Clip the fret wire. Cut it almost flush with the neck. Repeat Steps 2d and 2e until all frets are installed. I installed 21 frets on my cigar box guitar.

File the ends of the frets. The cut ends of the fret wires are very jagged and would shred your hands if you attempted to play without filing them smooth. Use a file to form a gentle curve on both ends of each fret. (If you have a store-bought guitar handy, inspect it to see how the frets should look.) Run your hand up and down the neck. If your skin snags, you need to keep filing! Use a magnifying glass and look for any small burrs that need to be filed off with a jeweler’s file.

Study the geometry of your tuning pegs and determine where the headstock holes need to be drilled so that the strings and pegs won’t interfere with each other. Keep in mind the location of the mounting screws — they shouldn’t be too close to the edge of the headstock, or they might split the wood.

For each peg, drill a large hole for the post and 2 small pilot holes for the mounting screws. A drill press will make things easier, but if you use a handheld drill, try your best to drill straight down.

TIPS: Be sure to mount the pegs so their winding shafts are above the gears, not below. That way, your guitar will stay in tune longer. Also, when you drill the holes for the posts, use drill bits made for wood. I used the wrong kind of bit and it tore out big splinters.

Cut a hole (a 3-sided notch) in one end of the box for the neck. Measure the cross section of the part of the neck that fits inside the cigar box, and draw a matching rectangle on the inside of the box.

Use a coping saw to cut the 2 vertical lines, then use a utility knife to score the horizontal line several times until you can snap off the rectangle. Insert the neck, close the lid, and make sure the fretboard is flush with (or a tiny bit higher than) the lid.

If the fretboard is lower than the lid, sand down the cut-out part of the neck that comes into contact with the lid until the fretboard is flush with (or a tiny bit higher than) the lid.

Now we’ll screw the neck to the box. I try to use as little glue as possible when I make a cigar box guitar because I don’t like waiting for the glue to dry, and screws make it easy to take the guitar apart for repairs, modifications, or salvage.

Drill a pilot hole in the far end of the box and drive a screw through the box into the neck. Close the lid and then pilot-drill and drive 2 more screws through the lid of the box into the neck (if you later want to install a pickup, you can easily remove these screws).

Attach the tailpiece. Fold the cabinet hinge centered over the front lower edge of the cigar box, then drill pilot holes and screw it to the lower end of the box. The hinge will sit over the screw you inserted in the previous step.

Now that the neck is complete, the rest is smooth sailing!

Paint position marker dots on the neck. Use paint or a Sharpie to make dots above frets 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12.