Smokin' guitars

MINSTER - Mitch Barhorst is a man of many passions.

The 50-year-old married father of two college-age children and senior food scientist at Troy's ConAgra Food, known for Slim Jim, Chef Boyardee and a slew of other brand-name products, has tried his hand at car restoration, competitive table tennis and stained glass.

Though it's his latest hobby, creating cigar box instruments, it's really taken hold in his life.

"But cars - a lot of time, a lot of money, and I'm getting too old to crawl under there and try to get a tailpipe out," he said. "This, I already like music and this is low-cost, not hard work - it's all about woodworking, milling and stuff - and it's creative."

In four years, Barhorst, from a workshop at his rural home, has produced 180 cigar box instruments, most of which he's given away for free, to friends, relatives and acts such as British band Mumford & Sons.

He's been infatuated with stringed instruments ever since picking up a dulcimer while stationed in Germany as a U.S. Army medic.

"Thirty years ago I played dulcimers when I was stationed in Germany. And then I picked up the guitar, probably 10, 15 years ago and then after that, the banjo followed with the ukulele and mandolin," he told the newspaper.

Barhorst picked up his son's do-it-yourself magazine and read an article about cigar box guitars.

"We made one together, but it was very, very primitive, and I thought to myself, 'I can go to the next level and just make dulcimers since they're so simple,' " he said.

Today, Barhorst is making what he calls his third generation series of dulcimers, mandolins, ukuleles and guitars, using cigar boxes of Spanish spruce.

"I got the necks where I want them to be," he said. "It's oak and walnut. Most guitars are maple and rosewood, but in a way, I don't like that because everybody has rosewood and I think walnut looks prettier and they know that somebody made it."

He works on a batch of four instruments at a time. Due to the time required for the glue to dry, it takes a few weeks for the instruments to be finished, Barhorst said.

"These medium-sized (boxes) are good for the ukulele, the dulcimers, but not for the six-string, big body ones," he said, pointing out he buys bigger boxes in bulk from Fort Lauderdale.

He crafts the instrument necks as narrowly as possible.

"So when you hold it, it (feels) like a Gibson," he said. "It's all about the feel and how close can you get those strings to the fret without rasping - I'm getting real close (to the ideal)."

Then, he adds the instrument parts such as the bridge, strings, head and the pickups, which capture and convert vibrations to signals for an amplifier.

Some of his instruments can be played acoustically, and others can be plugged into an amplifier for an electrified sound.

A majority of his creations are given as gifts to buddies.

"I'm not in it for the money, because once you get money, now it's a job, now you have a deadline," he said.

If people insist on paying, Barhorst tells them to give it to a charity.

"I don't want money to hinder my hobby," he said.

What Barhorst doesn't want is for someone just to hang his instruments on the wall for decoration. They're meant to be played, he said.

"My goal is for them to pick it up and say, 'Yeah, this is just like my Fender,' " he said.

He also gives away his instruments to his musical idols, such as John Prine, Hunter Hayes, Paul Thorn and Todd Snider, oftentimes backstage at a concert.

Barhorst customizes each instrument to replicate the specifications of the ones routinely used by the famous musicians who receive his creations.

"I find out what type of guitar he uses ... then I find out the scale size, the radius and then I build one just like that," he said. "(Todd Snider) plays a lot of bluesy bass so what I did was I modified my strings so it accommodates to his play."

When Mumford & Sons' Gentlemen of the Road Stopover music festival took over Troy during a weekend in 2013, he built three instruments he gave the band backstage, including a five-string banjo to Winston Marshall.

"He was amazed and he never let it down," Barhorst said.

Barhorst enjoys how the artist responds to his gift in the first five seconds.

He's working on a cigar box guitar he hopes to hand over to Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl when the band plays the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, Ind., this summer.

As Barhorst continues to hone his skills - with the support of his wife, Jill, - he's still not sure which direction he'll pursue in the future. He'd like to partner with a music venue to build custom guitars for the artists performing there.

Though he continues to play himself, he doesn't yearn to be on the big stage himself.

"When it comes to (playing) guitar, (it's) three people in Troy, every other week, which I enjoy," he said. "Some people always tell me I need to go in front of people and play ... that's not my drive or passion. I like just going around, just a couple of people, and just doing some simple songs and just feeling it."

He's also teaching a few guitar chords to his nephew in McCartyville.

"Once you're in the rhythm, I'm singing a little bit and look at him, then he sings a little bit, I just enjoy that, just the interaction," he said. "What else are you going to do with your nephew?"

To view more of Barhorst's inventive cigar box guitars, visit his Facebook page at Guitars by Mitch Barhorst.