Making cigar box guitars P.E.I. man's new passion

Todd Creamer, a Stratford, P.E.I., carpenter and part-time musician, has found his new passion making guitars from cigar boxes.

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Creamer has made 15 of the three- or four-string guitars in the last year, keeping half a dozen, donating some and selling a few to friends, after seeing how-to videos for the instruments on YouTube.

I had probably more pride in building that [first] little cigar box guitar last winter than I did some people's homes. Todd Creamer

"I was blown away by the way these little cigar boxes sounded," he recalled. "I said, I should be able to do that I have most of the skills and the tools."

'Hooked on it'

Turns out, he was more than able to create them he loved it, and he's now "hooked on it."

"It's amazing the sound that comes out of something that shouldn't make any sound at all," he said.

Creamer has played guitar and banjo for about 20 years, professionally and for fun, which he said helps to set up the guitars properly and conversely playing the little guitars improves his playing skills.

Creamer gets the cigar boxes from local smoke shops, but he can create his own boxes from just about anything, including a plastic tool box.

He crafts necks out of scraps of wood, including measuring sticks.

Renewed popularity

Cigar box guitars have been around since the late 1800s, used in blues and jug bands as makeshift versions of "real" instruments.

"They made their own, from a cigar box or a tin can and a broom handle and some wire!" Creamer marveled.

The internet has fostered a modern revival of cigar box guitars, as websites like cigarboxnation.com let hobbyists and musicians share ideas and plans for building and playing them.

Part of their renewed popularity, Creamer believes, is the unique sound they make people hearing them for the first time are very surprised, he said.

"It's a sound that you can't get on a guitar," he noted. "An early bluesy sound a haunting sound."

'Defies the laws of music'

"It kind of defies the laws of music," that such a simple instrument can make such a great sound, he said.

It takes Creamer about 16 hours to create one guitar. He has sold them for$250 each, but stressed he's not interested in creating a viable business.

'It's a thrill every time'

"It's not a money-making scheme by any means," he said. "More of a passion for just making something new."

He works for a few hours in his workshop every evening, after putting in days as a carpenter at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.

"When it comes to life, when you put the strings on it and tune it up and play a song on it, it's a thrill every time I do it!" he laughed.

People seeing the guitars for the first time are amazed at the creations, Creamer said, and the hobby is relaxing and fun for him.

"I've built some pretty nice homes," he recalled. "I had probably more pride in building that [first] little cigar box guitar last winter than I did some people's homes."

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