The dream of crafting a personalized electric guitar has resonated with musicians and makers for generations. For me, that dream took a modern twist: 3D printing an electric guitar. Initially, the task seemed immense, fraught with questions. Could a 3D printed body withstand string tension? Would it warp over time? Would the sound quality even compare to traditional instruments? The online world offered glimpses of successful attempts, yet many lacked crucial details for replication – printable models, clear instructions, or cost-effective solutions.
Driven by these unanswered questions and a desire to make guitar building accessible, I embarked on a mission: to design a fully 3D printable electric guitar from the ground up. This project, born from curiosity and a passion for accessible creation, aimed to empower anyone with a 3D printer to craft their own playable instrument.
Design Philosophy: Keeping it Simple and Accessible
My vision for this 3D printed guitar was rooted in community. I wanted to create a project that was not only innovative but also easily replicable by fellow 3D printing enthusiasts. Before even sketching the first design, I established a set of core priorities:
- Simplicity is Key: The design had to be straightforward, avoiding complex multi-part assemblies. The goal was an easy-to-build instrument, not a puzzle.
- Affordability Matters: The project needed to be budget-friendly. If the cost escalated, it would defeat the purpose of accessible DIY creation, competing with established guitar brands.
- Globally Accessible Hardware: Components had to be readily available worldwide, ensuring anyone, regardless of location, could source the necessary parts.
- Desktop 3D Printer Compatibility: Crucially, all parts had to fit within the build volume of a popular printer like the Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ (25×21×21 cm). This constraint was paramount to maximize accessibility within the 3D printing community.
- Playability is Non-Negotiable: This wasn’t just about creating a visually interesting object; it had to be a functional, playable guitar, capable of holding tune across its entire range.
- Aesthetics Matter: Beyond functionality, the guitar needed to look impressive, a testament to the potential of 3D printed musical instruments.
Smart Design Choices for 3D Printing Success
The primary engineering challenge was addressing the immense force exerted by guitar strings. Estimates suggest around 50kg of tension pulling on the guitar body and neck – a force capable of bending, warping, or even snapping a poorly designed structure.
The solution for the neck was immediately clear: a traditional wooden neck. While a fully 3D printed guitar is an intriguing concept, the neck is a critical component demanding precision, stability, and playability that surpasses current 3D printing capabilities for this application. Wooden necks offer inherent straightness, smooth fret surfaces, and adjustable truss rods for optimal setup.
The bridge, however, presented a more nuanced design decision. The bridge anchors the strings to the guitar body and bears a significant portion of the string tension. Examining various guitar bridge designs, one stood out as ideal for a 3D printed build: the Telecaster bridge.
Unlike smaller, two-screw bridges on many guitars, the Telecaster bridge is a substantial metal plate. This large plate integrates the bridge pickup and utilizes up to five widely spaced mounting screws. This design distributes string tension across a larger area of the 3D printed body, enhancing stability and reducing stress on any single point.
A Telecaster guitar bridge, chosen for its large mounting plate which is ideal for distributing string tension across a 3D printed guitar body.
The Telecaster’s simplicity extends beyond the bridge. Its single additional pickup simplifies wiring and design. Furthermore, the volume and tone controls, along with the pickup selector switch, are mounted on a separate metal control plate, further simplifying the 3D printed body design. This streamlined approach minimizes the complexity of integrating individual electronic components directly into the printed guitar body.
This project builds upon previous explorations into 3D printed guitar accessories. Earlier articles explored the surprising effectiveness of 3D printed guitar picks and the versatility of 3D printing for guitar accessories like capos and strap locks. These prior experiments laid the groundwork for tackling the more ambitious project of a fully 3D printed guitar body.
A collection of 3D printed guitar accessories, demonstrating the potential of 3D printing for musical instrument components.
Sourcing Hardware Economically: The Harley Benton Kit
With the Telecaster hardware chosen, the next step was sourcing the components. Typically, options include:
- Salvaging parts from a cheap Telecaster: Dismantling a functional guitar can be wasteful unless repurposing a heavily damaged instrument.
- Purchasing individual components: Sourcing parts separately can quickly become expensive.
- Utilizing a Telecaster hardware kit: Kits offer a convenient and often more affordable all-in-one solution.
Individual component purchases, even opting for budget-friendly options, can easily accumulate to several hundred dollars. This price point clashes with the project’s goal of affordability.
Enter the Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit T-Style. This remarkable kit, priced at a mere $79, includes all necessary hardware – pre-wired and ready for simple assembly. Offered by Musikhaus Thomann, a leading global music retailer based in Germany, the kit also fulfills the requirement of worldwide shipping accessibility.
