I love how this project is really exploring the extremes of what becomes possible when you can design and customize every millimeter of a guitar -- it's taking risks and producing something really unique. Many of the other 3d printed guitars I've seen on youtube are fairly unambitious and seem to only go far enough to answer the question "can you 3d print a guitar?" -- but this one is the first to provide good reason WHY 3d printing might provide unique benefits for such a project. Can't wait to see where this goes, and I hope it inspires others to pursue similar levels of creativity.
A thoughtful response is the best gift you can give a creator, positive or otherwise. You really nailed the "why" better than I could articulate. Thank you so much.
I play a 7-string, but also am a nerd and 3D print enthusiast. By all means, spill the technobabble. I'd like to rub it in my ex-guitarist's face when I fully 3d print my own axe and shred. This is the first episode of yours I was suggested and watched so gotta ask what filament you're using for the project? I know Bambulabs new HF PETG is geting a lot of good chatter about it and imagine something along those lines to handle the tension, but seeing as you're doing an amazing job so far, I can only imagine you tested this and have some insight on what works and what doesn't. I assembled a few fully 3d printed ukeleles out of PLA about 2 years ago and being able to add my own skull-based designs to the body and head stock made the whole project sick af. And for less tension and no need for a tension rod, they played well enough to stand up to moderate abuse. Lol. Frankly speaking, give it about 20 years and 3d printed instruments will be as commonly available as everything else we take for granted now that practically no one used 20 years ago (cell phones, interwebs, etc). So you're def on the trailblazing path of giants others will stand upon the shoulders of. Keep at it mang, it's inspiring for sure.
Hell yeah man. Yeah I've seen several mentions that people want to see a deeper dive, so maybe I'll do a long long-form video going into the excruciating details. As far as filament, I used plane old PLA. Someone else asked and I was stunned when I realized that I didn't put it in the video because this project started by me not only testing the viability of 3D printing a neck, but I also wanted to try the most basic material and step up from there if it didn't work. True that I have tested a lot, but if the PLA doesn't work or warps over time, I'll definitely be checking out the HF PETG. Do you have anything online showing off the ukes? I'd love to see 'em. Even if all of this works, I still have to stress test it, watch it for warping over time, and expose it to normal temp variations to see if it's affected. If by some miracle it's stable, could be pretty exciting to see where the community can take it from here. I'm cautiously optimistic but we'll see. Thanks again for the input man!
@@metalheadmaker Guitar MAX did a video demonstrating how strong a (probably badly made) Chibson neck is, maybe you could do a similar stress test on a 3D printed neck? Max sat on the neck while holding dumbbells (200+ lbs of weight) and it didn't break, so there's a benchmark to aim for! PLA is known to creep over time when loaded and can fail rather abruptly, I think PETG and ABS or ASA would be more suitable, though PETG is usually easier to print. Another option I've seen used was an aluminium extrusion in a 3D printed neck, though I suspect that may be too solid and prevent the adjustment of neck relief using a truss rod.
This is awesome. I have no doubt the 3D printed neck will be strong enough, especially with those carbon rods. Using software and 3D printing to basically replace the wood and woodworking skills normally required in guitar building would open up so many possibilities. Can't wait to see this finished!
Interested to see how the neck turns out! I'm GASing for a baritone iceman and I own a 3d printer, although I don't think I'll have the print volume for the neck - I guess you're using a CR10 or something like that for the build volume?
Woo me too! I bet you could split the neck and make it work if the joint was well thought out. But I definitely wouldn't bother until you let me make all of the mistakes first and report back. lol! Yep, a CR10.
The primary concern with 3D printed necks is stability over time. A 6 string set of 010 gauge strings over a 25.5" scale exerts around 114.5 lbs of tension over the neck and body for example. While steel and carbon fiber are fairly insensitive to high tension, plastic isn't and it's not out of the question the neck might deform over time due to heat stress. One solution which could help, but steers away from the whole 3D printed aspect of it would be laminating the neck with fiberglass or carbon fiber to add stiffness.
Yeah all of that is totally a possible outcome. Just pushing boundaries to see how far I can take it. Also, with the carbon fiber strips and truss rod, I'm hopeful that it'll stabilize as long as I keep it out of heat.
