Check out this guitar: have you ever seen an instrument like this? It’s kind of a combination of a machine and an electric guitar, but it fully works as a rock instrument. It’s a 3D printed guitar made by Olaf Diegel, design engineer and professor of mechatronics at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand.
Bands can perfectly use the guitar, because it is a fully functioning Steampunk Engine. The body of the guitar is 3D printed and it has moving gears and piston. This means that you can press a button so the mechanism starts moving while you’re playing guitar. If the word ‘awesome’ was invented for something, it must probably be for this guitar. The Rolling Stones will be jealous.
The artist responsible for the nice paint job is called Ron van Dam. Diegel says about this project: “3D printing makes it possible to manufacture ‘impossible’ shapes.” The body of the guitar is printed with 3D Systems on an sPro 230 SLS machine out of Duraform (nylon) material. Check out a video here:
The good news is that there is more. Are you into Americana guitars, then check out Diegels 3D printed USA guitar, embedding some nice details of New York City, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Yes, it’s way beyond kitsch, but be honest: does it matter?
Pictures: Odd guitars.