cigar box query

[mickeyj4j]

I have a cigar box. It is made of thin 3mm ply. I was wondering if this is common for cigar boxes or can you get them thicker?
I was wanting to use it as an electric stompbox/footdrum I doubt this will stand up to me stomping on it for very long. I could be wrong with this assumption.
Box
Brand: Henri Wintermans, Corona De Lux, founders blend
Length: 230mm
Width: 150mm
Hight: 35mm
If i cant use for a stompbox what is a good use for this box for a novice woodworker who wants to make an instrument of some kind. Is there a good source of good quality, not to expensive, guitar necks to use and what length would I need.

Also what other type of boxes should I be looking for to use as a stompbox.

Thanks in advance to the community for your ideas tips and tricks you may share.

[Nick]

Hi Mickey, the cigar boxes I regularly use are usually 5mm thickness all round (top, sides and base). If you want to make a stomp box I'd personally use a box with this thicker dimension and probably go for a box made from Ply (with the laminations it would be more hardy to the rigors of being thumped and resist breaking). Some are made from MDF or a combination of Ply back & sides and an MDF or Hardboard lid and usually have a paper covering, in the case of ply back and sides, usually the lid is fully paper covered, the all MDF, hardboard ones are typically covered all over so you can't see the feature less wood! The ply boxes are usually left natural with wood burnt labeling or they can sometimes have a paper label. If you get a couple of cheap Piezo discs and glue them to the underside of the top it should be Ok as a quick and simple stomp box, you probably wouldn't want to stomp too hard, I'm no expert but I could see the possibility of the piezo's overloading the input on the Amp.
You could always use the box you have for a cigar box guitar (which is what I do)? Here's a site that links to everything cigar box guitar'y. They're really simple to make a basic CBG and real fun and easy to play
Here's a couple I've made. A four string tuned open G

IMG_2452.jpg (92.18 KiB) Viewed 3839 times

and a five string reso tuned to an open A

IMG_2627.jpg (75.47 KiB) Viewed 3839 times

[mickeyj4j]

Hi Mickey, the cigar boxes I regularly use are usually 5mm thickness all round (top, sides and base). If you want to make a stomp box I'd personally use a box with this thicker dimension and probably go for a box made from Ply (with the laminations it would be more hardy to the rigors of being thumped and resist breaking). Some are made from MDF or a combination of Ply back & sides and an MDF or Hardboard lid and usually have a paper covering, in the case of ply back and sides, usually the lid is fully paper covered, the all MDF, hardboard ones are typically covered all over so you can't see the feature less wood! The ply boxes are usually left natural with wood burnt labeling or they can sometimes have a paper label. If you get a couple of cheap Piezo discs and glue them to the underside of the top it should be Ok as a quick and simple stomp box, you probably wouldn't want to stomp too hard, I'm no expert but I could see the possibility of the piezo's overloading the input on the Amp.

Great info thanks. I think I will look for a jewelry box or even make one myself.
In regards to stompboxes. I have run some tests using a piece of wood. piezo pickups are ok and don't overload the amp. But they lack any real bass. Old speakers a are the way to go and they sound much better. I have an 8ohm 10w subwoofer from an old set of computer speakers which works great. Connect + & - wires from speaker to + & - of the jack plug and you get a great sound I used my Behringer BDI21 bass guitar pedal/di and it gives me ability to tweak the sound. If your interested there are many diy stompbox videos on YouTube take a look.

Making a double tap stompbox the piezo is good for a higher sound and speakers for a lower one. You can even find good diy stompbox kits on ebay or check out Peterman stompboxes he has good diy kits.