Figure 6

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 4

Using your scratch awl, or a fine-tipped Phillips Figure 7 This mark was made with a
screwdriver, mark three points that can serve as scratch awl through the
starter holes for the mounting screws, as shown holes drilled in the side of
in Figure 5. the cigar box, with the neck
held in mounting position.
Position two holes towards the top by the wider
part of the neck heel, and one towards the narrow
bottom portion (see Figure 9 below for a visual).

Now, as shown in Figure 6, use your ⅛” (3mm)

bit to drill the three holes you’ve marked. Be care-
ful to not drill into your fingers, if you decide to
hold it like the person in the photo above. Drill all
of the way through the cigar box side and the
bracing block as well.

Step 4—Drilling the Neck Mount-

ing Holes in the Neck
Now, line the neck back up to the box, in position where it will be mounted, and make a mark through each
the holes you just drilled onto the flat part of the neck heel. The scratch awl or a small nail is very handy for
this. The result of the first mark is shown in Figure 7.

With all three holes marked on the neck heel, once again use the 1/8” drill but to pre-drill the heel for the
mounting screws. Be very careful at this point not to drill too deep - wrapping some painter’s tape around the
drill bit as a visual depth stop is a good idea.

Keep in mind that the two longer 2” neck mounting screws will go into the upper two holes, and the shorter 1
5/8” screw will go into the lower hole.

Figure 8
Figure 9

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 5

It can make things easier if you drill the first mounting
hole into the neck, and then insert a single screw to hold Figure 10
the neck in place, and then mark the other two holes.
This will keep the neck from moving/shifting, and it is
very important that all of these holes line up properly—
you don’t want your neck to be crooked.

Now mark and drill the two remaining holes. When fin-
ished, your box and neck should be fully drilled with the
three neck-mounting holes. Do a “dry fit” of the neck to
make sure everything looks good.

This is a good time to remove the painter’s tape (if you

used any) from the box surface. Figure 9 shows what the
neck should look like when all 3 holes have been drilled.

You can now test-mount your neck to the box using the 3
neck mounting screws. Remember that the two longer
ones go on top, the shorter one on bottom. Make sure
everything is lined up and looking good. A “stubby” Phil-
lips screwdriver is best for this.

Remember that you want the neck’s flat upper

surface to be as parallel as possible with the
surface of the cigar box.
Figure 11
Figure 11 shows what the ukulele-to-be
should look like once you have finished test-
mounting the neck. If the neck heel extends
below the bottom of the cigar box, you can file/
sand the overhang away.

Once you’re confirmed everything is good, you

can go ahead and remove the neck, in prepa-
ration for attaching the fretboard.

Part 2—Gluing on the

Fretboard
In this section we will cover how to get the fret-
board glued onto the neck. The first thing to do is decide whether you want the fretboard to extend out over
the cigar box. This is up to you, since having the fretboard extend out over the body makes the build a little
more complicated… but it does make the instrument more versatile when played.

This guide shows the simpler method of cutting off the excess part of the fretboard so that it does not extend
out over the box.

Step 1—Dry Fit the Fretboard and Cut off Excess Length
Line up your fretboard on top of the neck, leaving about ⅛” (3mm) of room for the nut to be glued in place be-
low where the neck angles into the headstock, as shown in Figure 12.

Mark a line where the top edge of the fret board will be on the neck.

There are two options as to how the fret board can be mounted onto the neck. You can either have the fret-

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 6

board extend out over the box (which
makes the instrument more versatile when
being played), or you can cut off the bot- Figure 12
tom part off the fretboard so that it ends at
the box edge.

One benefit of the latter is that it lets you

gain access to the box interior after the Leave about 1/8”
ukulele has been built - this can be handy of space below
if you want to install a pickup, or at least where the head-
want to leave yourself the option of doing stock angle begins,
so later. for the nut.

For the purposes of this guide, we’re going

to cut off the “excess” fretboard, so it’s
time to mark the fretboard to be cut.

If you have decided to not cut the fretboard

shorter, skip this next step. With the fret-
board held in position on the neck, turn the
neck over and make a pencil mark on the
back of the fretboard (Figure 13). Make
sure you have allowed the 1/8” for the nut Figure 13
up at the top!

Once cut, your fretboard should line up

evenly with the end of the neck, as shown
in Figure 14. Sand and smooth the cut
edge to remove any sharp points.

Step 2—Gluing on the Fret-

board
Please note: if you have decided to leave
your fretboard at full length, you should not
glue it onto the neck until the neck has
been mounted onto the cigar box.

Once the fretboard is glued on, you won’t

be able to open the cigar box any more, so
it is best to wait to do this until towards the
end of the assembly process. The rest of
these instructions assume that the fret-
board has been cut shorter.

Once you have your fretboard cut to

Pro tip: A water-dampened

cloth will help to wipe away
most wood glues before they
dry. Check the directions of
the product you are using to
be certain. Once the glue
dries it can be very hard to
remove excess, so do your Figure 14
best to clean it up before it
sets.

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 7

length, it is time to get it glued onto the neck. Apply wood glue to both the back of the fret board and the top of

Figure 15

the neck, as shown in Figure 15. Make sure to spread the glue around over the entire surface—you want to
make sure this is a good, strong joint.

Line the top edge of the fretboard up with the mark you’ve made at the top of the neck. Firmly clamp the fret-
board to the neck, wiping off any excess glue that may squeeze out from between the two surfaces. Use as
many clamps as necessary to get a nice tight glue joint.

You may find it beneficial to use a scrap

block of wood between the clamps and
the fret board, as shown in Figure 16.
The wood block will help to protect the
fret board and will evenly apply pressure
across the entire surface while the glue
dries.

Be sure to let the glue set up for as long

as is recommended on the glue bottle. In
the C. B. Gitty shop we use Titebond II or
III wood glue, which creates a very strong
glue bond (often stronger than the wood
itself), but you can use any standard-
purpose wood or carpenter’s glue with
good results.

Once the glue has dried, remove the

clamps and examine your handiwork.
This is a good time to do any final sand-
Figure 16
ing of the neck and fretboard, smoothing
of fret ends and other finishing work on

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 8

the neck.

Part 3—Installing the Bridge & Saddle

In this section we’ll cover how to install the bridge and saddle, as well as the bridge bracing block that goes
inside the box.

Step 1—Install the Bridge Bracing Block

Now take the smaller block of wood included with your kit that will serve as a mounting brace for the ukulele
bridge and glue that wood block under the spot where the bridge will be on top of the lid. If there is a layer of
paper on the inside of the box lid here, you can use a file to remove it for a better glue joint, if desired.

Your bridge, at the point where the bone saddle will

be seated, will need to be exactly 15” (381mm) Figure 17
away from where the nut meets the top of the fret
board. Place this bracing block so that it will be as
close to the edge of the box as possible, but make
sure the box lid will still close once it is in place
(Figure 17).

Step 2—Position and Drill the Bridge

Now, center the bridge on the top of the box
(remember that the slot where the saddle will rest
should be towards the front, and that the front edge
of this slot should be exactly 15 inches from where
the back side of the nut will be—see Figure 18).
Placing the bridge/saddle correctly (15 inches
from the nut) is VERY important to ending up with a playable ukulele!

Drill two holes in the center of the tabs on both sides of the bridge. On top of the box lid, center the bridge at
the appropriate distance from the top of the fret board. Making certain that it is centered will properly align the
bridge and saddle with the fret board.

Through the holes you’ve drilled, mark the box lid. Use a ⅛” bit to drill holes through the lid and into the brace
at the points you’ve marked, as shown in Figure 20.

If you are going to treat the bridge with any finishes, doing so now before it gets fastened to the box is a good
idea. Smoothing off the sharper edges and points is also a good idea at this point—you don’t want anything
that will dig into your strumming arm when playing.

