A 3D Printed Acoustic Guitar
Scott Summit, is the co-founder of Bespoke Innovations and
winner of design awards ranging from ISDA, IDEA, Good Design, and
Core77. He’s held faculty positions at Stanford University, Carnegie
Mellon, and Singularity University. And since he sits right next to us,
he’ll be guest blogging from time to time.
Recently, we made the first-ever 3D Printed Acoustic Guitar. Ok, so why 3D print a guitar from polyamide when wood has done so well over the years? Well, exotic woods are growing scarce, and there’s good reason to look to alternatives in all categories, guitars included. And the variety of shapes offered by 3D printing stands to create guitars that are as sculptural as their ancestors, yet with far less carbon footprint, less resource dependent, and, yes, even recyclable.
Another consideration is that there is no ‘Gold Standard’ for guitars, as there is with violins. Each great guitar player wants their own sound, and, in that effort, seeks out a luthier (guitar builder) to create a sound that is unique to them. But with the dawn of mass-customization and 3D printed consumer products, there is every reason to think that every aspiring musician can, one day soon, design their guitar to meet their desired sound, no luthier required.
Due to the size of the guitar and the need for both strength and resilience, the body was printed on a 3D Systems SinsterStation Pro, using Duraform PA. The metal soundhole cover and the metal at the heel joint were 3D printed as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment