To answer a few common questions- Hands don't turn black from holding/playing this guitar. Perhaps over time if the surface corrodes this could come into play. I mentioned this in the follow up video (link in description)- I considered anodizing or clear coating it but decided for the polished look instead. Only downside to the aluminum so far has been that hands can get pretty cold while playing it. But after ~10mins or so of playing, body temp raises the guitar temp enough to not notice. Thanks for watching!
@@billyjackbuzzard Do you live in 1930, under the porch of a mobile home? 😅 100 dollars will hardly buy the bags needed to collect the cans required to make these today.
The sand is 100% reusable...just add in a few oz of full synthetic 2stroke oil and mix it really well. Then, squirt it with a 5 or 6 sprays of 70% isopropyl alcohol from a misting spray bottle, and then mix it again. Petrobond is used in the aluminum industry because it's super resilient, and in many cases gets better with age (while going thru those refresh steps I mentioned about every 5 pours or so)
For soda can quality aluminum, Add a little silicon. It helps reduce the shrinking and makes the crystalline structure tighter. Also, Petrobond sells oil you can mix with burnt sand to bring it back to life.
For future reference, whenever you're drilling and tapping metal, use cutting oil to keep it lubricated and to pull heat out of the bits so they don't snap like that.
Thanks for the tip! I considered using cutting oil but I usually only use oil for drilling or tapping steel. I think what happened here was that I tapped all the way to the bottom of the pre-drilled hole which stopped the tap from spinning and caused it to snap.
@@BurlsArt another good tip is to break the chip every few turns, just go backwards on the tap and it will break the chip just enough sometimes to prevent a tap from snapping
Absolute nonsense! How about doing your homework first, and getting your ducks in a row before you even attempt shit, so you don't make stupid mistakes in the first place? Only then, if something still goes wrong can you get into how to fix it, and I would suggest using the same method with it too, do your homework...ducks...!
True story on the English comment. Empty oxygen cylinder storage was labeled "MT" due to some people's education at this one steel fab shop. Don't hate blue collar it is what puts this country together.
I'm really impressed man I'm a fellow musician (drummer)I work in an aluminum die casting factory I'm the furnace man I'll take care of the furnaces in the shop we have 10 of them that hold 200 gallons of aluminum each that's heated at 1300 degrees your furnace is really like a mini version of ours at the shop great job man
I worked 8 yrs old iron blast furnace...2700°F sweet spot....always wanted to make a tiny version....like this....iron looks clear like melted butter at 2700....and water DOES BLOWUP LIKE A REAL BOMB. I liked the reminder of the steel mill.
What I imagined - people from steel mill making armor plates for giant robots and engines for ships and excavation machinery daily - sit around and watch this one guy melting cans to make one guitar: "Aw, cute! Look how tiny it is!". Heartwarming. :)
THAT ALUMINUM GUITAR IS AMAZING!!! I’m a welder and own a welding company I’ve never seen anything like what you created from cans what an AWESOME gift you have! It’s like a dream coming to reality through your hands!! THANK YOU for making this video it was GREAT watching you do your craft!!🙏🏼🤙🏼❤️
Bro, if you're a welder with a welding company and you've got the technical skills, money for materials and the time there's no reason you can't start making art yourself. Don't worry if the first stuff you make is crap, you'll get better over time. You can do it. Gl and be safe.
as a former foundryman I think you did a good job. how were you gauging the metal temperature? a pyrometer would be helpful in giving you a true reading from deep in the crucible. if you want to get rid of inclusions in the metal you can use a fluxing agent. borax is common. we used the lost wax process so the ceramic shell remnants in the recycled bronze acted as a fluxing agent. additionally having someone help you pour who can physically block and scrape the dross off the top of the crucible is helpful in keeping it out of the casting. if you ever have any questions let me know.
He’s an artist, it’s not really that amazing that a talented person has talent When you create things you see the world differently then the average consumer mentality
I doubt dude could make a guitar to spec without being a guitarist and knowing what’s needed in the instrument Guaranteed there would be big mistakes made if the person wasn’t also a guitarist That would be like me designing and making a clarinet without knowing anything about the woodwind instruments I’m guessing he’s works with metal by grade and plays music as a hobby Am I a genius? No I’m not
Would love an update in like a year or two on how it's oxidized and patina'd. Which also means you should make another one in solid brass. That would be gorgeous!
Aluminium is, compared to brass, a soft, low melting temp metal. Brass would cost a fortune! A similar weights of brass is probably 1/3 of a child's size violin. It would also have to be an almost perfect pour because whilst sanding aluminium is easy, sanding brass would take forever. However, I agree it would look incredible. 🙂
aluminium is a beautiful material, very unlikely to deteriorate at all, if anything the loving polishing and tlc it will look even better as time goes by, i think this guitar could fetch a very big price, personally, i would of maybe gone Gibson body shape and maybe fender neck, and maybe mixed up the pick ups, maybe 2 sets so you could have a blend, a gibson or fender sound, but i'm just being picky, it is a work of art, worth alot of money regardless
I can’t believe how elaborate your builds have gotten over the years. Props to all the research and hard work you put in, this guitar is amazing. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!
That's stunning. So much work and trial and error, but ultimately you've created a thing of visual and audio beauty. It's the sleekest guitar I've ever seen. Well done, sir, and thanks for the delicious demo, too. Can't wait to see what you construct next!