Hey man, greetings from England. This very much has my interest as a fellow metal head, 3d printing Arduino enthusiast! Subscribed and following, I'm especially curious to see how the neck turns out. Good luck! :)
Greetings from Scotland! I'm also 3D printing a guitar, to a different design obviously. I found that my core part from the bridge to the neck will bend when strung up even if it's printed full solid. To counteract this I'm going to put a truss rod (a conventional one, not the two-way pre made things) in the body. I also need to print it vertically so the forces are squeezing the layers together not trying to peel them apart. Final thought that's specific to your design: it might be better structurally to replace the bridge pin sockets that press fit into the body with a through-body nut or a melt-in insert.
Why ABS nut, what's the story there? A pro of the material appears to be its high temperature resistance, so it's not going to surface soften from fricion. Con being everything else: high friction, low mechanical abrasion resistance, increased damping due to rubber content. To me, PETG, PP and PA sound like prime candidates. Unless i'm misunderstanding the purpose of the nut, i'm not a guitarist :D I have been told that PTFE nuts are good, but it's not printable.
Honestly, the story is just that I saw several nut manufacturers using ABS, so I figure I'd try that before any other material. Nothing wrong with questioning though...you might be spot on here. Thanks for chiming in. We'll see soon enough!
I really like your design idea. I'm also currently making a headless guitar. Just a standard guitar but with LED fret markers and glow in the dark parts. For the LED diffuser, you might want to try UV resin. It's more expensive but very easy and fast to work with
I love this perspective. Nothing wrong with pushing boundaries. Worst case, it doesn't work out and I definitively prove that it can't be done. Best case, I have a killer guitar. Thank you!
@@BeardnScars So many details I couldn't include here. Yep, the radius is modeled in. Thanks, and let me know if you see any other potential problem areas. I build a lot of stuff but this is my first guitar. 😁
@uziel25 🤘 appreciated, but yeah, a synopsis is the best i can do at this point at least. It's just too much info to dissect without spending all of my time making that content instead of continuing the build. As far as the playlist. I had to reupload one video 3 times and I think that's why the count is off. Might have to rebuild it from scratch. Regardless, thanks for checking it out man!
What material is this printed from? And would you be willing to sell the files? And maybe make a version without the electronics, LEDs/tuners etc. That we mere mortals might have a chance of building
Omg I cannot believe I did not mention the material. I had a lot to say about it. Lol! This is just PLA. I took a look at a lot of materials and aside from temp, this is one of the more rigid types. Go figure. If it fails, I'll definitely try some other materials before giving up. I'm sure I'll do something public with the files if it's a success. Haven't decided what yet. But yeah, I do plan on making a few of these so I'll definitely do a version with no fancy stuff. 🤘
@@metalheadmaker PLA has the issue that it will deform over time if there's enough pressure. You should really consider using ASA or ABS. This is the same reason VORON printers are made with those materials and those have way less tension on the belts compared to what strings do on a guitar...
These build videos are for people who appreciate the process. Some historical guy smarter than me once said - "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."
@@metalheadmaker JTRLWTWT (just the right length watched the whole thing) don't listen to them great video! this deserves more view and you more subscribers!
Wow! This was randomly suggested to me and I'm all in now. This is amazing!
Dude thank you! It's been a hell of a journey to get to this point and I'm itching to get the full thing assembled. 🤘
TH-cam algorithm W today! This is an amazing project and I eagarly await the next steps in the process.
Thank you for giving it a chance! I'm working on it pretty much every day, so I'll get out the next update as soon as possible. 🤘
I can't wait to see the final result
Me too 😄. Thanks for checking it out!
I love how this project is really exploring the extremes of what becomes possible when you can design and customize every millimeter of a guitar -- it's taking risks and producing something really unique. Many of the other 3d printed guitars I've seen on youtube are fairly unambitious and seem to only go far enough to answer the question "can you 3d print a guitar?" -- but this one is the first to provide good reason WHY 3d printing might provide unique benefits for such a project. Can't wait to see where this goes, and I hope it inspires others to pursue similar levels of creativity.
A thoughtful response is the best gift you can give a creator, positive or otherwise. You really nailed the "why" better than I could articulate. Thank you so much.
