If you can’t find the best pickup for cigar box guitar or bass, look no further. You are in the right place, and we are ready to help you make an informed decision.
Are you a music connoisseur looking for a quick and straightforward way to make your 3- or 4-string cigar box guitar sounds like a vintage Strat or Gibson?
Then you can pick and choose from a wide range of prewired piezoelectric and prewired compact single-coil humbuckers style pickups. These prewired magnetic pickups specially designed for homemade stringed instruments such as cigar box guitars come fully soldered and assembled.
That means you can shove the pickup directly into your instrument’s cavity without having to carry out any wiring or soldering. These pickups are available wired directly to an output jack, tone, and volume potentiometers and cost significantly less than high-end pickups designed for American vintage- and NOS guitars. Once you successfully mount the pickup in your cigar box guitar, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the well-rounded warm response.
So, let’s take a look at our list of the top five pickups for cigar box guitar available on the market at the moment.
Best Pickups for Cigar Box Guitar/Bass (Comparison Table)
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| C.B. Gitty "Electric Delta" 3-String Pickup (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | C.B. Gitty Soapbar P-90 Pickup (Close Runner-Up) | Check Price |
 | C.B. Gitty 4-String Single-Coil Pickup (Best for 4-String CBGs) | Check Price |
 | C.B. Gitty “DeltaBucker Deluxe” 3-String Pickup (Best for Blues) | Check Price |
 | Kesoto 3-String Pickup (Afforable Alternative to C.B. Gitty) | Check Price |
1. C.B. Gitty “Electric Delta” 3-String Pickup (Editor’s Choice)
There used to be a time when the cigar box guitar gave the legendary Stratocaster a run for its money. If you’re someone who specializes in playing musical genres using a cigar box and want to fine-tune the strings’ tonal range, then go for the C.B. Gitty 3-String Pickup. This 3-pole pickup has been designed exclusively for mounting on a 3-string cigar box guitar.
Installing the “Electric Delta” pickup in your cigar box bass or guitar is a breeze – you don’t have to solder or wire this pickup. Instead, all you need to do is carefully push the pickup inside the guitar and then connect it to an amp. This supremely affordable cigar box pickup by C.B. Gitty features a meticulously chiseled and laser-cut wooden covering for the bobbin.
Additionally, the pickup comes prewired, perfectly compatible with a mono jack with a 12” secured lead wire. This full-scale Electric Delta pickup comes with both tone and volume pots, thereby guaranteeing better flexibility in tuning your guitar. Finally, this 3-pole C.B. Gitty Electric Delta pickup includes chroming mounting screws for installing it inside your electric cigar box guitar.
It’s the best 3-string cigar box guitar pickup, in our opinion.
Features
- 3-pole pickup specially created for 3-string cigar box guitar
- Output jack, volume, and tone pots included
- Top and bottom bobbin plate dimensions: 1 15/16” x 5/8”; 2 9/16” x 1”
- Height of pickup: 11/16” (17mm)
- Total pole spread and pole spacing (center to center): 7/8” (22mm); 7/16” (11mm)
Pros
- Soldering and wiring are not required for mounting as it comes prewired; easy installation
- Mounting this pickup ensures delivery of a snarling single-coil tenor
- High-quality pickup made in the US
- Very pocket-friendly
Cons
- Many customers have reported that they didn’t hear any sound after plugging the jack into the amp.
2. C.B. Gitty Soapbar P-90 Pickup (Close Runner-Up)
The C.B. Gitty Soapbar P-90 Pickup is a vintage-style magnetic single-coil pick that can work as a new or replacement pickup on cigar box guitars and electric basses.
This pickup has been designed and engineered painstakingly to resemble and sound like the classic “P90” pickup. You bet you’ll mistake this C.B. Gitty soap bar pickup for the archetypal P90 pickup that was all the rage during roll and roll’s golden era.