As a machinist, i felt that tap breaking. Tip for the future, when you’re tapping blind holes use a spiral tap. The chips feed through the flutes as you tap into your piece, reducing the pressure on your tap.
My favorite thing about this guitar is the finger smears! When you play it, it's as if a ghost is continuing to hold down the chords you have just released. Such a sick effect!!!
Love how you show the issues you come across. Social media is full of people pretending they're 'perfect '. This will definitely help male kids want to give it a go knowing issues are all a part of the journey. Beautiful work, bro
@ravioli_man9239 because I was a male kid once that wanted exactly this. P.s. I have a tatt held up and over my hip representing the generations woman in my life. I'm definitely not sexist....
@@Scottyhutch1 That's like saying you employ a black lady to cook and clean so you can't be a racist. What you said was definitive sexism including the response that somehow writing 'mum' on your dick is all the acknowledgement or aspiration they should want or get.
I absolutely LOVE the fact that you show all your mistakes in your videos. While watching, I truly felt immersed in the making of this electric guitar. The way it turned out is amazing. Please never stop showing your mistakes, you are teaching a very important lesson: mistakes are the only way to learn.
It's crazy (but it makes sense) that you're technically building the same guitar (sort of) twice. Incredible patience, determination, passion, and of course craftsmanship. I really enjoyed the video!
@@austinkoeppen6122 I was thinking that same thing as well. Maybe not as big a guitar but maybe a mini one like the one in the first Back to the Future movie.
My God, some people are soooo skilled it's crazy. And you look young....probably you have more skills in one area than many people will ever have in their life, and you have multiple, in multiple areas. Congrats man.
this channel and the people behind it singlehandedly holds some of the most immense talent I've seen of my 21 years on this rock. WELL DONE. WELL DONE GOOD SIR.
That guitar is so metal. Kidding aside, your channel is super awesome and your craft is mesmerizing to watch. Hopefully I'll be able to buy one of these beauties some day.
Thinking back on it, when my brother and I were younger we did something pretty dangerous along these same lines. We used metal coffee and food cans, and a fan from a heater stacked up with some charcoal to melt aluminum. We ended up casting it in the dirt with a shape we carved out, definitely didn't know the dangers of it. Nice job on the guitar build.
imagine starting out by getting help from a metalworker to bend an old shovel into a guitar and progressing all the way up to building your own metalworking equipment and doing aluminum casting! always super inspiring to see the builds you make and it’s clear how much thought and effort went into this one in particular! you’ve also inspired me to attempt my own first guitar build! so we will see how that goes, but either way, i have you to thank for inspiring me
Because most of the sound comes from the pickups, it's a totally outdated myth that the wood is important for the sound of an e-guitar. There are several channels with experiments with this statements. Like cutting away all the wood and compare the sustains. And none of them expirienced a hearable change. This video is a perfect example for this. Most comes from pickups, then the strings and for the sustain and stuff like that it's more the bridge and saddle than the wood. But this is just for e-guitars, for acoustic it's an totally different topic, because they work with resonances where it's really important how the wood will vibrate etc.
That is insane. I spent time on a research project to do with improving galvanising and to see you working with molten metal in a backyard blows my mind. Our safety approvals and protocols were (rightly) super-tight. For all that - the fact that it turned out so well highlights how good your process is. re: fingerprints - you could probably get that thing anodised (or do it yourself)
great job, the only thing I would have changed would be to use keensert or helicoils for the tapped holes. Conservators wax would keep that shiny for a very long time as well.
Imagine not only being able to create an awesome guitar from metal cans with incredible craftsmanship and hard work, but then also be able to play a beautiful song with it .. great video!
@CellHunter hey. I know the traction they had went downhill after Grant died but don't call them losers. They were doing their best and he wanted a break from everything, he wanted to spend more time with his family after all of his success. I will still always love his videos and I know it wasn't the same after he passed away but give them a break. He CHOSE them. I respect that he chose them and there's still things we would have never seen without them. They did their best.
@@vincenttrigg4521 No no you're misunderstanding. I liked Nate and the other two people. The channel was basically hijacked Nate made a post about it on his own channel after he quit.
Got to appreciate you trimming all this work into one 18months feature and not stretching it out for 6 weeks. Excellent content my man. The Guitar looks awesome
Made my first guitar over the holiday, and realized just how much it thought and work goes into it! This is an awesome build and a beautiful build video. Nice playing at the end, too!
Pretty nice! I suppose the only way to stop it from tarnishing is to clear coat or anodise this. The broken in finish would be cool after a while though. Need to play some metal on it though ;)
Thanks for making me feel completely and utterly useless at EVERYTHING in life! This was my first Burl's video and I was in complete and total awe of every part. The playing at the end was the kicker.
