It’s no secret that I love to play cigar box guitars—known as CBGs to collectors. There’s just something earthy about playing music through a box that was originally designed to hold cigars. This CBG was made by a builder known to me as “Robert-C.” This particular build is crafted out of a box for Thomas Hinds Short Churchill EMS cigars, made in Nicaragua. What makes this cigar box guitar special is the look and sound. It sports nicely rounded edges on the two long sides, two old Silvertone single-coil pickups, and a very cool retro-looking headstock. I got it on eBay a while back, winning it with a bid of $100.15 including shipping.
The guitar came with a pair of vintage Silvertone single-coil pickups, which Will Ray describes as sounding like
“Strat pickups on steroids.”
When it arrived a week later and I unpacked it, I was blown away by the look. When I played it, however, I could tell there were some major problems I needed to address. The first was the intonation. For some strange reason, a lot of CBG builders don’t understand neck scale lengths and where to place the bridge. The builder placed the bridge about 3/4" shy of proper placement, causing terrible intonation.
Bottom Feeder Tip #381: When determining the exact placement of a bridge, all you have to do is measure the distance from the front of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret, then double that distance. That’s where to place the bridge. I could tell that this neck came off of a First Act guitar with a 25.5" scale.
The author added a top-loading Stratocaster replacement bridge, acquired online for $5, to cure the guitar’s intonation
and re-stringing problems.
The other problem I encountered was the bridge itself. It was a cheap, non-intonated, one-piece bridge that required stringing the guitar from inside the cigar box. That meant taking the neck and bridge completely off to get to the inside—crazy, especially if you break a string onstage. The solution? I went on eBay and found a black Strat bridge that could be top loaded—strung right behind the bridge instead of underneath it. I reinforced the box on the inside, right under where the new bridge would be installed, in order to make sure the string tension would not pull the bridge out. That little $5 bridge solved all my problems after I placed it in the right spot. The result? A great-playing guitar!
A decal from a different cigar brand keeps with the aromatic theme while adding a cool retro look to the headstock.
So how does it sound? You can listen to my MP3 online and hear for yourself. The older Silvertone pickups are surprisingly robust and meaty for single-coils. To my ears, they sound like Strat pickups on steroids. And because both pickups have mounting rings, I can adjust them to get as close to the strings as I want. That’s no small feat for these homemade builds. So is it a keeper? You bet. I’ve bought three or four more CBGs from Robert-C, because all of his guitars have a kind of musical personality that I like.
Built on powerful dual‑engine processing and world‑class UAD modeling, ANTI 1992 High Gain Amp gives guitarists the unmistakable sound of an original "block letter" Peavey 5150 amplifier* – the notorious 120‑watt tube amp monster that fueled more than three decades of modern metal music, from Thrash and Death Metal, to Grunge, Black Metal, and more.
"With UAFX Dream, Ruby, Woodrow, and Lion amp emulators, we recreated four of the most famous guitar amps ever made," says UA Sr. Product Manager Tore Mogensen. "Now with ANTI, we're giving rock and metal players an authentic emulation of this punishing high gain amp – with the exact mic/speaker pairings and boost/noise gate effects that were responsible for some of the most groundbreaking modern metal tones ever captured."
Key Features:
- A complete emulation of the early '90s 120‑watt tone monster that defined new genres of modern metal
- Powerful UAFX dual-engine delivers the most authentic emulation of the amp ever placed in a stompbox
- Complete album‑ready sounds with built‑in noise gate, TS‑style overdrive, and TC‑style preamp boost
- Groundbreaking Dynamic Room Modeling derived from UA's award-winning OX Amp Top Box
- Six classic mic/speaker pairings used on decades of iconic metal and hard rock records
- Professional presets designed by the guitarists of Tetrarch, Jeff Loomis, and The Black Dahlia Murder
- UAFX mobile app lets you access hidden amp tweaks and mods, choose overdrive/boost, tweak noise gate, recall and archive your presets, download artist presets, and more
- Timeless UA design and craftsmanship, built to last decades
For more information, please visit uaudio.com.
- YouTube
MonoNeon, aka Dywane Thomas Jr., came up learning the bass from his father in Memphis, Tennessee, but for some reason, he decided to flip his dad’s 4-string bass around and play it with the string order inverted—E string closest to the ground and the G on top. That’s how MonoNeon still plays today, coming up through a rich, inspiring gauntlet of family and community traditions. “I guess my whole style came from just being around my grandma at an early age,” says Thomas.His path has led him to collaborate with dozens of artists, including Nas, Ne-Yo, Mac Miller, and even Prince, and MonoNeon’s solo output is dizzying—trying to count up his solo releases isn’t an easy feat. Premier Guitar’s Chris Kies caught up with the bassist before his show at Nashville’s Exit/In, where he got the scoop on his signature 5-string, Ampeg rig, and simple stomp layout, as well as some choice stories about influences, his brain-melting playing style, and how Prince changed his rig.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Orange You Glad to See Me?
This Fender MonoNeon Jazz Bass V was created after a rep messaged Thomas on Instagram to set up the signature model, over which Thomas had complete creative control. Naturally, the bass is finished in neon yellow urethane with a neon orange headstock and pickguard, and the roasted maple neck has a 10"–14" compound radius. It’s loaded with custom-wound Fireball 5-string Bass humbuckers and an active, 18V preamp complete with 3-band EQ controls. Thomas’ own has been spruced up with some custom tape jobs, too. All of MonoNeon's connections are handled by Sorry Cables.
Fade to Black
MonoNeon’s Ampeg SVT stack isn’t a choice of passion. “That’s what they had for me, so I just plugged in,” he says. “That’s what I have on my rider. As long as it has good headroom and the cones don’t break up, I’m cool.”
Box Art
MonoNeon’s bass isn’t the only piece of kit treated to custom color jobs. Almost all of his stomps have been zhuzhed up with his eye-popping palette.
Thomas had used a pitch-shifting DigiTech Whammy for a while, but after working with Paisley Park royalty, the pedal became a bigger part of his playing. “When I started playing with Prince, he put the Whammy on my pedalboard,” Thomas explains. “After he passed, I realized how special that moment was.”
Alongside the Whammy, MonoNeon runs a Fairfield Circuitry Randy’s Revenge (for any time he wants to “feel weird”), a literal Fart Pedal (in case the ring mod isn’t weird enough, we guess), and a JAM Pedals Red Muck covers fuzz and dirt needs. A CIOKS SOL powers the whole affair.
