3D printing has rapidly but firmly evolved from a technology that was of interest to hobbyists to something that has started to dominate the mainstream business and consumer attention. 3D printers are now at the disposal of musicians, with many 3D printing companies that are checking out the possibilities of bringing a digitally designed instrument into the world. For some years now 3D printers have become quite affordable this means that very soon they will become a common household item like mobile phones and computers. This is truly the age of 3D printing revolution. Since the journey of 3D printers has been quite long and exhaustive, it’s time now to check the versatility of this technology by implementing it in the musical industry. Why not 3D print a guitar rather than buying one from a store?
3D printed electric guitars have been there in the market for quite some time now but the very new entry of acoustic guitars has brought about a new buzz in the musical world. 3D printed acoustic guitar is the new in thing. The invention of this new genre of guitars has been developed by a 3D printing company that creates accessories for prosthetic limbs. The printer is priced at $3,000 and is made of Nylon powder, sterling silver and stainless steel.
The other musical instrument that has been 3D printed recently is the violin by the name of F-F-Fiddle which was created by David Perry and Dan Nicholson. They used Fusion 360 CAD software to design it.
IdeaZoo, a 3D printing company plans to bridge the gap between 3D printing and everyday designs. They are helping customers bring their ideas to life. This company makes product proto-types and short production runs with minimum setup cost. IdeaZoo believes that “the future of manufacturing is a direct link between 3D modeling and part creation, with no intermediary steps.”
Apart from IdeaZoo there are several other 3D printing companies which are working hard to bridge the gap between the 3D printing technology and musicians and their musical instruments.
Image Credit: jadepalmer (flickrhandle: jadeashleyphotography)