The Harley Benton kit’s incredible value simplifies the project to essentially “order this kit and 3D print the body.” While the kit includes a basic, unfinished wooden body, it’s readily replaced with a custom 3D printed version, guilt-free, given the price point.
Designing the Prusacaster: Merging Form and Function in Fusion 360
Fusion 360 became the design tool of choice for crafting the guitar body. The crucial initial step was accurately mapping the positions of all mounting holes, the neck pocket, and electronic component cavities.
The Harley Benton kit’s included wooden body proved invaluable in this process. By photographing the body alongside a ruler, using a telephoto lens to minimize perspective distortion, a precise template was created. Fusion 360’s “Calibrate” feature allowed for accurate scaling of the image, using a 50cm section of the ruler for maximum precision.
Tracing the hole positions in a 2D sketch and verifying dimensions with digital calipers ensured accuracy. Special attention was paid to the bridge position, critical for string alignment and intonation. The bridge’s location dictates the guitar’s tuning accuracy across the fretboard, especially the crucial midpoint at the 12th fret. While the Telecaster bridge offers intonation adjustment, precise initial placement is essential.
Measuring the wooden guitar body from the Harley Benton kit to create an accurate template for the 3D printed guitar design in Fusion 360.
While adhering to Telecaster hardware, the design aimed to move beyond a simple copy of the traditional Telecaster shape. 3D printing unlocks design freedom, allowing for exploration of more contemporary aesthetics.
Inspired by the flowing lines of Fender Jazzmaster and Mustang guitars, Fusion 360’s Spline tool was used to create a unique body shape, blending classic influences with a modern 3D printed aesthetic.
The initial 2D sketch in Fusion 360, outlining the shape of the 3D printed guitar body, inspired by Jazzmaster and Mustang designs.
Extruding the 2D sketch to a standard guitar body thickness of 45mm created the basic 3D form. Holes and cavities for electronics were then subtracted using the previously created template. Channels were incorporated to facilitate wiring between cavities, ensuring easy component connection. The pickup cavities were designed slightly oversized, as they would be covered by the bridge and pickguard. A larger cavity on the bottom edge provided space for the control plate and output jack. With these steps, the fundamental guitar body model was complete.
The extruded 3D model of the guitar body in Fusion 360, showing the basic form before adding design details and splitting for 3D printing.
However, the model’s size exceeded the build volume of most desktop 3D printers, including even the large-format Original Prusa XL. Splitting the model into printable sections was necessary.
Beyond printability, the initial design lacked a distinctive visual element. Embracing the design freedom of 3D printing, experimentation with cutouts led to the incorporation of hexagons. This geometric motif served both aesthetic and functional purposes. The hexagonal pattern provided natural dividing lines for splitting the model into parts, creating seams that seamlessly integrated into the overall design. A large chamfer along the top edge enhanced playing comfort.
The 3D model incorporating hexagon cutouts, which serve as both a design element and guides for splitting the body into printable parts.
Strategic Splitting for Desktop 3D Printing
Addressing the string tension of 50kg dictated a critical constraint for splitting the model: the section of the guitar body between the neck and bridge should ideally be printed as a single piece. Creating a robust joint in this high-stress area would introduce unnecessary complexity.
Fortunately, strategic cuts, leveraging the hexagon pattern, made this possible. The top edge followed the hexagon pattern, and a horizontal cut below the bridge mounting holes minimized part length. A diagonal cut on the bottom left optimized part orientation for printing within the MK3’s build volume, aligning the longest dimension diagonally across the print bed. This clever orientation even allowed for support-free printing, though organic supports in PrusaSlicer were used for a smoother finish on overhangs.
Diagram showing how the main body section is oriented diagonally to fit within the build volume of an Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ 3D printer.
The remaining sections were split logically along the hexagon pattern and into sizes compatible with the 25×21 cm print bed. The bottom section, devoid of hexagons, was divided into two parts. The top section was split into three.
The final piece, the pickguard, also serving as the top pickup mount, was defined by offsetting the surrounding body edges by 3mm.
Splitting the body into multiple parts offered an additional aesthetic advantage: multi-color printing. Prusa Research’s signature black and orange color scheme, complemented by a teal accent, was chosen to highlight the modular design. The small bottom-right piece in teal added a vibrant touch.
The final, split design of the 3D printed guitar body, showcasing the multi-part construction and color-coding.
The Prusacaster model was complete, ready for printing and assembly.
Printing and Assembly: Bringing the Prusacaster to Life
Material Selection for Strength and Stability
The central body piece, bearing the brunt of string tension, demands careful material selection. While PETG might seem like an intuitive choice for its perceived strength, stiffness is paramount for this application. Surprisingly, PLA, particularly formulations like Prusament PLA Prusa Galaxy Black, excels in stiffness. PLA also aligns with the project’s focus on affordability and ease of use.
