Luthite

[andvari7]

Where can I get Luthite? I can't seem to find any sources online. Does Cort have a patent on it, or is it just ridiculously difficult to find? And if it is impossible to buy as a consumer, is there an equivalent that I can get?

It sounds like a reasonable alternative to wood, and I've played Luthite basses (two Ibanez, one Cort Curbow; I much preferred the Cort) that I've enjoyed. Granted, it wasn't a conventional sound (which is fine with me; I'm not interested in just making basses with conventional sounds), but I don't really understand the stigma.

 

[callmeMrThumbs]

My Ibanez EDA-905 is Luthite, but I don't know of any available sources. I'm interested to hear what you find out. Good luck.
-Josh

 

[Hambone]

You can't buy Luthite. In fact, "Luthite" is just a name for any one of several types of synthetic materials made from polymer resins and other stuff that's suitable for instrument making. As far as I've been able to determine, the term is just a marketing word that sounds more musical than "a lump of non-descript beige plastic"

Luthite doesn't come in sheets or slabs like wood. It's not a solid when it's in it's pre-fab state. The bodies you've played that have been made from it are molded, then have the critical areas like the pickup routes and neck pocket machined for accuracy. Colors like the Cort metallic blue are sprayed but I'm not entirely sure how they get the faux walnut finish. The best you'll be able to do is get one of the resin products like "butterboard" used to machine prototypes. You can get this stuff in sheets and blocks and in mixable liquid form for making molds. There are several types of material in this general class, the difference usually being in their densities. Denser materials are more expensive but yield better resolution when machining small, detailed parts. You can do a search for the "butterboard" term and it should yield the places to get the other stuff too. I'm pretty sure you'll find enough to be able to do what you want to do.

 

[ehque]

yeah, and you cant work luthite like you work wood either. experience with changing the strap buttons on my cort curbow to straploks is that its quite crumbly. like a biscuit. i had to superglue/toothpick my straploks in, now i cant remove them.

 

[Suburban]

"Luthite" is a casting composite, i.e. it is shaped by pouring a fluid into a mold. Not too practical for people without factory resources...
Not all that great as instrument material, either, IMHO.