Damn! I want one of these. Sick AF!
Well, hold off judgment until it's playable before deciding that. 😆 Thanks man.
Awesome!
Thanks! Let's hope it stays that way for the rest of the build.
super cool
Thank you! 🤘
I play a 7-string, but also am a nerd and 3D print enthusiast. By all means, spill the technobabble. I'd like to rub it in my ex-guitarist's face when I fully 3d print my own axe and shred. This is the first episode of yours I was suggested and watched so gotta ask what filament you're using for the project? I know Bambulabs new HF PETG is geting a lot of good chatter about it and imagine something along those lines to handle the tension, but seeing as you're doing an amazing job so far, I can only imagine you tested this and have some insight on what works and what doesn't. I assembled a few fully 3d printed ukeleles out of PLA about 2 years ago and being able to add my own skull-based designs to the body and head stock made the whole project sick af. And for less tension and no need for a tension rod, they played well enough to stand up to moderate abuse. Lol.
Frankly speaking, give it about 20 years and 3d printed instruments will be as commonly available as everything else we take for granted now that practically no one used 20 years ago (cell phones, interwebs, etc). So you're def on the trailblazing path of giants others will stand upon the shoulders of. Keep at it mang, it's inspiring for sure.
Hell yeah man. Yeah I've seen several mentions that people want to see a deeper dive, so maybe I'll do a long long-form video going into the excruciating details.
As far as filament, I used plane old PLA. Someone else asked and I was stunned when I realized that I didn't put it in the video because this project started by me not only testing the viability of 3D printing a neck, but I also wanted to try the most basic material and step up from there if it didn't work. True that I have tested a lot, but if the PLA doesn't work or warps over time, I'll definitely be checking out the HF PETG.
Do you have anything online showing off the ukes? I'd love to see 'em.
Even if all of this works, I still have to stress test it, watch it for warping over time, and expose it to normal temp variations to see if it's affected. If by some miracle it's stable, could be pretty exciting to see where the community can take it from here. I'm cautiously optimistic but we'll see. Thanks again for the input man!
@@metalheadmaker Guitar MAX did a video demonstrating how strong a (probably badly made) Chibson neck is, maybe you could do a similar stress test on a 3D printed neck? Max sat on the neck while holding dumbbells (200+ lbs of weight) and it didn't break, so there's a benchmark to aim for!
PLA is known to creep over time when loaded and can fail rather abruptly, I think PETG and ABS or ASA would be more suitable, though PETG is usually easier to print. Another option I've seen used was an aluminium extrusion in a 3D printed neck, though I suspect that may be too solid and prevent the adjustment of neck relief using a truss rod.
imagine that if it was 3d printed in metal, it would be way more cooler 😎😎😎😎
I mean, that would probably be the most metal thing ever. Literally. 🤔
This is awesome. I have no doubt the 3D printed neck will be strong enough, especially with those carbon rods. Using software and 3D printing to basically replace the wood and woodworking skills normally required in guitar building would open up so many possibilities. Can't wait to see this finished!
Interested to see how the neck turns out! I'm GASing for a baritone iceman and I own a 3d printer, although I don't think I'll have the print volume for the neck - I guess you're using a CR10 or something like that for the build volume?
Woo me too! I bet you could split the neck and make it work if the joint was well thought out. But I definitely wouldn't bother until you let me make all of the mistakes first and report back. lol! Yep, a CR10.
The primary concern with 3D printed necks is stability over time. A 6 string set of 010 gauge strings over a 25.5" scale exerts around 114.5 lbs of tension over the neck and body for example. While steel and carbon fiber are fairly insensitive to high tension, plastic isn't and it's not out of the question the neck might deform over time due to heat stress. One solution which could help, but steers away from the whole 3D printed aspect of it would be laminating the neck with fiberglass or carbon fiber to add stiffness.
Yeah all of that is totally a possible outcome. Just pushing boundaries to see how far I can take it. Also, with the carbon fiber strips and truss rod, I'm hopeful that it'll stabilize as long as I keep it out of heat.
