SMOJO CIGAR BOX GUITARS

How to build a cigar box amplifier

It’s not going to blow away a 5000 strong crowd at an arena, but it will be a cool addition to your
cigar box guitar for practice. You can’t buy one of these babies in a music shop! Please read all the
way through this before starting. You can then plan how your amplifier is going to look, decide what
tools and materials you need and do your shopping. Approximate cost for materials (not including
tools) - £20. You will have something unique and fun to build and play. The building of it can be
divided into two elements – the case and the electronics. I suggest starting with the electronics and
making a bench-top prototype before going to the trouble of making the case. There are two ways
to build – buy a mini amp kit and assemble it or find a circuit diagram and source all the components
yourself, make a circuit board and construct it. The last method is cheapest but quite difficult for a
novice, so I’m going to describe how to build it from a basic battery powered amp kit. You will
probably still need to source some of the components yourself e.g. battery holder, jack socket,
power switch etc. Depends what type of kit you buy. I’ll assume you have some basic practical skills
but Ill take you through all the steps. If you want clarification on any aspect, just email me at
smojoguitars@yahoo.co.uk

Part One – The Electronics

Soldering

If you're attempting to make an amplifier, you will need a good soldering technique. Here are a few
tips for novices. Use the right tool for the job. A small electric soldering iron, 25 -35 watts should do.
Make sure the tip is very clean and ‘tinned’ – do not skip this process, you will not be able to solder
anything with a dirty tip. That means applying a small amount of solder around it. If it's a bare
copper tip, you need to file the end clean with a fine file or emery cloth to remove any oxidisation.
Heat the iron and immediately apply some solder. Use resin cored solder, which removes oxidisation
and aids good adhesion. Make a good mechanical connection between wires and tags first. If
attaching wire to a volume pot, then wrap the bare wire around the tag 1-2 times so it's held in place
firmly before soldering. Now here's the big one – where most novices go wrong. Apply a small
amount of solder (not a blob) to the tip of the iron then touch it to the thing you are soldering and
heat it up for a few seconds, then feed a small amount of solder to the joint, let it melt and run
around then remove the iron immediately. The wrong way is to add a big blob of solder to the end of
the iron and try to transfer it to the joint. It should be nice and clean and shiny. If it looks dull you
might have a ‘dry joint’ and a poor electrical connection. Reheat it and add a small amount more of
solder. Be careful not to overheat small electronic components (such as I.C. chips). Just add enough
heat to melt the solder and remove it as soon as you have a good joint. Follow this technique and
you should get good results. Remember the key to success is cleanliness. Make sure the soldering
iron tip and tags/wires are clean. Tinning them first, as described for the tip, will help. I find that a lot
of tags (especially jack sockets) do not tin easily so if you have problems, lightly sand or file the tags
first and tin them before attaching your wires.

Wiring

I’ll start with the simplest configuration – an amp with a volume control (pot) – just to get you going
with something that works. I’ll go on to describe how to make it a bit more elaborate by adding an
on/off switch and a ‘power on’ LED.

Tool list:

· Small instrument screwdrivers – a flat blade and a cross head

· Small wire cutters and strippers

· Electric soldering iron and solder

· Narrow nosed pliers

· Not essential but nice to have – small multi-meter

There are two options on the electronics as I mentioned at first. Buy an amplifier kit, or make your
own from individual components. I’ll describe the easiest option – a kit. I’ll give you a link later, to a
site with details for building from scratch. I can suggest two options on the kit method. The easiest is
a self-contained mono amp module like the Kemo M032 12 watt amplifier, made in Germany and
available in the UK at Maplin (part no N65AW and N66AW). It is a black plastic box with 4 wires
coming out of it. You connect these to: a jack socket, speaker, volume pot and dc supply (9 volt
battery is ideal) which, by the way, do not come with the kit. This building of this type will be what I
describe. The other option is another kit from Maplin – a 7 watt mono amplifier – Velleman K4001 or
the N08AA. This one has about a dozen components to solder onto a small circuit board. This is the
type I first used in my amplifiers. You can’t tell any difference in volume, even though it’s a lower
power rating. I think it has a slightly better sound with a natural distortion at full volume. But is more
complicated (or fun) to construct and for the more advanced builder. So in addition to buying the
modules you will need:

· ¼ inch mono jack socket

· A miniature 10K ohm logarithmic potentiometer (if using the 12 watt ready-made module or
47K if using the 7 watt kit amp but get your amp first to check the values). This is the volume
control. Make sure you get one with a threaded shaft and nut so it can be mounted through
a hole in your cigar box.