Unlike tonewood, you actually get a difference with aluminum guitars in terms of sound. Their sound is very distinctive and you can really tell there's a difference when you're not looking at the guitar and going "haha wood" Kurt Cobain played an aluminum guitar in multiple recordings on In Utero, and that's why they sound the way they do.
the producer (sorry, Steve, I meant *engineer* ) of that album, the late Steve Albini, *always* played an aluminum Travis Bean guitar when performing with his own band Shellac live or in the studio. Shellac's guitar sound was incredible, really harsh and grating like you imagine an aluminum guitar would sound like. I believe Albini used a copper plectrum as well to make it sound even more "metallic"
One thing i love about your videos - apart from seeing you make guitars out of unconventional materials is that you actually *DEMO* the guitar after playing it. And not only do you play it. *YOU PLAY IT REALLY WELL* and in such a way that lets us hear any sort of dynamics or characteristics that such materials may have if they were made into a guitar. This guitar didnt have any resonance, any sustain or body to its tone but you successfully made humbuckers sound like a strat without a coil tap (unless the wiring put the pickups out of phase? but id didnt sound out of phase to me) All in all, it wasnt a completely terrible sounding guitar.
That looks amazing. Couldn't wait to hear how it sounds, either. Most people would probably expect it to be best for heavy metal, but aluminum is a light rock.
Truly amazing work your doing on your channel. The smudges that your finger made on the guitar and the fret-board gave me a genius idea. What if you made a thermochromic fret-board and/or guitar. At least the fret-board, because it would totally be a hit! ( In other words, heat sensitive color changing paint, or material)
Fantastic job man. What a gratifying feeling it will be to gaze at your creation in forty to fifty years from now and meditate on all of the memories associated with it through the years. I applaud your tenacity and fortitude to see it to fruition. Hopefully the next one sells on eBay for a few thousand doll hairs!
This was such a fun video to watch. I really enjoyed how detailed you are and that you also keep in your mistakes - all artists make mistakes or happy accidents. Great guitar playing at the end there!
This takes me back to my time working in a metal foundry doing almost this exact same thing, but to make parts for 18-wheeler truck assembly. Ironically that was the job that helped me pay for my first "nice" guitar. Keep it up!
Always so stoked when Burls uploads. I am blown AWAY by this one. I don't know how he keeps topping himself, but every build is more incredible than the last. Each time I watch his process, I admire the work that goes in and I think I won't even care how the guitar sounds... Until it sounds really cool, and of course Burls is a pretty good guitarist.
Absolutely! Although, he should know, he doesn't _have_ to keep topping his work over and over - that's not very sustainable. Whatever he makes, we'll enjoy it!
@@maxrosenbaum8502 crayons have been done. Don’t remember who. Colored pencils would probably actually work a lot better being wood already I would assume using some type of bonding agent to hold them together first then make your cuts. Be pretty cool if you were a great guitar player and could sign autographs with the same instrument.
Wow, this one is super impressive. I love seeing the fingerprints appear and fade from the neck during the demo, that is a really cool and unexpected effect.
I love that you've shown just how difficult it actually is to sand-cast aluminum (or any other molten metal really)! So many channels show a few of the "scenes" from making it then show the end product and never show the like 112 failures they went through first xD
Your patience and precision are inspiring, and the amount of work that went into the tooling just to get started is amazing. There were so many points where I would have just given up. Awesome work!
Finally answering the age-old question: which beer cans give the best tone? 😁 This was a fun experiment and looks really cool. A lot of hard work on this one, and it turned out pretty sweet. Thanks for sharing!
Takes me back to metal shop in HS. We had a massive crucible, and everything from engine blocks to beer cans made their way into it.The advanced class project was casting a 2-foot tall bell, which usually took a few attempts before they got it right.
Appreciate you always showing the mistakes, f-ups, or things just not going as expected in the vids. It shows that creative hands-on building often is a labor of love.
its incredible to see someone like you who is so creative and genuinely acts on ideas do something like this. The instagram/youtube shorts algorithm has been feeding me molten metal pours over the last few months and as someone who does woodworking i think hey I should try that. But im lazy and its someone like you who actually outputs work that does it. Your videos are always great and a huge source of inspiration to be original and creative
The sound is unbelievable! It's warm yet vibrant. Every note is clean and finishes with a perfect sustain. It's exactly what studios try to achieve when recording guitar tracks. Honestly, I expected a cold muted sound devoid of life. I'd bet a musician would gladly pay top dollar for it.
@@pazsion to my ear, they sounded a bit more resonant and had a bell-like quality. I find harmonics to be a bit more subtle on a standard guitar, where they sounded a bit more forward on the aluminum build
A brushed type of finish on aluminum would look amazing, plus it helps with the fingerprint issue. Maybe, one day, you can try it in a new iteration of this project) Best o luck with your work, you are amazing!
Thank you TH-cam for recommending such a beautiful video to me, but on a serious note your work is BEYOND amazing!!! It’s incredible and the tunes OH THE TUNES!!! This is such a beauty
great and honest work! i hope that you apply this in building a small business manufacturing guitars and perhaps other instruments for select musicians.
To answer a few common questions- Hands don't turn black from holding/playing this guitar. Perhaps over time if the surface corrodes this could come into play. I mentioned this in the follow up video (link in description)- I considered anodizing or clear coating it but decided for the polished look instead. Only downside to the aluminum so far has been that hands can get pretty cold while playing it. But after ~10mins or so of playing, body temp raises the guitar temp enough to not notice. Thanks for watching!
And how much issues do you get with shielding the sound? Its looks mighty fine, but also a radar to statics and buzzes.
@@PANTA-Music It would give extra shielding right?
