Hamilton man crafts homemade guitars, but can't play them

Paul Bottos is part of cigar box guitar revival

By Adam Carter, CBC News

Posted: Jul 16, 2013 7:30 AM ET

Last Updated: Jul 16, 2013 10:22 AM ET

 

Paul Bottos is a little bit like a Dr. Frankenstein who doesn't know what to do with his own monster.

The 49-year-old from Hamilton makes cigar box guitars — handmade, homemade instruments concocted from spare parts of all kinds.

But he doesn't know how to play.

Paul Bottos has been making cigar box guitars for three years. (Adam Carter/CBC)

"I've always been surrounded by musicians," Bottos said. "My gift is to make them. It excites me to see artists do unique things with it."

But he's never felt the urge to learn to play himself. In fact, the first time he hears one of his own guitars is the first time another musician plugs it in. He's picked up three or four chords over the years, "but I've never played a whole song all the way through."

The hobby started innocuously enough three years ago. A friend sent him some shots of a cigar box guitar online and he immediately thought, "I think I can do that."

Cigar boxes, tin cans and shower drains

He took apart one of his son's guitars and made a crude first model — but it was pretty raw, he says. The intonation and string tension was all wrong, and it was virtually unplayable.

But he didn't get discouraged, and kept going. He's made about 25 guitars by now, all to varying degrees of success. Some are made from cigar boxes, others from knife boxes. One even has a shower drain and a tin can in it.

"The neck broke off that one once," he said.

They're never planned. The pickups, necks and electronics are whatever he can find, coupled with parts from yard sales and Canadian Tire. The whole thing is an escape — Bottos works in a maximum security psychiatric facility for young offenders, which can be draining some days, he says.

"This is just so far removed from what I do," he said. "It's therapeutic."

Though his guitars have been for sale, it's not really a business. He makes them because he loves them, and if someone buys it, then great. (Some of his creations are on sale at Humble Pie on James Street North.) The guitars sell for about $200 and up.

"I just don't want to be forced to make something because I have to, or make something twice. This is just fun for me."

A musical revival

Cigar box guitars have been around since the late 1800s. They were used in blues and jug bands, as makeshift versions of "real" instruments played by people who just couldn't afford them.

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

Tom Wilson from Blackie and the Rodeo Kings playing one of Bottos' creations. (Paul Bottos/Cigarboxnation.com)

There's also the yearly Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza in Huntsville, Ala., celebrating the instrument. But it's not just a hobby. Big names like Tom Waits, Paul McCartney and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top have played cigar box instruments.

Bottos is the kind of guy that sees rock music with a kind of hushed awe. Bands like Led Zeppelin and Rush are huge in his world. "Page and Lifeson are heroes to me," he said.

That's why it was a big deal when Tom Wilson of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Junkhouse fame invited him into his home to see some of his work.

"I walk in with six guitars and he's got Junos everywhere and I'm just in awe," Bottos said.

Some see Bottos' work as purely artistic. And while it's true that it's a visual-first medium for him, that couldn't be farther from the truth, he says.

"This isn't art," he said. "I want people to pull these off the walls and play them. They need to be touched and banged around and played."

"I'm not a luthier, nor would I ever confess to be one," he said.

"This is just fun for me."

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