Wire it up!

I decided to make my Cigar Box Guitar electric!  You can also play it acoustically, but I can plug it into my amp this way too.  It only costs about $6 to make it electric.

This does not use a traditional Magnetic Pickup like you would find in an electric guitar.  It uses a Piezo Transducer.  These are the things that make your smoke alarm beep!  But if you tear them apart and just get the transducer out- it also can pick up vibrations.

Here is what I started with, I needed a Piezo and a 1/4″ jack.

 Next up, I had to take the Piezo apart to get to the part I needed.  You can order just the part you need, but I went to my local Radio Shack- they did not stock that part.

I cut out the circuit board and wired it to my jack:

 Then I mounted it inside by Cigar Box Guitar- for now I just have it taped in place.  I will eventually hot glue it, which gives you a little better sound.  It works by picking up the vibrations the strings make when you play them.