With a rating of 8.71Kohm, this pickup has a built-in ferrite magnet and comes with chrome-finish rivets and springs for hassle-free mounting. Also included are two premium 250Kῼ Bourns pots (potentiometers)-one for volume and another for tone and a Neutrik output jack. C.B. Gitty offers these P90-style soap bar pickups at very low rates as the company purchases the components in bulk and solders the parts on an assembly line.
Features
- Prewired P90-style soap bar pickup for cigar box guitars and electric basses
- Setup includes tone and volume pots and output cable
- Components purchased en-masse from overseas and assembled in the US
Pros
- Delivers a vintage P-90 soap bar tone that reminds you of the heyday of rock and roll
- Compatible with cigar box- as well as modern-day electric guitars
Cons
- Since you’ve to screw it firmly into your guitar’s frame, you’ll need to ensure the cavity is nicely routed.
3. C.B. Gitty 4-String Single-Coil Pickup (Best for 4-String Guitar Box Guitars)
3-string cigar box guitars are much more common among the fans, and that’s why we talk mostly about them. However, there are many good pickups for 4-string guitars and the best one is definitely this model.
If you want your 4-string cigar box guitar to emulate the sound of a vintage-style Stratocaster, then choose this versatile C. B. Gitty prewired pickup.
This astounding prewired magnetic pickup designed for 4-string instruments mounts easily onto your electric bass or cigar box guitar without any wiring or soldering. In addition, the 4-string single-coil pickup harness by C.B. Gitty features a rimmed black plastic base plate to facilitate simple surface mounting on your instrument.
This C.B. Gitty pickup harness is wired or attuned to 500k volume and mini tone (capacitor included) potentiometers or pots. The wired tone and volume pots are, in turn, wired to the mono output jack. In addition, black plastic volume and tone controls are included together with the hardware for mounting.
Features
- It comes prewired with tone and volume pots
- Compatible with any 4-string guitar or bass
- It comes mounted in the plastic mounted ring for straightforward installation
Pros
- Ready-to-install prewired magnetic single-coil pickup
- You don’t have to worry about wiring or soldering for mounting this pickup
- The black flanged plastic base plate makes for easier mounting
Cons
- Some players have complained that they received a dead pickup.
4. C.B. Gitty “DeltaBucker Deluxe” 3-String Pickup (Best for Blues)
You don’t have to look beyond the C.B. Gitty DeltaBucker Deluxe 3-String Pickup if you want your potted cigar box instrument to sound like a Strat or Les Paul. This DeltaBucker humbucker style pickup enables your cigar box bass to belt out hot and robust 9.22k sounds via Alnico magnets. In addition, C.B Gitty’s Deltabuckers come in perfectly handy for letting your instrument reproduce magnificently tacky tones befitting deep electric blues.
Installing the DeltaBucker Deluxe in your stringed instrument is wonderfully easy; thrust the piece inside your masterpiece and connect it to an amp. The best thing about mounting this pickup is that you do away with the hassles of wiring and soldering the device. Instead, your DeltaBucker has an etched wooden bobbin fully prewired to a mono output jack cable having a 15” enclosed lead and 4” lead linking the volume and tone controls, respectively.
Features
- Prewired humbucker pickup with volume and tone potentiometers
- Explicitly made for 3-string cigar box guitars
- 9.22 k Ohms impedance rating
- Alnico 5 magnets
Pros
- Integrated Maple ring helps in more straightforward and quicker installation
- Prewired tone and volume controls eliminate the need for soldering and wiring
- Includes hardware for installation
- Best blues pickup for cigar box guitar on our list
- There is a 4-string version of this great pickup but we haven’t tested it yet
Cons
- May not fit smaller acoustic guitars with smaller than standardized soundholes
- Works only with guitars having steel strings
5. Kesoto 3-String Pickup
The Kesoto 3-String Pickup is one of the most affordable pickups for cigar box guitars that we have reviewed in this article. This 3-pole pickup for 3-string CGB or any other homemade stringed instrument has been skillfully crafted out of maple wood. In addition, the pickup comes prewired with volume and tone control knobs that are adjustable.