I'll give you a hundred dollars for it
@@billyjackbuzzard Do you live in 1930, under the porch of a mobile home? 😅
100 dollars will hardly buy the bags needed to collect the cans required to make these today.
@@CynHicks ok. $140.
The sand is 100% reusable...just add in a few oz of full synthetic 2stroke oil and mix it really well. Then, squirt it with a 5 or 6 sprays of 70% isopropyl alcohol from a misting spray bottle, and then mix it again. Petrobond is used in the aluminum industry because it's super resilient, and in many cases gets better with age (while going thru those refresh steps I mentioned about every 5 pours or so)
This dude knows how to shit.
@@sloptoppapa5289 😆😆
@@sloptoppapa5289 he is a pro in melting cans into a guitar 😂😂
@@Lmao.Lennert I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the commenter knowing what he’s talking about by saying it’s reusable.
That’s pretty cool info !
For soda can quality aluminum, Add a little silicon. It helps reduce the shrinking and makes the crystalline structure tighter. Also, Petrobond sells oil you can mix with burnt sand to bring it back to life.
Real knowledge here.
You seem like a cool person
@@RR-xf9th Thank you. That's very kind.
@Halloween111, what kind of soda makes the best tone aluminium?
QUE AGRADABLE SUJETO
For future reference, whenever you're drilling and tapping metal, use cutting oil to keep it lubricated and to pull heat out of the bits so they don't snap like that.
Good advice.
Thanks for the tip! I considered using cutting oil but I usually only use oil for drilling or tapping steel. I think what happened here was that I tapped all the way to the bottom of the pre-drilled hole which stopped the tap from spinning and caused it to snap.
@@BurlsArt another good tip is to break the chip every few turns, just go backwards on the tap and it will break the chip just enough sometimes to prevent a tap from snapping
@@BurlsArtE
One other easy suggestion. Rout out the cavities with a router (I’d use a spiral bit). It’ll trash the bit but hey….
makes a guitar out of literal metal... proceeds to mellow out with some smooth jazz :D
Haha, didn't even think about that. 😂
there is uh... no smooth jazz in this video lol
*neo soul
Its just some candy like riffs wish i had that guitar and play it on max gain max vol max and max distortion lol
Aluminum is not a heavy metal
"It's not the mistakes you make - it's how you fix them". Words to live by.
Absolute nonsense! How about doing your homework first, and getting your ducks in a row before you even attempt shit, so you don't make stupid mistakes in the first place? Only then, if something still goes wrong can you get into how to fix it, and I would suggest using the same method with it too, do your homework...ducks...!
I love this.
yo whaddup
what about the time hawaii accidently sent out a text message that they were going to be nuke
Turned out awesome!
I saw you crying on Twitter today.
He's awesome and so are you!
guitar teardown? xD
ohhhhhhh ohhhh wait transparent guitar XD
I just finished watching the "cellphone we were promised" video only to come find you on here. cool
I beg you, don't do a scratch test on it
I am more impressed with your dedication, craftsmanship and your ability to complete a project from start to finish than I am with the guitar itself.
True that!
Yes
As a former foundery worker, you was spot on as far as making the mold, etc. Great job!! Very impressed!!
You worked at a Foundry but can't spell foundry? 😂
@@harrydavey9884 english might not be their native language
True story on the English comment. Empty oxygen cylinder storage was labeled "MT" due to some people's education at this one steel fab shop. Don't hate blue collar it is what puts this country together.
@@TheDrtye I am blue collar. No hate at all, just making a joke. That MT thing is hilarious too.
you where* can tell you where cannon fodder in a foundry*
I'm really impressed man I'm a fellow musician (drummer)I work in an aluminum die casting factory I'm the furnace man I'll take care of the furnaces in the shop we have 10 of them that hold 200 gallons of aluminum each that's heated at 1300 degrees your furnace is really like a mini version of ours at the shop great job man
I worked 8 yrs old iron blast furnace...2700°F sweet spot....always wanted to make a tiny version....like this....iron looks clear like melted butter at 2700....and water DOES BLOWUP LIKE A REAL BOMB. I liked the reminder of the steel mill.
Aluminium*
I fixed it for you 😉😉🤣
All the best, from a British person.
Peace ✌️
@@longnamedude3947 thats right mate, aluminium it is
Ayy, I'm a drummer as well!
@@longnamedude3947 No, and keep your god damn biscuits, too.
i work in a steel mill and it’s fun seeing the process on such a small scale. good work as always!
What I imagined - people from steel mill making armor plates for giant robots and engines for ships and excavation machinery daily - sit around and watch this one guy melting cans to make one guitar: "Aw, cute! Look how tiny it is!". Heartwarming. :)
I love how instead of buying a furnace he just makes one.
Perfect example of one man’s trash being another’s treasure. Looks and sounds killer! You did a phenomenal job, dude.
Or maybe the same man's treasure.
It might be, but aluminium uses a lot of energy to smelt.
My favorite playing of yours so far. Underrated guitar player. As for the builds, love the journey. I can watch every day!
what's the song name
@@cracksnake5119 The first one is My Tribute - Mateus Asato
@@chiet97 any idea about the second one?
