Oh I haven't gotten into exotic filaments yet - just things like PLA, PVB... Getting plenty of mileage out of the regular stuff (i have some blacklight colors, plus now glow in the dark and "marble" but nothing with other embedded materials).
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3d Printed Rickenbacker 4003 Bass
- Thread starter Gojira72
- Start date
ah, cool. Im very curious about the possibilities of non-poly materials (i.e. metal/wood/CF)
I haven't researched this topic yet, but do you think PLAs (or others) have the strength to hold the string tension (~200lb) of a neck?
PS> BTW, great idea of printing length wise/on edge (like quartersawn neck grain).
I haven't researched this topic yet, but do you think PLAs (or others) have the strength to hold the string tension (~200lb) of a neck?
PS> BTW, great idea of printing length wise/on edge (like quartersawn neck grain).
My only reason for not using PLA was because in my experience it is a little to brittle and flexible compared to ABS. I do personally like printing with PLA because of its ease of use, however ABS just suits my needs a little better for this project.
So because I testing out a new neck structure design, I am just going to quickly(but accurately) model up a headless style bass. Even though I am a fan of the headless design,I just want to make sure that the neck structure I have designed will work on the Ric. Plus you need to do some experiments before moving on the final, so I suppose here is my experiment. The body shape isn't going to be anything fancy, and Im probably just going to buy a cheap MM style pickup just as a proof of concept. This won't be a good instrument, but it will be an instrument(hopefully). Ok I am now going to go model this thing.
How are you fusing the sections together, the largest bed that I’m aware of is about 10 by 12 inches and that’s on a 6k printer. I know a little about 3D printers, I’ve personally built about two thousand of them.
Well put. Pretty much everything I'm proud to have accomplished was "supported" by people who told me either it could not be done, or that I couldn't do it...A lot of people have had extremely lucrative careers doing things that others said couldn't be done. Continue on. You have nothing to lose. Just make sure to post a photo of the final project. I would love to see it because I bet it will be killer.
Go @Gojira72 you can do it!
Next time you build, start your thread in the Luthier's Corner here on TB, the support will be huge...
Update: So remember those two printers I was on about a few months ago, well both of those have since died, which as I am imagine you can guess, is problematic, so is a another huge setback. What my current plan is involves me having to rebuild both machines into one machine that can successfully print the ABS accruately. As for the bass I have been doing my homework on structure and how to make Prints more sturdy, and I have been coming up with new ideas on how to get this thing to work properly. So just know I still haven't given up on this project.
ron berry
Commercial User
I am all for the cheap end of the market becoming 3d printed plastic, I am tired of seeing nice timber used to make crappy instruments.
It won't be cheap end. Actually, it can't be cheap if it's made properly from carbon reinforced filaments and with high end printers. I'm all for super nice instruments made from cheap timber though.
The new synthetics like Richlite and Rocklite are more promising for wood substitutes, it’s also a renewable resource made from wood and resin, instead of yet another plastic that will eventually get land filled. I’m no Luddite, but I can’t see a huge market for printed basses. Probably have to eat my words in a few years though.
Hello Gojira,
Was curious to see if you ever built your bass? Like you I enjoy both worlds of 3D Creations and Bass guitar. Also luthering. I was reading your posts of trial and error with this Rickenbacker Bass. Also a bass I am making out of wood. However, you inspired me to create a STL file of
The body: ready for pickup install and wire routing. The Pickguard. The Truss Rod Cover with RIC logo (I know. There will be some haters. Don't care) and the file is at spec. Size. I would not recommend printing the neck. No matter how you go about it, the neck always comes out garbage. Tried a few times with other builds. I'm hoping to print the attached pic in the next week or so. I have a blank file without all the bling. If it works out and built ill keep you updated and post the files. Pickups used. Neck used and wiring scheme. Always create Gojira! Builds and playing. Never let those discourage you. -ELJ
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Long story short, not in the sense of my orginial design. Ive spent the past year doing intense research on different materials and material creation processes. My original design was a little to reliant on the plastic then on the thread rod, which became very problematic. However last Summer Tim Sway, an amazing upcyclist and Luthier, started making basses and guitars without any wood. Looking more in to it, ive became interested in how I can make the this neck work less as a solid printed neck, but more of a print parts of the neck to have the curve and the neck shape and create a metal frame the holds it and the headstock in place. I did however buy one of those cheap Ebay Jazz Bass kits and I used the parts from that and Ive created a printed Jaguar Jazz body. I am not done with it yet as its Summer in Virginia and I have an un-air conidtioned shed which has caused me to slow down, but one Autumn comes around ill be able to have that done very quickly. I did string it up and while it did work mostly. I used a cheap filament on one piece near the bridge which caused it to fail a little, but I drilled some Oak dowels in place which allowed me to string it up properly.
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That Jbass looks great . Kudos. Defiantly post your final print in the fall. Yes it's been discouraging this summer (live in Arizona) to get much done in my shop. Way too hot. In regards to the neck build your conquering, gotta say thats was an awesome idea with the oak dowels. Think eventually ill revisit the idea of a 3d printed neck build. Also, those DIY kits aren't half bad. Did a pitbull Explorer 5 string once. Used it a lot in a melodic metal band I was in. Pleasantly surprised after a few upgrades along the way. Going to check out Tim Sway's work and see what he's doing. Definatly send pics of your prints when you get back at it. Keep up the great work.
So I 3d printed parts of this (Thumb rest, bezel for bridge pickup) Laser engraved the RIC logo on truss rod cover. Plays good. Did it for around $210. Finally almost got a 500mm printer built where I'll try and print a body. Maybe attempt a neck to make it a one piece like this one.
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I did a half body build with a jbass bridge pickup and humbucker neck. Printed single pieces on cr10 s-5 printer. Pla filament. Printed pickguard, body and vol/ tune knobs. Will do a full body print soon. Happy with results and sounds great. Designed body on fusion and tinkercad. Pickguard and knobs were available on thingiverse. Bought a jbass neck on eBay for $40. Had to adjust rod and sand frets but all in all a great guy and feels, plays and sounds awesome. Thanks
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