Fully Printed Electric Guitar

myminifactory

The body and neck of this revolutionary electric guitar were precision-printed on a state-of-the-art Flash Forge. The neck boasts an innovative design featuring two carbon fiber tubes set firmly in place with epoxy, replacing traditional truss rods. To further fortify the neck, the infill areas of the print were expertly infiltrated with epoxy resin. This sleek neck-through body configuration allows makers to craft their desired body shape without altering the core structure. The first prototype plays decently well, although room for improvement remains. Therefore, this project should be viewed as a work in progress and a word of caution to fellow makers: proceed with caution. I conceived this project primarily as an experiment to push the boundaries of 3D printing technology rather than create a playable instrument. This guitar boasts several cutting-edge features: A 3D printed neck reinforced with ultra-sturdy carbon fiber. Epoxy infiltration as a pioneering strengthening technique. A 3D printed fingerboard featuring precisely crafted slots for fretwire. I developed an openSCAD script to generate fretboards of any scale length, giving makers unparalleled flexibility. Intricate 3D printed inlays adorn the headstock and fingerboard. While these could be achieved using dual extrusions, printing them separately and assembling them proved a more efficient approach. The neck and body sections are seamlessly joined using 3mm filament stubs for precise alignment. Having completed this project, I can confidently assert that, at present, printing the neck is no longer a worthwhile endeavor due to the availability of superior stock guitar necks at a lower cost. However, that was never the objective. The body design requires excessive support to produce satisfactory results when printed on an FDM machine. We extensively discussed this project and many other 3D printing innovations on the 3D Printing Today podcast, available for download on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, or directly from our source at http://threedprintingtoday.libsyn.com/.