@nipunadodan I can't find it maybe it's an original
THAT ALUMINUM GUITAR IS AMAZING!!! I’m a welder and own a welding company I’ve never seen anything like what you created from cans what an AWESOME gift you have! It’s like a dream coming to reality through your hands!! THANK YOU for making this video it was GREAT watching you do your craft!!🙏🏼🤙🏼❤️
A total waste of time and money he could have scored $50 at the can man for those
@@Lousasshol thats funny because I'd paid 750 1000 bucks for that guitar. Looks sick and sounds very good
Plus 50 bucks wouldn't even fill his has tank lmao
@@Lousasshol hey I liked your joke lol.
Bro, if you're a welder with a welding company and you've got the technical skills, money for materials and the time there's no reason you can't start making art yourself. Don't worry if the first stuff you make is crap, you'll get better over time. You can do it. Gl and be safe.
as a former foundryman I think you did a good job. how were you gauging the metal temperature? a pyrometer would be helpful in giving you a true reading from deep in the crucible.
if you want to get rid of inclusions in the metal you can use a fluxing agent. borax is common. we used the lost wax process so the ceramic shell remnants in the recycled bronze acted as a fluxing agent. additionally having someone help you pour who can physically block and scrape the dross off the top of the crucible is helpful in keeping it out of the casting. if you ever have any questions let me know.
Oh yeah, I learned precious metal casting and we always used borax.
thats cool. we did a big bust of Mary in gold. they had armed guards, etc. and took the crucible with them when they were done!@@DanaTheInsane
Whuuut???
It blows me away that you have the artistic ability to build all of these beautiful guitars and then... wow, he can play too!
And record and edit these videos. All of this is pretty damn impressive
I didn't see him play it
Did he make another video on how it plays?
@@pauljordan3329 He plays it starting @ 15:48
He’s an artist, it’s not really that amazing that a talented person has talent
When you create things you see the world differently then the average consumer mentality
I doubt dude could make a guitar to spec without being a guitarist and knowing what’s needed in the instrument
Guaranteed there would be big mistakes made if the person wasn’t also a guitarist
That would be like me designing and making a clarinet without knowing anything about the woodwind instruments
I’m guessing he’s works with metal by grade and plays music as a hobby
Am I a genius? No I’m not
Would love an update in like a year or two on how it's oxidized and patina'd. Which also means you should make another one in solid brass. That would be gorgeous!
But, way too heavy!.
Aluminium is, compared to brass, a soft, low melting temp metal. Brass would cost a fortune!
A similar weights of brass is probably 1/3 of a child's size violin.
It would also have to be an almost perfect pour because whilst sanding aluminium is easy, sanding brass would take forever.
However, I agree it would look incredible. 🙂
Brass guitar would only be used for HEAVY metal.
aluminium is a beautiful material, very unlikely to deteriorate at all, if anything the loving polishing and tlc it will look even better as time goes by, i think this guitar could fetch a very big price, personally, i would of maybe gone Gibson body shape and maybe fender neck, and maybe mixed up the pick ups, maybe 2 sets so you could have a blend, a gibson or fender sound, but i'm just being picky, it is a work of art, worth alot of money regardless
brass would cost $20,000
I can’t believe how elaborate your builds have gotten over the years. Props to all the research and hard work you put in, this guitar is amazing. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!
Now you can actually play metAL
it just won’t be heavy metal
Lead 😈😈
@@yashasvi_handa Alluminum 😈😈
@@danpadrique4876 uranium 😈😈
Uranus😈😈@@yashasvi_handa
That's stunning. So much work and trial and error, but ultimately you've created a thing of visual and audio beauty. It's the sleekest guitar I've ever seen. Well done, sir, and thanks for the delicious demo, too. Can't wait to see what you construct next!
As a machinist, i felt that tap breaking. Tip for the future, when you’re tapping blind holes use a spiral tap. The chips feed through the flutes as you tap into your piece, reducing the pressure on your tap.
Better off using a spinal tap...
I would also use cutting fluid, and be sure to back the tap out a bit after cutting a thread or two
@@roccotuna any type of fluid its good exsample butter,oil,food oil.
They make a special tap oil just for aluminum. It’s thinner than most cutting oils, but it really makes a difference when you use it on aluminum.
@@broo_sh The best fluid for cutting aluminium is methylated spirit.
My favorite thing about this guitar is the finger smears! When you play it, it's as if a ghost is continuing to hold down the chords you have just released. Such a sick effect!!!
That's called reverb
@@jooj_crickets he means on the actual fretboard
@@schneibgamer1 oh ok
Love how you show the issues you come across. Social media is full of people pretending they're 'perfect '. This will definitely help male kids want to give it a go knowing issues are all a part of the journey. Beautiful work, bro
Good point. I caught my daughter watching the video but I think I hit alt-f4 in time
Why specify male kids? Anyone can build a guitar
@ravioli_man9239 because I was a male kid once that wanted exactly this.
P.s. I have a tatt held up and over my hip representing the generations woman in my life. I'm definitely not sexist....
@@Scottyhutch1 That's like saying you employ a black lady to cook and clean so you can't be a racist. What you said was definitive sexism including the response that somehow writing 'mum' on your dick is all the acknowledgement or aspiration they should want or get.
Not only is this guy an incredible luthier, he’s also an amazing guitar player!
@Nicegram_me_at-BurlsArt shut up
...and metal worker, fabricator, and all around good Joe. As for the guitar itself...meh.