· A knob of your choice for the volume pot

· A PP3 battery connector and battery

· Small (about 3-4 inch diameter) 4 or 8 ohm loudspeaker

· A metre of shielded twin audio cable (individual shielding on each wire is best. The inner
wires are usually coloured – one red, one white)

· A metre of some sort of thin insulated wire for the speakers and other connections

· A strip of ‘chocolate block’ type, screw terminal, electrical connectors would be useful too
(see photo below)

You will also need miscellaneous materials such as: scrap plywood, various screws, nuts and bolts,
PVA wood glue and Araldite (two part epoxy resin) glue, some type of speaker grille. The spider web
type on the cover is a computer fan grill. You can buy them at Maplin, described as ‘steel finger grill’
(part no. FS19V is an 80mm diameter one). Other sizes are available. The second amp on the first
page uses a sink drainer sieve from a Pound shop. That’s a bit harder to fit as it protrudes inside the
box and means you need some type of spacer between the box lid and the actual speaker.
Alternatively fashion your own grill from whatever you can find.

The Kemo module has a wiring diagram with it but here are the details anyway. You might want to
start the project by connecting the peripheral components (speaker, battery terminals, jack socket
etc) to the amp, using the ‘choccie’ block strips. If you get it wrong you don’t need to unsolder
everything. You can wire it more permanently later when you fit it to the cigar box, or continue using
them, whatever you prefer. Using four sections of your choccie block, strip about ¼ inch of insulation
from the ends of the four wires from the amp module and connect each one to a separate terminal.
Strip half an inch off the ends of two pieces of insulated wire (about 8 inches long), heat your
soldering iron and solder one end to each lug of your speaker.
Cut two pieces of the screened cable about 8 inches long. I use one length of twin cable and pull
them apart to make two singles. One will be red and one white but the colours don’t matter. These
will be for the input connections from the jack socket and volume pot. You need to use screened
wire to prevent noise and hum. Strip about 1.5 inches of the outer plastic off each one at both ends.
You should now see the bare copper screen wires and the inner insulated one. Strip about ½ an inch
off the inner insulation of the four ends and twist the bare copper strands together like the one
shown below right.

Take one piece (I used red here) and solder one end of the inner wire to the jack socket tip
connector. Solder the copper screen onto the sleeve or collar connector of the socket. It should look
like this below left. Solder the other end of the inner wire to the left hand lug of the volume pot
(seen with the spindle facing you). Attach the screen to the right lug but don’t solder it yet (photo
below right).

Take the other piece of cable, (I’m using the white piece here) and solder one end of the inner wire
to the middle lug on the pot and attach the screen to the right hand lug. It’s also good practice to
solder a short piece of bare wire from the lug with screen wires, to the metal body of the volume
pot. Solder it all up and you should now have one cable connected to the socket at one end and to
the left and right lugs of the pot at the other end. One cable connected to the middle and right lug of
the pot and the other end still free. (Photo below)
Photos below show all the components connected so this is what we’re aiming for now. You’ll see
the four wires coming out of the amp module are marked up from left to right as: (speaker) (input)
(input –ve) and (speaker +ve) which you have already connected to the choccie block. Now connect
one leg of the loudspeaker (either one) to the left hand (speaker) wire of the module. Connect the
free end of the wire (that goes to middle lug on the pot. In my example it’s white) to left (input) wire
on the module. Connect its mate (the copper screen) and the black wire of the battery connector to
the (input –ve) wire of the module. Lastly connect the other loudspeaker wire and the red battery
connector wire to the (speaker +ve) wire on the module.
You’re just about ready to rock. Plug up your electric guitar to the jack socket and connect a PP3
battery to the connector and you should get sound out of the amp. Try the volume pot to see that it
works the right way. If the volume goes down instead of up when you turn it clockwise, then you
have the wiring to outer lugs of the pot the wrong way around. Unsolder and swap them over.

Part Two - Adding a switch and LED

Now we’ve got the basic amp working, we might want to add a power switch and LED so we know
when it’s switched on. Batteries are expensive! You need a single-pole on/off switch and a 5mm LED
– any colour will do. The LEDs usually operate around 2 volts, so we need to ‘drop’ 7 volts from our
9v supply, otherwise it will just burn out. We need a ¼ watt (or higher will do) resistor somewhere in
the range 500-1000 (0.5K-1K) ohms (it’s not crucial). Solder one end of the resistor to one leg of the
LED (doesn’t matter which). The LED will only work one way around when connected up. The easiest
way to find the correct polarity is just to touch one leg of the LED to one post of the battery and the
free end of the resistor to the other. If it doesn’t light up, reverse it. Make a note of which way
around works. (shortest leg to negative)