This 3-string pickup from Kesoto comes with mounting hardware, including screws, springs, and output cable.
Features
- Prewired maple pickup for 3-string cigar box guitar (CGB) with tone and volume pots
- Extremely lightweight
- Very durable and permeable maple material
Pros
- Adjustable tone and volume pots
- Waxed and sealed strings shield the bobbins that in turn protect the coils
- Supremely affordable
Cons
- Besides influencing sound produced by strings, other aspects that affect tonal quality remain uninfluenced.
How to Put a Pickup in a Cigar Box Guitar?
Humbucker vs. Single Coil Pickup for Cigar Box Guitar
Let’s be honest, the single-coil pickup in your cigar box guitar will never enable your instrument to reproduce the vintage-style soundstage that original classic Schecter, Stratocaster, or Les Paul deliver.
However, if you use a humbucker or humbucker-style single-coil pickup, you can come close to emulating that warm, rounded sound. Nevertheless, you’ll first need to mount the humbucking pickup in the right way to ensure that your cigar box guitar (or boss, it doesn’t matter) simulates a decent soundstage.
This beginner guide walks you through a detailed description of how to install a magnetic humbucker-style single-coil pickup in your 3- or 4-string cigar box guitar or bass.
Essential Tools for Installing a Pickup in a Cigar Box Guitar
Before you start, keep the following tools handy:
- Scriber
- File
- Screwdriver
- Bits and drills
- Measuring tape or ruler
- Razor knife
- Painter’s tape
And, of course, keep your pickup with a mounting ring at hand. The pickup will go inside the hollowed-out section of the cigar box guitar, which lies in the instrument’s neck position.
Cigar Box Guitar Pickup Placement (Instruction):
- Stick the painter’s tape on the lid to ensure that you have a distinct façade to mark your measurements.
- Determine the box lid’s central point using the centering ruler and mark the point on the painter’s tape.
- Next, draw a perfectly straight line running through the center that’ll perpendicularly bisect the line you drew earlier. Now position the routing template for pickup atop the lid for aligning it with the lines you’ve drawn. The template offers you a concrete idea of the size of the pickup hole.
- After that, use the ruler for marking the center of the mounting ring’s longer side and move the ring carefully for squaring it with the lines at right angles to each other.
- Stab four holes in the box lid using the scriber via the holes at the four corners of the pickup’s ring.
- After that, use the razor knife with extreme caution for combing through the pickup lines and cut out the cavity for the pickup using a handsaw.
- Next, clean the edging of the cut-out in the lid and boreholes where the mounting screws will go in.
- Peel off the painter’s tape cautiously to unwrap entirely and then bevel the holes for the ring mounting screws.
- File the pickup ring’s inner edges to make sure that the piece goes through quickly.
- Now again, fill the edges of the pickup’s hole to ensure that the springs pass through effortlessly.
- Next, install the screws into the pickup ring and position the springs on the rivets.
- Using your left hand to hold the screws, get your right hand to position the mounting tabs to bring them in line with the screws.
- Thread one of the mounting screws through the tab to keep the pickup in position.
- Thread the screws into the mounting tabs on the other sides of the pickup and tighten the rivets.
Done! You installed the pickup successfully in your cigar box guitar.
Conclusion: The Best Pickup for Cigar Box Guitar Is…
In this review on ‘Best Pickup for Cigar Box Guitar,’ we looked closely at four pickups from C.B. Gitty and one from Kesoto. There’s not much to differentiate between these pickups in terms of quality and performance, so you can choose anyone you prefer.
Which is the best pickup for cigar box guitar overall?
Our pick? We would probably go for the “Electric Delta” pickup. It’s probably the best pickup for cigar box guitar or bass on the market. This little pup comes at a very low price and still gets the job done.
Though you don’t need to solder or wire the pickup as it comes prewired with all the components soldered, you have to mount it properly for putting it to optimum use.