I absolutely LOVE the fact that you show all your mistakes in your videos. While watching, I truly felt immersed in the making of this electric guitar. The way it turned out is amazing. Please never stop showing your mistakes, you are teaching a very important lesson: mistakes are the only way to learn.
It's crazy (but it makes sense) that you're technically building the same guitar (sort of) twice. Incredible patience, determination, passion, and of course craftsmanship. I really enjoyed the video!
He could probably turn the blanks into another guitar
@@austinkoeppen6122 I was thinking that same thing as well. Maybe not as big a guitar but maybe a mini one like the one in the first Back to the Future movie.
Man the demo was equally as the build! Sweet playing man! X
That jam at the end is so amazing! Very smooth and relaxing. Well played! You really made that guitar shine..
Wow your playing is so beautiful! The way you introduced the bass notes into the beginning part of the playing.
The amount of research and planning that went into this-before even starting to build the guitar-is absolutely incredible! You never cease to amaze!
My God, some people are soooo skilled it's crazy. And you look young....probably you have more skills in one area than many people will ever have in their life, and you have multiple, in multiple areas. Congrats man.
man as a guitarist i could just listen to you playing guitar all day let alone watching your builds fantastic skills and great videos.
this channel and the people behind it singlehandedly holds some of the most immense talent I've seen of my 21 years on this rock.
WELL DONE. WELL DONE GOOD SIR.
Damn what's it like to be born after 9/11
2001 gang represent
That guitar is so metal.
Kidding aside, your channel is super awesome and your craft is mesmerizing to watch. Hopefully I'll be able to buy one of these beauties some day.
No kidding, it's the most metal guitar I've ever seen.
Aluminumcore
Thinking back on it, when my brother and I were younger we did something pretty dangerous along these same lines. We used metal coffee and food cans, and a fan from a heater stacked up with some charcoal to melt aluminum. We ended up casting it in the dirt with a shape we carved out, definitely didn't know the dangers of it. Nice job on the guitar build.
imagine starting out by getting help from a metalworker to bend an old shovel into a guitar and progressing all the way up to building your own metalworking equipment and doing aluminum casting! always super inspiring to see the builds you make and it’s clear how much thought and effort went into this one in particular!
you’ve also inspired me to attempt my own first guitar build! so we will see how that goes, but either way, i have you to thank for inspiring me
how do you feel about the treatment of the sand tho?
@@halukan9728 it’s coarse, rough, and irritating… and it gets everywhere
It actually sounds really warm and crisp. That's the opposite of what you would think that it would sound like. You did a really great job.
Because most of the sound comes from the pickups, it's a totally outdated myth that the wood is important for the sound of an e-guitar. There are several channels with experiments with this statements. Like cutting away all the wood and compare the sustains. And none of them expirienced a hearable change.
This video is a perfect example for this.
Most comes from pickups, then the strings and for the sustain and stuff like that it's more the bridge and saddle than the wood.
But this is just for e-guitars, for acoustic it's an totally different topic, because they work with resonances where it's really important how the wood will vibrate etc.
@@kampfkuchen91 The fact that even an ALUMINUM guitar sounds like a regular electric guitar is great proof that tonewoods are bullshit haha
@makkerfelix they really are bullshit
The aluminum body acts as a huge ground for the electronics, isolating them from electric fields put out by other equipment in the room.
@@kampfkuchen91 Totally agreed. The only way I imagine the aluminum doing something to the sound, is by isolating the electronics.
That is insane.
I spent time on a research project to do with improving galvanising and to see you working with molten metal in a backyard blows my mind.
Our safety approvals and protocols were (rightly) super-tight.
For all that - the fact that it turned out so well highlights how good your process is.
re: fingerprints - you could probably get that thing anodised (or do it yourself)
great job, the only thing I would have changed would be to use keensert or helicoils for the tapped holes. Conservators wax would keep that shiny for a very long time as well.
now that's a real heavy metal guitar, I must say I never thought it would come out so beautiful or sound so good 🎉.
Actually aluminum is fairly light
actually... light metal... guitar.... 👍
@@MagoMerlino72arsenic guitar when
A wolfram guitar would weight 40 kilograms, or 87.8 lbs. That's heavy metal
@@DoctorTemblor led guitar will do the heavy job lol.
Imagine not only being able to create an awesome guitar from metal cans with incredible craftsmanship and hard work, but then also be able to play a beautiful song with it .. great video!
This is on a whole other level, making your own tools and the research that went into this is amazing. I continue to be astounded by your projects :)
Have you ever heard of "The King of Random"?
That channel is something where I first learned of people making DIY furnaces
@@vincenttrigg4521 the king of random sadly went downhill after he died. Channel was taken over by some losers.
@CellHunter hey. I know the traction they had went downhill after Grant died but don't call them losers. They were doing their best and he wanted a break from everything, he wanted to spend more time with his family after all of his success. I will still always love his videos and I know it wasn't the same after he passed away but give them a break. He CHOSE them. I respect that he chose them and there's still things we would have never seen without them.
They did their best.
@@vincenttrigg4521 No no you're misunderstanding. I liked Nate and the other two people. The channel was basically hijacked Nate made a post about it on his own channel after he quit.