PLA’s primary limitation is its lower temperature resistance. While the substantial center piece can withstand direct sunlight for reasonable durations, prolonged exposure to high temperatures, such as inside a car on a hot day, could cause warping. For enhanced temperature resistance, materials like Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber or Prusament PA11 Carbon Fiber offer superior performance, albeit at a higher cost and with more demanding printing requirements. Given Prague’s moderate climate, PLA proved sufficient for this project, and after a year of use, the PLA center piece remains structurally sound.
Initial testing involved printing a single center piece with default PrusaSlicer settings. Successful fitment led to stringing it up with the neck and bridge – a minimalist, functional guitar prototype!
The minimalist prototype of the 3D printed guitar, consisting only of the center piece, neck, and bridge, demonstrating initial functionality.
Addressing Material Creep for Long-Term Durability
A potential concern with PLA under sustained tension is material creep – gradual deformation under constant stress, even below the material’s yield strength. This concern materialized after a month of string tension, with minor bending observed in the initially printed center piece. This was attributed to insufficient perimeter thickness in the default PrusaSlicer profile. Reprinting the part with 7 perimeters and 25% cubic infill completely resolved the creep issue, providing significantly enhanced structural integrity.
String Gauge and Tension Management
Guitar strings come in varying gauges (thicknesses). Lighter gauge strings are easier to play but produce less volume and sustain and are more prone to breakage. Heavier gauge strings offer increased volume and sustain but require more finger pressure and, crucially, exert greater tension on the guitar neck. Opting for lighter gauge strings, such as 9-gauge, reduces stress on the 3D printed center piece.
Printing the Remaining Body Parts
The remaining body sections experience minimal stress. Material choice for these parts is less critical. Prusament PETG Prusa Orange was used for the top hexagon sections, Prusament PLA Galaxy Black for the bottom switch-housing piece, and Prusament PLA Azure Blue for the small teal accent piece, all printed with default PrusaSlicer profiles.
All the 3D printed parts of the Prusacaster guitar body, printed in various Prusament filaments.
Assembly: Gluing and Securing the Sections
The body sections feature large contact areas for robust adhesion. Superglue provides ample bonding strength. M3 screw holes in the hexagon pieces offer optional mechanical reinforcement, particularly where the strap attaches, bearing the guitar’s weight. However, screw access is somewhat restricted, making their use optional.
Wiring and Grounding for Optimal Sound
The Harley Benton T-style kit’s pre-wired electronics with JST connectors simplify wiring. Connecting the top pickup wires to the corresponding selector switch wires is crucial for correct switch operation.
The pre-wired electronics from the Harley Benton T-style guitar kit, featuring JST connectors for easy assembly.
A single black wire in the kit serves as a ground wire for the strings. Routing this wire through a channel in the center piece, under the bridge, and securing it by tightening the bridge grounds the strings, significantly reducing unwanted buzzing. Even high-end guitars experience some buzz, especially with budget components, grounding is essential for minimizing noise.
Diagram showing the routing of the ground wire to the bridge of the 3D printed guitar to reduce electrical noise.
Final Setup: Intonation for Perfect Tuning
With assembly and wiring complete, stringing and tuning the guitar is the next step. Guitar intonation, ensuring accurate tuning across the fretboard, is the final adjustment. After tuning, compare the open string note to the note at the 12th fret. If the 12th fret note is significantly out of tune, intonation adjustment is needed.
Telecaster bridges offer easy intonation adjustment via saddle screws. A flat 12th fret note (lower pitch) requires moving the saddle towards the neck. A sharp note (higher pitch) necessitates moving the saddle towards the bridge – always loosen the string slightly before adjusting. Telecaster saddles often serve two strings, requiring a balanced adjustment for both.
Adjusting the intonation on the Telecaster bridge of the 3D printed guitar to ensure accurate tuning across the fretboard.
The Completed Prusacaster: Ready to Rock
Playability and Sound: Surprising Performance
The Prusacaster’s playability is remarkably impressive. Blindfolded, it would be difficult to discern it from a traditionally constructed guitar. Tuning stability and intonation are excellent. While component quality limits its performance compared to high-end Telecasters, its playability far exceeds expectations for its budget and DIY nature.
Download, Print, and Play!
The Prusacaster project demonstrates the exciting potential of 3D printing for creating functional and enjoyable musical instruments. If you’re ready to embark on your own 3D printed guitar journey, download the free 3D model from Printables.com:
Download the model from Printables.com
The download includes STEP files for all parts and a DXF drawing of hole positions for customization and modification. Enjoy building your own Prusacaster and experiencing the fusion of 3D printing and musical expression!