Figure 18

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 9

Step 3—Prepare and In- Figure 19
stall the Saddle
This is also a good time to smooth
and round the ends of the bone
saddle, especially the end that will
be towards the top of the instru-
ment when it is held for playing,
for the same reason as above—a
sharp edge on the bone saddle
can dig into your strumming arm,
and no musician likes that!

Carefully insert the bone saddle

into the bridge. Do not force it in.
If need be, remove a tiny amount
of material from the slot for the
saddle with a razor knife or file.
You want the saddle to fit snugly
(Figure 21). Figure 20

A few light taps with a small mallet

or wood scrap may be required to
seat it securely, but don’t overdo it
or the bone or wood may break.
You should not need to glue the
saddle in place, since the strings
will hold it down.

When installed, the bevels on the

top edge of the saddle will be
have the look of an ascending set
of steps.

Take a close look at Figure 22 to

see how the angled/beveled parts
of the saddle should be placed.
This will help ensure good intona-
tion once the instrument is strung
up. Figure 21

Step 4—Mount the

Bridge
If the top of your cigar box is pa-
per-covered, it can be a good idea
to lightly mark the bridge’s outline
on the top and use a file to rough
up or remove the paper a little, to
help the glue get a better hold.

Now, using two of the provided

washer-head screws (the heads
are a little bigger in diameter than
the screws shown in the picture to
the right), carefully position, glue
Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 10
and screw the bridge to the box, as shown in Fig-
ure 23.

If using a power driver, be mindful of how much

pressure you apply. Driving too hard and too fast
may split the tabs. Overtightening may also split
the thin wood of the bridge.

Step 5—Install the Bracing Screws

Figure 22
Using the two remaining washer-head screws, pre
-drill holes about ½” down from the box lid and
mount them into the box, as shown in Figure 24.

The goal here is to hit the center of the bridge

bracing block inside the box. This will help the box
lid stand up to the tension of the strings once they
Figure 23
are tuned up.

Part 4—Final Assembly and

Stringing
In this section we’ll walk you through finalizing the
neck portion of the instrument, from installing the
nut and tuners to getting your ukulele strung up.
Figure 24
Step 1—Install the Nut and Tuners
After removing the clamps from gluing the fret-
board to the neck, apply a small amount of wood
glue to the nut. Clamp it in place, as shown in Fig-
ure 25, with the flat edges butted up against
the top edge of the fret board and the neck, as
shown in the photo. Be sure to wipe off any ex-
cess glue with a cloth.

Once dried and the clamp removed, any final

sanding and treatment of the neck can be done (if
desired).

Now it is time to install the tuners into the head- Figure 25

stock of the instrument. Figure 26 shows a tuner
laid out (with its parts in the order of assembly, as
well as an assembled tuner.

Install your tuners as shown in Figure 27 and 28

with the beveled and locking washers on the back
of the headstock and the plastic washer and bush-
ing on the front. The tuning shaft will join all the
components with the tuner button screwed into the
end.

At this point, make certain to tighten the screws

attaching each white plastic button to the corre-
sponding tuner shaft. Tight screws will help to pre-

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 11

vent the pegs from unwinding under the pres-
sure of being strung up.

Step 2—Cut Sound holes

(Optional)
If you haven’t cut or drilled any sound holes into
the lid, now would be a good time to do so be-
fore you get too much further. Sound holes are
largely a matter of personal preference as to Figure 26
where, what, and how big. Just be mindful of
what you may visually expose inside the box.

You can always search sites like [Link] for any ideas and examples. The box we used in this

Figure 27 Figure 28

guide had “F-hole”-style sound holes cut into it before

we started, but a single round hole in the center of the box, sized between 3/4 and 1 1/2 inches, also gives a
very nice look. Several smaller holes in a pattern can also work nicely.

