3D-printed guitars in New Zealand

Overview of these printed guitars

During a recent stay in New Zealand, I saw guitars being printed on a 3D printer!

I had the chance to meet him in his Auckland lab, Olaf Diegen, a fascinating person who combined his skills in additive 3D printing with his love of the guitar.

The result is impressive: guitar bodies printed in a single piece from different materials (metal, wood, plastic).

Of course the neck and electronics are still traditional builds – but the design work on these bodies is mind-blowing!

Once the body is done, the finishes are painted by his wife. That is a serious amount of work too.

3D printing technique for the guitar bodies

This is an industrial 3D printing technique. The principle is as follows:

In a sealed chamber, nano-particles of raw material (9 nanometers in diameter) are sprayed. That creates a cloud of particles.

Then a laser sweeps horizontally across that field to fuse particles together where needed. The laser then scans the next layer above the first, and so on.

So with each horizontal layer, material is fixed in place and the final object is built. Material is added layer by layer – hence the name: additive manufacturing.

The huge advantage is that you can create any shape, because the object is built from nano-particle slices. You can even create mechanical objects already assembled (a box with working gears straight out of the printer, for example, or a folding knife ready to use). You can even create objects that could not be made any other way.
Another advantage: there is almost no waste of raw material

Examples

Gears

This metal guitar body with spinning gears was created in a single pass. No assembly was needed (apart from adding the motor and fitting the guitar hardware onto the body, of course).

Barbed wire

This one, also metal, combines flowers and barbed wire…

In wood

These ones are wood. Printed the same way, but with wood nano-particles.

The Beatles

A bass in tribute to The Beatles… Look at the details. And all of this is printed in a single pass!

Resin

These ones are resin.

Les Paul US

A Gibson Les Paul US – truly US 😉

Alien

Another metal guitar – Alien edition!

Pickup

Olaf also makes other objects… Here, a pickup.

Conclusion

It is simply mind-blowing: any design is possible. The result is flawless.

And it sounds just as good as a traditional guitar. Remember: only the bodies are printed. The neck, hardware and electronics remain traditional.

Huge thanks to Olaf for his kindness and explanations.

The Esprit Guitare workshop

The Esprit Guitare lutherie workshop welcomes you by appointment for maintenance, repair, setup or customization of guitars, bass, ukulele and more 😉
Feel free to contact us or book an appointment.

Esprit Guitare – a passion for instruments in Martinique.

#espritguitare #lutherie #guitartech #guitar #bass #martinique