What we need to do now is insert the switch and LED into the power supply of our amplifier.
Disconnect the red battery wire from the choccie block and solder it to one lug of the switch. On the
other switch lug, solder a short piece of wire (preferably red) and the end of the LED/resistor circuit
that you previously identified as needing to connect to the +ve side of the battery. Connect the new
red wire into the choccie block where you just took the red battery wire off. Solder a piece of black
wire to the remaining end of the LED and connect the other end into the choccie block terminal
where the black –ve wire from the battery goes. This is an extra, so keep all the other wires that are
in there, connected. The switch should now turn the amp on and off and light the LED when it’s on. I
would normally insulate the bare wires of the resistor/LED connection to avoid shorting out. A piece
of plastic earth sleeving slips over nicely. (not shown here).
Now that you have got the electronics working you need to make the case. You might want to re-
wire some of the electronics, once you know where you are putting the various components. Some
wires may need to be longer and some may be excessively long. I’ll leave you to decide, it’s mostly a
case of aesthetics – making it look nice inside as well. As a rule, you want to keep the screened input
cables as short as possible to avoid noise.
 Part Three – The Case
Tool list:

• Coping saw

• Small screwdrivers

• Drill and various diameter wood bits

• Round file (optional)

• Clamps (optional). Those cheap plastic clip clamps that usually come in packs are
ideal and handy for clamping things together whilst glue dries

• Tape measure or ruler

• Pair of compasses (or anything round, the same size as the loudspeaker)

• Pencil

Materials:

• Empty cigar box

• PVA wood glue and 2 part epoxy resin glue (Araldite)

• Small scrap pieces of wood – ply or softwood

• Some type of loudspeaker grille

• 4 Rubber feet

• Handle (optional)

• Various small screws

Acoustically, a cigar box is never going to be the best housing for a loudspeaker, but if you can find a
fairly solid box, it will probably give better results. Bigger boxes will give better sound qualities too. I
like the small but deep, chunky sized Romeo Y Juliet or the cube shaped Cohiba ones. I’ll describe
how I make one in this type of box. You can modify the layout to suit whatever box you use. I usually
put the volume knob and switch together on one of the sides and the loudspeaker in the lid, as that
is the most decorative aspect and looks good. You can lay the components out as you like though.
(See photo below for an inside view of one of mine).
The amp module in this one is of the K4001 type. You can see it consists of the module (centre), PP3
battery to the right and the speaker on the lid. On the left side, top to bottom is the LED, on/off
switch and jack socket. I glued a piece of plywood to the bottom to give some thickness to screw the
module to. The block of wood inside the opening is also glued and gives something to screw the
closed lid onto. Mark 2 has extra blocks on the two sides so the lid can be screwed down in three
places to prevent it from rattling.

The first job is to cut out the hole for the speaker. This is the part most likely to get wrong and spoil
the box, so take your time. I try to find a position for the speaker that will keep some of the lid
design intact. Try it on the inside first before you cut, making sure you’ve allowed enough room for
the mounting lugs to clear the side when the lid is shut. Mark the hole out and drill a pilot hole
through it just inside the area to be removed. You can then insert a coping saw blade through it and
carefully cut it out. Tidy up the hole with a rasp. Position the speaker inside the lid again and mark
out the positions of the mounting screws and drill out. Mount it using M6 bolts, washers and nuts. If
you are using a fan grille like the one on the cover, position, mark, drill and mount that too. If you
want to use a sink drain sieve, it’s a bit more complex as it protrudes inside the box. You will need to
make some sort of spacing ring to go around it, to mount the speaker on. I made one from a piece of
thick MDF. It obviously needs to be slightly thicker than the depth that the drainer protrudes.
Basically, I cut a washer-shaped piece using a coping saw or jigsaw. The inside diameter of the
‘washer’ spacer needs to be slightly wider than the speaker hole. I glued it on the inside of the lid
using PVA wood glue. When it’s set, the speaker then sits on this spacer, which keeps the cone away
from the drainer. The drainer is glued in place with Araldite.

Next job: drill out the holes for the socket, volume pot, switch and LED. There are special plastic
collars for mounting the LED on but I don’t use them. There’s a shoulder on the base of the LED, so
drill the hole exactly the same size as the body, push it into the hole from inside the box and the
shoulder will stop it going any further. Use Araldite to secure it in place. The thinness of the cigar box
makes it difficult to screw anything to it. I use small ply pieces or wooden blocks glued inside for
mounting the amp module, battery and for screwing the lid down when complete. So decide where
you want these components and glue the blocks in place with PVA wood glue.

You can buy various clips or compartments for holding the battery, but I have just used a piece of
double sided Velcro. On the photo you can see it’s just screwed to the plywood, mounting block. On
the mark 2 amp, I made a small enclosure out of thin ply strips, glued to the bottom of the box. This
is just to hold it roughly in place and stop it sliding out of the Velcro. A piece of Velcro is screwed to
the box inside this enclosure. The battery sits inside the enclosure and on top of the Velcro. The two
ends of Velcro are wrapped around the battery and onto themselves, holding it in place.

