As you may have noticed, I have recently acquired an interest in cigar box guitars. While I have heard of them before, I didn’t really pay much attention to them. I have only begun to appreciate the art involved in making these guitars.
Will Sluetal, on the other hand, has been at it for quite some time. He is from Grand Haven, Michigan, and claims that he can make an excellent musical instrument given four hours and a whole lot of passion and talent. I must say, his work supports his claim.
Sluetal’s day job is the chief mechanic of the Grand Haven Department of Public Works. The skills that are integral to his day job are carried over to his passion, the creation of a wide variety of musical instruments from guitar boxes. Guitars, ukeleles, madolins, drums, and other “unnamed†instruments – these are only some of Sluetal’s works of art. Oh, and everything he creates is electric.
So does this mean that he is an avid cigar smoker? Well, he does smoke but he does not have to spend a fortune in cigars to obtain all the boxes that he needs and wants. He does have the smarts. What Sluetal did – and does – was to make guitars for the presidents of cigar companies. He gave these as gifts and he has been amply compensated with all the empty cigar boxes that he needs.
If you want one of his works, you can visit Elderly Instruments in Lansing and Surroundings in Manistee. Make sure you have about $125!