If you are the same way, then you will like the idea of the Spider Guitar, which is a 3D printed guitar. The idea is “owned” by Olaf Diegel, a mechatronics professor at Massey University. What a mechatronics professor does exactly – don’t ask me! ((Wikipedia on mechatronics))
Diegel used to only dream about his 3D printed guitars, but thanks to the development of 3D printers – and the fact that his school is fortunate enough to have several desktop 3D printers – the professor was able to create real guitars, albeit rather small. The limitation, obviously, is the size of the printers. However, Diegel is already looking forward to the possibility of the school having a large-scale printer before the year ends.
Diegel’s 3D printed guitars are adorned with various designs, including butterflies. And yes, they do work. The idea is to use the 3D printers to form the body of the guitar, and then to fit wood inside to form the core. This is important for the tonality of the musical instrument. The wooden core can be made of a variety of wood such as mahogany and maple.
Naturally, the rest of the guitar’s parts need to be fitted after the 3D printing process as well. (Think strings, neck, etc.) Here’s the great part: you can buy Diegel’s 3D printed guitars at www.odd.org.nz. You can even go as far as to order your own design – in the future.
Via PhysOrg