Now it’s time to fix everything into the box and complete any necessary wiring or soldering. Keep
the screened input cables as short as you can to avoid buzzes and feedback. Make sure there’s
enough length on the speaker wires to allow the box lid to open fully. I like to add a blob of glue here
and there to any wires that are touching the box to prevent rattling. A hot-glue gun is ideal or use
small pieces of masking tape. A handle is a nice addition. I make them out of nylon webbing but use
your imagination – a piece of rope, old drawer handles, leather etc. If using nylon webbing, seal the
ends by melting them slightly with a naked flame. Then drill a couple of holes and bolt them onto
the top of the amp. It’s nice to have some feet on the base as the amps are quite light and tend to
slide around on shiny surfaces. Those small stick-on silicon cushions, used on the inside of kitchen
cupboards, are ideal. You can buy them on a sheet from DIY stores. Lastly once you’ve tested it,
close the lid and screw it down into the blocks you glued earlier. Don’t over tighten them.

Some builders like to use their cigar box amps with the lid slightly open for more bass response, but
I’m not convinced and prefer not to keep opening and shutting the thing. Experiment for yourself
and go with what you prefer. If you would rather play it open, you might need to redesign it so that
it sits on its side and the lid opens like a book. You’d need some sort of catch for easy opening and
closing.

Additional Information
I hope you have had fun making your amplifier and more importantly, it works. With any project like
this, there is always something to learn from and improve on. That’s part of the fun for me. What
next? Once you’ve mastered the basics you can be more adventurous. I have been able to lower the
unit/cost by building a similar amplifier from individually sourced components. If you intend to make
several, it’s worth buying components in small job lots. Ebay is an excellent source for electronic
components - resistors, LEDs, capacitors, etc. There are two designs that you can build this way that
make similar amps. They are lower power rating than the Maplin modules but still adequate for
home/practise use.
Here are a few links to help you build your amplifier. Depending on your skill levels and budgets and
also your location (the amp module suppliers mentioned are in the UK).

Plans for the Smokey type amp can be found at http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/NoisyCricket/

A similar design, Little Gem is here http://www.runoffgroove.com/littlegem.html

This site supplies diagrams, amp modules and even full cigar box amplifier kits. So whatever level of
skill you have, you can buy components or kits to suit. http://guitarfuel.com/

If you haven’t already found them, these two sites are the homes for makers of cigar box
instruments and related hand crafted items. They are both social networking sites with a great
bunch of folks who are always willing to share ideas and help others. Lots of photos, plans, videos
etc. http://www.cigarboxnation.com/ http://handmademusic.ning.com/

This site shows how to build a “Little Gem” practice amp using easily obtainable LM386 chips. Like
the Smokey Tone amps at Beavis Audio, this is for those of you who want to build everything from
individual components. http://www.diyguitarist.com/GuitarAmps/LittleGem.htm

These are the original smokey amps that were built into cigarette boxes. They don’t tell you how to
build them, just interesting to look at. The Beavis Audio smokey tone circuits produce very similar
amps to these. http://www.smokeyamps.com/

If you’re in the USA and looking for the Velleman K4001 7watt amp module that I mentioned in the
booklet, you can find it here. http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/product/view/?id=350529

Again, mainly for our US citizens you can buy the Kemo M032 amp module mentioned in the booklet
and other similar ones here. http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Amplifier-
Modules/0000000724

For individual components you can browse Radioshack. I find most of what I need cheaper on Ebay
though. http://www.radioshack.com/home/index.jsp

The original Smokey amp has an extra jack socket that allows you to plug it into a speaker cab to give
you better sound quality. It has a break switch built into the jack that cuts off the internal speaker.
That’s one upgrade you could consider. The diagrams on the Noisy Cricket website show you what’s
needed to add a gain control (distortion) and switchable tone settings. There are two more options
to play with.

You can think about building amps into other containers as well as cigar boxes such as old tins, other
interesting boxes, old radios and extension speakers. Here are some amplifiers I have built from
other things. Have a look around car boot sales there are rich pickings for your projects. Use your
imagination on what would make a cool looking amplifier. I often pick up small loudspeakers such as
those used for computers, surround sound TVs, car radios, for less than £1. Look for old control
knobs, drawer handles, nylon belts (for making handles or guitar straps for your CBG), sink drainers
and grilles for your speakers, switches etc. Here’s a few of the amps I’ve made for a bit of
inspiration.
Let me know how you get on. I’d love to see photos of your creations. I could feature them on my
blog if you like. Lastly and most of all – have fun!

Copyright – David Ward - aka SMOJO - 2013

SMOJO CIGARBOX GUITARS AND AMPS – handmade by - SMOJO