Bone FISH Creations

Bone FISH Creations Handcrafted stringed instruments made from cigar boxes, fuel cans, license plates, and more. Playable art with a rustic soul. Custom orders available!

Custom builds, unique designs, and one-of-a-kind sound. Bone Fish Creations specializes in handcrafted, one-of-a-kind stringed instruments made from repurposed materials like cigar boxes, fuel cans, and license plates. Each build is a playable work of art, designed for musicians, collectors, and those who appreciate rustic craftsmanship. No two guitars are the same, but every piece is built with soul and passion.

Fresh Off the Bench – Custom Padron 3000 Baritone UkuleleAnother handcrafted instrument completed in the Bone Fish Creat...
06/14/2026

Fresh Off the Bench – Custom Padron 3000 Baritone Ukulele

Another handcrafted instrument completed in the Bone Fish Creations shop.

Built around a beautiful Padron 3000 cigar box, this custom baritone ukulele combines traditional craftsmanship with a unique cigar box aesthetic.

Features:
• Padron 3000 cigar box body
• Baritone scale neck
• Rosewood fretboard
• Bone nut and saddle
• Floating bridge and tailpiece design
• 2” Sun Ray sound hole with decorative grommet
• Internal pickup with 250K volume control
• 1/4” output jack for amplification
• Black sealed machine-head tuners
• Antiqued corner hardware
• Strap buttons installed and ready to play

The warm wood tones of the Padron box paired with the dark rosewood fretboard and black hardware give this build a clean, classic look while maintaining the character that makes cigar box instruments so unique.

Handcrafted one at a time in Bloomington, Indiana.

Bone Fish Creations
“Playable Art”

06/13/2026

Now Available — “BAN ONE”

One of my latest builds is officially looking for a new home.

Built around an original 1976 Georgia “BAN ONE” license plate, this 4-string electric guitar was inspired by Smokey and the Bandit and the legendary Jerry Reed classic, East Bound and Down.

One of my favorite details on this build is the Padauk fretboard, engraved with the lyric:

“East Bound and Down…”

Features include:

• Ghosted humbucker pickup hidden beneath the plate
• Volume and tone controls with custom acorn nut k***s
• Hand-fabricated aluminum tailpiece
• Chrome hardware
• Poplar neck with Padauk fretboard and headstock accents
• Mahogany sides with a bookmatched redwood back
• Rivet fret markers along the player’s side
• Bone Fish Creations branding and glass cabochon details

This one is fully playable, sounds great, and is truly one of a kind.

I enjoy building guitars that tell a story, and this one captures a little piece of American road-trip nostalgia.

📍 Bloomington, Indiana

Message me if you’d like additional photos, a sound sample, or more information.

Bone Fish Creations
“Playable Art”



06/10/2026

Neck Glue-Up on a New Cigar Box Uke Build

A little behind-the-scenes look at mating a ukulele neck to a cigar box body.

Before the neck ever gets glued in place, I scrape away the clear finish from the top of the box, leaving about 1/16” inside my layout line. This exposes bare wood and gives the glue a proper surface to bite into. The neck is then glued, cinched down with the hanger bolt, and clamped until everything cures.

One thing worth noting—I don’t rely on the hanger bolt to secure the neck to the body. Its primary job is alignment and clamping pressure during assembly. The glue joint is what ultimately creates the strength and rigidity of the neck-to-body connection.

This build is using a beautiful Bering Imperial cigar box featuring box-jointed corners, attractive wood grain, and a thin wooden bottom that should make an excellent soundboard. The sound hole has been opened up and will eventually be covered with a vintage-style VW Beetle horn grille, giving it a little automotive character while maintaining good acoustic response.

Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

For something a little outside my normal lane, I created this double-neck fretless guitar for Alex Lechner as part of th...
06/01/2026

For something a little outside my normal lane, I created this double-neck fretless guitar for Alex Lechner as part of this spring’s Great CBG Builder Swap.

Alex is known for his Frankenstein and steampunk-inspired creations, so I wanted to build something that felt like it belonged in his world. What started as an old oil tin can was cut apart, torched, weathered, stitched back together with copper and steel, and brought back to life as a playable instrument.

The result became FBX-XIII (Franken Box Xperiment – Swap 13), featuring dual fretless necks, a railroad spike bridge, a stitched oil can body, a spark plug tailpiece, and plenty of salvaged parts woven into the build.

This project challenged me to step outside my usual style and trust the story the guitar wanted to tell. In the end, I gained a whole new appreciation for Alex’s creative approach to turning forgotten objects into something entirely new.

Here are a few photos of the finished piece. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed building it.

An old friend made its way back into the shop today — #123 Undercrown 6-String Cigar Box Guitar.The owner mentioned it h...
05/16/2026

An old friend made its way back into the shop today —
#123 Undercrown 6-String Cigar Box Guitar.

The owner mentioned it had developed a little string buzz. After checking it over, I found the high E saddle screws on the hardtail bridge had slowly worked themselves loose from good old-fashioned playing time.

Easy fix.

A touch of clear fingernail polish on the threads to act as a mild thread locker should keep everything where it belongs without making future adjustments difficult.

While it’s on the bench, it will also be getting:
• fret level and redress
• nut adjustment to fine tune the action
• fresh cleanup and conditioning
• a little Lumberjack Lard treatment
• and a fresh set of strings

Always good seeing one of these guitars come back with some honest wear from being played instead of hanging untouched on a wall.

— Bone Fish Creations

05/02/2026

Go to a VDub campout at Bill Monroe Music Park-Campground and see that one of the mandolins I last constructed is there and getting some play time by one of the Artist playing in the woods.

Introducing the Bowtie-SixA one-off 6-string resonator built from a Chevrolet hubcap, bar stool top, and a whole lot of ...
04/30/2026

Introducing the Bowtie-Six
A one-off 6-string resonator built from a Chevrolet hubcap, bar stool top, and a whole lot of garage thinking. Chrome, wood, steel, and tone.

Handbuilt in Indiana by Bone Fish Creations.

Playable art. Built to be heard.

See ya’ll tomorrow
04/25/2026

See ya’ll tomorrow

Thanks to Jordan Ross, (hope you don’t mind me sharing),I had no idea Bloomington had this many weekly open mic opportun...
04/18/2026

Thanks to Jordan Ross, (hope you don’t mind me sharing),
I had no idea Bloomington had this many weekly open mic opportunities. Sharing for musicians, music lovers, and anyone wanting to support local live music.

Also selfishly… I’d love to find some jam sessions and let people check out a few Bone Fish Creations builds.

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Bloomington, IN
47408

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