Step 3—Re-attach the Neck

Now re-attach the neck using the three neck-mounting screws, as shown in Part I above. Make sure every-
thing lines up correctly and make any adjustments as necessary. Once the neck is attached, you can hold the
ukulele in playing position and see if there are any sharp or rough parts on the body or neck that need to be
sanded and smoothed.

Please note: If you chose to leave your fretboard at full length, then it is at this stage, after re-attaching the
neck, that you should glue it on. Note that once the fretboard is glued on, you won’t be able to re-open the
cigar box, so make sure everything is right and ready to go before you do this step!

Step 4—String the Ukulele

Stringing your ukulele is a fairly straightforward process. Basically, you will be tying the strings onto the
bridge, then running them up the neck and wrapping them around the tuner post, ending by threading the
string end through the hole on the post.

Take a look at Figures 29 - 32 for a visual guide of how to get your ukulele strung up. The packaging for
the strings will help you to determine which strings go where.

The 4th and 1st strings are the same gauge (thickness). The 4th string is placed above the thickest string,

Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 12

 Figure 29 Figure 30

String #4

closest to the top of the box when in the playing position. The 3rd string is the thickest of the four. The second
string goes below the 3rd and above the 1st, with the 1st as the bottom most string when in the playing posi-
tion.

Insert the strings, one at a time, through the holes in the end of the saddle and over the bridge. Stretch the
length of the string out and leave a good few inches to wrap the end securely onto the saddle. Knot them as
shown in Figure 31. Once knotted onto the saddle, wind the string around the appropriate tuning shaft a few

String #1 Figure 32

String #2

Figure 31 String #3

times. Insert it through the hole in the top end of the shaft and pull it tight. Wind the string up to apply a little
tension and move on to installing the rest of the strings.

If the string action height (the distance between the string and the fretboard) seems too high, you can try filing
down the saddle a little bit, or filing deeper string grooves into the nut. A small-diameter round “rat tail” file can
be good for this.

Part 5—Tuning and Playing

Once your strings are installed, the construction part of this kit is complete. Congratulations, you have fin-
ished your ukulele! Now all that’s left is to get it strung up and get busy playing!

Step 1—Get your Ukulele in Tune

This ukulele is tuned to G C E A, with G being the top string (when held in playing position) and A being the
bottom string.

If you have a digital chromatic tuner, you can easily use that to tune your ukulele, especially if it has a Ukulele
mode. For a good visual and audio reference, we recommend [Link], which gives you the pitch
Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 13
of each string, as well as a nice representation of the headstock.

To help you get started playing your ukulele, above are some of the more common chords that you’ll want to
learn. In the diagrams, the vertical lines represent the four strings of the ukulele (the leftmost being the top
string when you are playing, the rightmost being the bottom string), and the circles tell you where to put your
fingers. The open circles at the top of the diagram indicates an open (unfretted) string.

Using just these chords, you can play a large number of both traditional and popular songs, from folk to coun-
try to rock and pop. You should be able to follow along with any printed or online sheet music or tablature that
shows the guitar chords. There are many sites online that present tablature and chords for popular songs,
such as [Link] and others.

Step 3—More How-to-Play Resources

There are many online resources for how to play the ukulele, including a growing library of video how-to les-
sons over at [Link]. C. B. Gitty also sells a How to Play the Ukulele book that includes an
audio CD. Find it at [Link] You can also search on YouTube for “ukulele lessons” and
find a wealth of free how-to info.

Closing
We hope that you have enjoyed this process of building your own cigar box ukulele from this kit, and
that you will have many years of enjoyment playing this instrument. But your instrument-building ca-
reer doesn’t have to stop here! C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply offers a variety of musical instrument kits
featuring cigar boxes and other reclaimed materials, from the simplest one-string diddley-bows to 4-string ci-
gar box guitars. [Link]/Kits

We also have a huge variety of parts and accessories that you can use to branch out and build your own cus-
tom instruments. [Link]/CigarBoxGuitarParts

Your Next Project...

[Link]/PureAndSimple
Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply 14