@CeIIHunter he said it was a mutual thing though didn't he? Like he wanted to do his own stuff but the channel was a bit strict
Now lets see who has the balls to play that guitar in the winter lol
I appreciate all the work you put in to creating an adequate foundry. The forethought you put into making proper tools is commendable.
Incredible build AND riffs. The first part of the demo got me right in the soul.
The first part of the demo is a song played by Mateus Asato. Forgot the name though.
@@_joapa my tribute by mateus asato ! i remember it from the pencil guitar video !
@@_joapa Thanks mate will check it out.
this guy literally learned a whole new trade in 3 months. honestly admire you going so hard on each new vid
I think the fading contact tracing from when you touch the fretboard is an awesome unintended effect. Amazing job.
It may just be a simple silver guitar, but let me tell you, that is BEAUITIFUL! Good job dude
At this point he can make a guitar out of oxygen
Frozen liquid oxygen is the tone secret of the pros
You mean an air guitar? Anybody can build an air guitar.
@@joebodynobody764 the toans is stored in the air
@@joebodynobody764 air guitar...
I just got finished with a smoke and mirrors guitar
This is so incredible.
Could've been a good opportunity for a fretless, but even more impressive getting frets in there
"My work isn't perfect"
Dude, the fact that you were able to build this guitar this way only shows that your work is Actually Perfect!!! Loved it!
the imperfections in the cast make it look just beautiful!! its just perfect the way it turned out!
As perfectionist i hate the imperfections, but then again you can see its unique hand made from it and not factory pumping it out.
Got to appreciate you trimming all this work into one 18months feature and not stretching it out for 6 weeks. Excellent content my man. The Guitar looks awesome
Talk about... METAL!!! I'm not sorry for that horrible pun.
It was clever, so I'll forgive you
U got balls of steel
Don't ever be sorry about bad puns!
Was going to say the same.
Kudos 👌
Metal indeed.
It's aluminum = light rock
That’s great. I love you show when things go wrong because that’s part of any process and completing the project relies on problem solving!
Made my first guitar over the holiday, and realized just how much it thought and work goes into it! This is an awesome build and a beautiful build video. Nice playing at the end, too!
Pretty nice! I suppose the only way to stop it from tarnishing is to clear coat or anodise this. The broken in finish would be cool after a while though. Need to play some metal on it though ;)
Thanks for making me feel completely and utterly useless at EVERYTHING in life! This was my first Burl's video and I was in complete and total awe of every part. The playing at the end was the kicker.
First video I have seen of this guy also, crazy talented.
just learn how to do stuff instead of making yourself feel like shit, most of us are more than capable
Be inspired to create ❤
I am so pointlessly proud of being the 69th person to press the like button on this comment lol
Unlike tonewood, you actually get a difference with aluminum guitars in terms of sound. Their sound is very distinctive and you can really tell there's a difference when you're not looking at the guitar and going "haha wood"
Kurt Cobain played an aluminum guitar in multiple recordings on In Utero, and that's why they sound the way they do.
the producer (sorry, Steve, I meant *engineer* ) of that album, the late Steve Albini, *always* played an aluminum Travis Bean guitar when performing with his own band Shellac live or in the studio. Shellac's guitar sound was incredible, really harsh and grating like you imagine an aluminum guitar would sound like. I believe Albini used a copper plectrum as well to make it sound even more "metallic"
One thing i love about your videos - apart from seeing you make guitars out of unconventional materials is that you actually *DEMO* the guitar after playing it. And not only do you play it. *YOU PLAY IT REALLY WELL* and in such a way that lets us hear any sort of dynamics or characteristics that such materials may have if they were made into a guitar.
This guitar didnt have any resonance, any sustain or body to its tone but you successfully made humbuckers sound like a strat without a coil tap (unless the wiring put the pickups out of phase? but id didnt sound out of phase to me)
All in all, it wasnt a completely terrible sounding guitar.
That looks amazing. Couldn't wait to hear how it sounds, either. Most people would probably expect it to be best for heavy metal, but aluminum is a light rock.
please leave
Please stay.
Time for a tone wood debate!
Man, this is sick. and as always, your playing is just as beautiful and stunning as the instruments. It's really cool to see the effort you've put in!
14:24 Dire Straits cover's be like
Nice observation
Truly amazing work your doing on your channel. The smudges that your finger made on the guitar and the fret-board gave me a genius idea. What if you made a thermochromic fret-board and/or guitar. At least the fret-board, because it would totally be a hit! ( In other words, heat sensitive color changing paint, or material)
That's genius
this needs to be seen
Hype it upp!
Yooooo that sounds awesome!
Go like it on the newest video!!
Fantastic job man. What a gratifying feeling it will be to gaze at your creation in forty to fifty years from now and meditate on all of the memories associated with it through the years. I applaud your tenacity and fortitude to see it to fruition. Hopefully the next one sells on eBay for a few thousand doll hairs!
This was such a fun video to watch. I really enjoyed how detailed you are and that you also keep in your mistakes - all artists make mistakes or happy accidents. Great guitar playing at the end there!
It sounds great. Good work!
This takes me back to my time working in a metal foundry doing almost this exact same thing, but to make parts for 18-wheeler truck assembly. Ironically that was the job that helped me pay for my first "nice" guitar. Keep it up!
