Luthier creates a unique 3D printed guitar that allows for "impossible geometry"

Mark Gutierrez is a guitar designer and modder with tremendous versatility. Whether he's upgrading cheap pickups, converting acoustics to rubber bridges or creating wild 9-string guitars, he's always doing interesting things to inspire others. But his latest project is on a whole other level.

The 3D-printed guitar is not a new concept – there are plenty of designs out there available to put one together, but Mark wanted to do something different. A Rhoads V-style with layered patterns in its body to create an otherworldly effect. But have the practical advantage of saving on material in the printing process.

Watching the concept become a reality is fascinating viewing. Mark puts a lot of thought into the body's design with bevelling and an ingenious approach to making the printing cuts (the body has to be printed in pieces) part of the design.

There's some trial and error involved at the printing stage require some rethinking, and the "cohesiveness" of the surface finish proved to be one of the projects biggest challenges. But Mark adapted very well, and the result… it looks incredible.

"This guitar came out absolutely killer and I couldn't be happier," says Mark. "It's one of the fastest guitars I've ever built and that's because of 3D printers and 3D printing technology."

A lot of time went into the design instead. "A lot of the bulk of this was on the computer," explains Mark. Some of the parts took up to 12 hours to complete too. The challenges of the tremendous tension from the strings was addressed with carbon fiber rods and epoxy adhesive.

While 3D printing is an interesting novelty, Mark believes that a mix of approaches can be a better approach to building to combine practicality, usability and certain visuals that wouldn't be possible with a CNC router or lazer.

"What I learned is it doesn't have to be completely 3D-printed," he concludes. "You could only print what you needed to and then use mixed materials." Mark now hopes to explore this further with his next build.

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