3d Printed Rickenbacker 4003 Bass

[ELynx]

OP would be better off buying one of the Ric knockoffs sold in China. Or buying a premade neck and building the body around it.

Or kit. Almost complete instrument. Build it in that "quality equipment" area.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Reading through more knowledgeable 3D printer posts, the idea of using a wood through neck blank with just the body wings printed makes a lot more sense. Keisel makes a nice paddle headstock through neck blank. The body wings are glued on real Rics, that seems a lot more do-able.
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[two fingers]

Parent's workplace? One of the cutting-edge hacker spaces? Access to quality equipment is relatively cheap these days assuming you live in the right parts of the country or know the right people.

My hat's off to anybody who tries this, it's going to be interesting if it succeeds. It won't be cheap, though. The project risks consuming hundreds of dollars worth of filament, because of the quantity needed for a successful print plus all the filament used for the prototypes and the failed prints. And I'm skeptical the best possible outcome with PLA is going to have the appropriate physical characteristics to intone and play well. OP will also have to fret and finish the neck by hand, which won't be fun because unlike wood, the plastic risks melting under the fret saw.

Doing it for the sake of seeing if it's possible is one thing and that's always exciting. Doing it to save money sounds like it would backfire. OP would be better off buying one of the Ric knockoffs sold in China. Or buying a premade neck and building the body around it.

What was I thinking? The finest engineers and luthiers on the planet haven't figured out how to 3D print a bass neck yet. But this high school kid hacking or using the machine at his dad's office attempting to spend LESS than the cost of an actual Ric shouldn't have any problems.

 

[J Gold]

I think the OP is John Hall in disguise, trying to catch us asking to buy one of these.

Maybe he should figure out a way to not have the clear coat lift away from the frets instead.

 

[Gojira72]

Your a broke Teen but you can afford to make it with a 20 thousand dollar 3D printer? Explain please

My moms boss was super generous and gifted me it. He couldn't get it to work, but I did.

 

[ardgedee]

What was I thinking? The finest engineers and luthiers on the planet haven't figured out how to 3D print a bass neck yet. But this high school kid hacking or using the machine at his dad's office attempting to spend LESS than the cost of an actual Ric shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Gojira72]

Why not do what others have done? Save up and buy one? Unless this is an experiment...

It is very much and experiment of what 3d printing can do

 

[two fingers]

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Man, that was one if the heat shows in TV... ever.

 

[johnson79]

I don't know if it will work or not, but tech innovators usually don't listen to people on internet forums telling them it won't work.

I think you should experiment first and see what you can come up with. Might be a complete failure, but you'll probably learn a lot.

 

[MattZilla]

My moms boss was super generous and gifted me it. He couldn't get it to work, but I did.

well, this broke student needs to get a basic webpage up and go do some prototyping courses and networking with patternmaking houses to do SLA's for them so he can buy ten Rics per year.

 

[Dluxe]

I just bought a real one last week at Austin Vintage Guitars. June 1976.

 

[klejst]

Interesting, looking forward to seeing it.

 

[BlueShox]

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

 

[Valsmere]

Heck I'm curious to see this

 

[fhm555]

Im a broke Teen who wants a Ric Bass, but dosent have the cash to buy one.

So a 3D printer and all the associated gear/supplies/software is cheaper than a Ric?

 

[Runnerman]

Reading through more knowledgeable 3D printer posts, the idea of using a wood through neck blank with just the body wings printed makes a lot more sense. Keisel makes a nice paddle headstock through neck blank. The body wings are glued on real Rics, that seems a lot more do-able.
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Agreed this is a good approach. You would need extremely high strength resins for the neck even with support rods. Those resins can't be printed on your "basic" machines. Also probably an insert for the bridge to take that stress and maybe the tuning pegs. There's plenty of reasons no one has used a plastic neck so far....and molded plastic can be much stronger than printed resins. Installing frets and nut...can't even imagine that nightmare.

 

[Ekulati]

My moms boss was super generous and gifted me it. He couldn't get it to work, but I did

I'd sell it and buy three or four nice guitars. But that's me.

 

[Tom Gallo]

♫ I always feel like ♫
♫ John Hall's watching me♫

 

[Gojira72]

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

Can I say I got bored?

 

[BruceWane]

It is very much and experiment of what 3d printing can do

As @MattZilla said - learn that machine inside and out, then use it and your new, valuable skills to earn extra money doing what 3d printers do well. You could easily have a career that will allow you to buy the stuff you want.

At this stage of technology, 3d printers aren't really the best tool for building complete guitars. However, the skills involved in 3d printing would certainly carry over to CNC routing/machining. CNC is a very, very good tool for making guitars, so if 3d printing is something that interests you, something you have a talent for, get into it, make some money doing 3d printing, then expand into CNC.