Loving the aesthetic choices on the build. Metal as fuck. Excited to see the final build
Thank you so much! Me too! lol 🤘
Hey man, greetings from England. This very much has my interest as a fellow metal head, 3d printing Arduino enthusiast! Subscribed and following, I'm especially curious to see how the neck turns out. Good luck! :)
Greetings! That's nuts...not many of us in the world. Have you worked on any cool arduino projects?
Greetings from Scotland!
I'm also 3D printing a guitar, to a different design obviously. I found that my core part from the bridge to the neck will bend when strung up even if it's printed full solid. To counteract this I'm going to put a truss rod (a conventional one, not the two-way pre made things) in the body. I also need to print it vertically so the forces are squeezing the layers together not trying to peel them apart.
Final thought that's specific to your design: it might be better structurally to replace the bridge pin sockets that press fit into the body with a through-body nut or a melt-in insert.
Greetings and good insight, thanks. Well I'm this far already, so I guess if areas start to fail then I'll know where to look.
The algorithm scores today. Hell yeah, dude. This project looks awesome! Beat of luck with the project! Sub'd!
Woo thanks Michael! Working on the next part now.
Why ABS nut, what's the story there? A pro of the material appears to be its high temperature resistance, so it's not going to surface soften from fricion. Con being everything else: high friction, low mechanical abrasion resistance, increased damping due to rubber content. To me, PETG, PP and PA sound like prime candidates.
Unless i'm misunderstanding the purpose of the nut, i'm not a guitarist :D I have been told that PTFE nuts are good, but it's not printable.
Honestly, the story is just that I saw several nut manufacturers using ABS, so I figure I'd try that before any other material. Nothing wrong with questioning though...you might be spot on here. Thanks for chiming in. We'll see soon enough!
I really like your design idea. I'm also currently making a headless guitar. Just a standard guitar but with LED fret markers and glow in the dark parts. For the LED diffuser, you might want to try UV resin. It's more expensive but very easy and fast to work with
Sooooooo so so SOO SICKK
Thanks! I'm trying to hold my excitement for when it's a playable guitar, but things are looking promising at this point.
Creative concept! We build them with CNC, I don’t see a reason why additive manufacturing can’t give it a try
I love this perspective. Nothing wrong with pushing boundaries. Worst case, it doesn't work out and I definitively prove that it can't be done. Best case, I have a killer guitar. Thank you!
@@metalheadmaker im still mid video but make sure you radius that fretboard bro!
@@BeardnScars So many details I couldn't include here. Yep, the radius is modeled in. Thanks, and let me know if you see any other potential problem areas. I build a lot of stuff but this is my first guitar. 😁
@@metalheadmaker hell yeah 😎 knew you’d do it. Love Fusion I’ll keep up with this series and good luck
The playlist says their were 5 videos now their are 2. I'd love to watch the whole series as opposed to this synopsis.
@uziel25 🤘 appreciated, but yeah, a synopsis is the best i can do at this point at least. It's just too much info to dissect without spending all of my time making that content instead of continuing the build. As far as the playlist. I had to reupload one video 3 times and I think that's why the count is off. Might have to rebuild it from scratch. Regardless, thanks for checking it out man!
What material is this printed from? And would you be willing to sell the files? And maybe make a version without the electronics, LEDs/tuners etc. That we mere mortals might have a chance of building
Omg I cannot believe I did not mention the material. I had a lot to say about it. Lol! This is just PLA. I took a look at a lot of materials and aside from temp, this is one of the more rigid types. Go figure. If it fails, I'll definitely try some other materials before giving up. I'm sure I'll do something public with the files if it's a success. Haven't decided what yet. But yeah, I do plan on making a few of these so I'll definitely do a version with no fancy stuff. 🤘
@@metalheadmaker PLA has the issue that it will deform over time if there's enough pressure. You should really consider using ASA or ABS. This is the same reason VORON printers are made with those materials and those have way less tension on the belts compared to what strings do on a guitar...
Subd, fantastic content
🤘
TLDW it’s not finished wait for a later video 🎉
These build videos are for people who appreciate the process. Some historical guy smarter than me once said - "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."
@@metalheadmaker JTRLWTWT (just the right length watched the whole thing) don't listen to them great video! this deserves more view and you more subscribers!