Any questions, suggestions or comments are welcome; just email
mervyn@mapros.co.uk
Welcome to the web site of Mapros, the home of the 3-string Cigar Box Guitar
Mapros guitars are all individually made by hand in a small workshop in deepest, rural Norfolk. They are then strung, set up and photographed with the playing style and action, bridge types and heights being decided on in sunny King’s Lynn.
Our guitars are all totally different from each other. Even if two boxes are identical the stock design, soundhole layout, look of the neck and different colours of wood are always unique and at the whim of the maker. We primarily produce right-handed instruments but are always delighted when a request for a left-handed guitar comes in.
We use two different types of pickup – Humbucker and Piezo – and this alternative is the only thing that affects the price. Humbucker pickups cost £10.00 more than Piezos so the price difference is £10.00, reflecting this.
Piezo pickups have been known to have a problem with feedback at high volume levels but our method of sandwiching the pickup between two pieces of balsa wood before attaching under the bridge is a simple but efficient way of overcoming much of this. So the choice is yours.
The look of our guitars, made from genuine boxes from Cuba, Nicaragua, Trinidad, The Dominican Republic and Ecuador is dependant on the manufacturer of the cigars, and /or the cost of the product the box held. Whether you want a guitar with a traditional, brightly-coloured picture logo front or a more restrained solid box with the manufacturer’s name and details branded into it once again is your choice.
We obtain most of our boxes courtesy of Robert Graham 1874 of Cambridge and La Casa Del Habano, Teddington, London.