Awesome as always it is insane to watch his process progress from the beginning to now.
This is impressive craftsmanship
I believe you deserve a "canned" applause 👏👏👏
… bro
This gives a whole new meaning to
"pop music".
That "mother-f**ker" at 10:50 made me laugh, for I too utter similar phrases under my breath while undergoing tedious, labor intensive tasks.
Absolutely amazing work, dude. The time and effort that you put into this guitar build has got to be immense.
Always so stoked when Burls uploads. I am blown AWAY by this one. I don't know how he keeps topping himself, but every build is more incredible than the last. Each time I watch his process, I admire the work that goes in and I think I won't even care how the guitar sounds... Until it sounds really cool, and of course Burls is a pretty good guitarist.
Absolutely! Although, he should know, he doesn't _have_ to keep topping his work over and over - that's not very sustainable. Whatever he makes, we'll enjoy it!
@@shavono8402 honestly I would keep watching even if he just continued making guitars out of colored pencils.
@@maxrosenbaum8502 crayons have been done. Don’t remember who. Colored pencils would probably actually work a lot better being wood already I would assume using some type of bonding agent to hold them together first then make your cuts. Be pretty cool if you were a great guitar player and could sign autographs with the same instrument.
CAN!!!
Wow, this one is super impressive. I love seeing the fingerprints appear and fade from the neck during the demo, that is a really cool and unexpected effect.
It must have been so much fun to craft
When you make these types of guitars its very interesting to me because it shows that you can pretty much make anything out of anything
My favorite demo you have ever done was the first song with your first pencil guitar. So glad you chose to play it again. Makes me smile!
I love that you've shown just how difficult it actually is to sand-cast aluminum (or any other molten metal really)! So many channels show a few of the "scenes" from making it then show the end product and never show the like 112 failures they went through first xD
Your patience and precision are inspiring, and the amount of work that went into the tooling just to get started is amazing. There were so many points where I would have just given up. Awesome work!
Finally answering the age-old question: which beer cans give the best tone? 😁 This was a fun experiment and looks really cool. A lot of hard work on this one, and it turned out pretty sweet. Thanks for sharing!
Ok, you had me there. Never expected that, coffee trough my nose
Everyone knows the imported beer cans give the best sound, after all they are exotic and rare metals
Turned out great and sounds amazing also. Very patient and talented man.
Takes me back to metal shop in HS. We had a massive crucible, and everything from engine blocks to beer cans made their way into it.The advanced class project was casting a 2-foot tall bell, which usually took a few attempts before they got it right.
Nah????
Maybe add some cool designs like the H.R. Giger guitar.
You never repeat yourself! Even if the materials re-emerge, it’s awesome to see you apply new methods to each build.
@OfficialBurlsArt Shut up
Appreciate you always showing the mistakes, f-ups, or things just not going as expected in the vids. It shows that creative hands-on building often is a labor of love.
I love the sound of it and the harmonics are stronger than anything I've ever heard before. Unique indeed. I want it but it's likely around $10,000
@Street-shitter-2
so where do find out where you can buy it ?
@@martinkulizaebay
I really didn’t expect it to sound so good. It had a really great tone
This is the absolute most metal guitar I’ve ever seen!
its incredible to see someone like you who is so creative and genuinely acts on ideas do something like this. The instagram/youtube shorts algorithm has been feeding me molten metal pours over the last few months and as someone who does woodworking i think hey I should try that. But im lazy and its someone like you who actually outputs work that does it. Your videos are always great and a huge source of inspiration to be original and creative
The harmonics stood out to me the most as having a unique sound over a wooden guitar, and it definitely looks cool!
The sound is unbelievable! It's warm yet vibrant. Every note is clean and finishes with a perfect sustain. It's exactly what studios try to achieve when recording guitar tracks. Honestly, I expected a cold muted sound devoid of life. I'd bet a musician would gladly pay top dollar for it.
@@bobweiram6321 Watch some of Glenn's videos at SpectreSoundStudios and you'll learn where the tone comes from.
pickups are too close to the strings
Why do you think that?
@@pazsion to my ear, they sounded a bit more resonant and had a bell-like quality. I find harmonics to be a bit more subtle on a standard guitar, where they sounded a bit more forward on the aluminum build
As a sound engineer I am fascinated by the harmonics of metal in this application, I am expecting bright tone quality for some reason?
A brushed type of finish on aluminum would look amazing, plus it helps with the fingerprint issue. Maybe, one day, you can try it in a new iteration of this project) Best o luck with your work, you are amazing!
or adding some coating at the end if you want to keep the shine! We definitely need a 2.0 version!
Whenever I see a video like this, I’m like: this is SOOO much work. It deserves a million likes just for the effort that went into it.
Thank you TH-cam for recommending such a beautiful video to me, but on a serious note your work is BEYOND amazing!!! It’s incredible and the tunes OH THE TUNES!!! This is such a beauty
great and honest work!
i hope that you apply this in building a small business manufacturing guitars and perhaps other instruments for select musicians.
The sound demo at the end
Beautiful work! Well done!
Dabchick?
Hi
Aluminum puppets when,
wooow you here ?!
I think it has a very unique, very clear sound! Looks hand made too - in a good way.
The minute mold errors translated into a really cool detail in the guitar's finish. Looks great.