3D Printed Guitar/Music Accessories?

[eggpl@nt]

I just dipped my toes into the world of 3D printing. Does anyone know of any neat music- or guitar-related prints? No specific needs or ideas in mind. I'm really just printing random doodads to get comfortable with printing and to work out the kinks and correct settings.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I'd think a string stretcher would be cool. Do you do your own drawings? I'm pretty adept with a program called Sketchup. I use it a lot in my line of work, carpentry/home remodeling/new homes.

 

[eggpl@nt]

I'd think a string stretcher would be cool. Do you do your own drawings? I'm pretty adept with a program called Sketchup. I use it a lot in my line of work, carpentry/home remodeling/new homes.

I'm slowly figuring out the CAD part. I don't have any experience with it.

 

[laxu]

I'd think a string stretcher would be cool. Do you do your own drawings? I'm pretty adept with a program called Sketchup. I use it a lot in my line of work, carpentry/home remodeling/new homes.

That's a name I haven't heard in a while. I used Sketchup back when Google owned it and it was free. I used it to model my apartment so I could easily figure out the ideal furniture placement.

As for 3D printing, I'd try making some cool knobs for a guitar. You could make ones that lock on the pot shaft with a screw as those would probably be more durable than the push-in type.

I'd probably learn Blender for 3D printing. It's free, with a strong community so lots of tutorials on how to get started. CAD software is usually more rigid as it's made for industrial design whereas 3D printing is a bit more freeform with shapes and so on, so a standard 3D modeling package might be more flexible.

 

[Piing]

I'd think a string stretcher would be cool. Do you do your own drawings? I'm pretty adept with a program called Sketchup. I use it a lot in my line of work, carpentry/home remodeling/new homes.

I did one Stretcher and I shared the code on ThingVerse

I used OpenSCAD

Guitar String Stretcher by ManuelGuerrero

Handy too for stretching the guitar strings. Start from the bridge and slide up to the neck. 2 passes are enough

www.thingiverse.com

 

[eggpl@nt]

That's a name I haven't heard in a while. I used Sketchup back when Google owned it and it was free. I used it to model my apartment so I could easily figure out the ideal furniture placement.

As for 3D printing, I'd try making some cool knobs for a guitar. You could make ones that lock on the pot shaft with a screw as those would probably be more durable than the push-in type.

I'd probably learn Blender for 3D printing. It's free, with a strong community so lots of tutorials on how to get started. CAD software is usually more rigid as it's made for industrial design whereas 3D printing is a bit more freeform with shapes and so on, so a standard 3D modeling package might be more flexible.

Huh I didn’t know Blender could play into 3D printing applications. I’ve been using OnShape. It’s free and browser-based.

 

[laxu]

Huh I didn’t know Blender could play into 3D printing applications. I’ve been using OnShape. It’s free and browser-based.

Yeah there's plenty of tutorials online for this and Blender comes with a tool for figuring out if your mesh is ready for printing: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/addons/mesh/3d_print_toolbox.html

 

[eggpl@nt]

Bumping this because I printed something gear related: a monitor stand for a Genelec 8030.

Fun Facts:

• I did not design this. It can be found here.
• This was my second attempt. My first got ~5 hours into the print before the base started to delaminate and warp away from the print bed. The warp is slight, but I anticipated it would get worse, so I killed the print.
• This took 43 hours to print.
• It consumed ~700g of this filament, so this cost ~$14. (The cost is $15.60 if you consider the failed print which consumed 80g of filament.)
• It's pretty sturdy. I intentionally bonked the stand a few times, and it wobbled but ultimately stood firm. I am considering adding something to the base (which is hollow) to lower the center of gravity.
• I'm currently printing the lid to cover the hollow center.
• I still need to print the second stand.

Ultimately, this did a great job of bringing my monitor up to ear height. I'm not sure how it impacts the speaker acoustically, but maybe I'll take some measurements.

 

[norminal]

Bumping this because I printed something gear related: a monitor stand for a Genelec 8030.

Looks great!

 

[eggpl@nt]

Looks great!

Thanks! It looks better than I imagined it would. I spent about a week doing test print after test print making sure everything was tuned and working properly, and I'm super pleased with how it turned out.

Now I just gotta cross my fingers for that second 43 hours print...

 

[Sleezy E]

Awesome stuff!
I wanna get into 3d printing one of these days.

If that thing is hollow, I'd fill it with sand or some sort of insulation

 

[eggpl@nt]

Awesome stuff!
I wanna get into 3d printing one of these days.

If that thing is hollow, I'd fill it with sand or some sort of insulation

Yep, sand is an idea. Only issue is there's a small slit at the bottom that would need to by sealed--perhaps with hot glue or something similar.

By insulation, do you mean Rockwool-type material? I have bit of that lying around from building acoustic panels. My only hesitation there is, it doesn't lower the center of gravity--even though that may be a better move, acoustically speaking. (I have no idea.)

 

[norminal]

Yep, sand is an idea. Only issue is there's a small slit at the bottom that would need to by sealed--perhaps with hot glue or something similar.

By insulation, do you mean Rockwool-type material? I have bit of that lying around from building acoustic panels. My only hesitation there is, it doesn't lower the center of gravity--even though that may be a better move, acoustically speaking. (I have no idea.)

Use lead shotgun shot.

 

[eggpl@nt]

Use lead shotgun shot.

My first thought was "they may not even sell that in my state," but Amazon has options. Not a bad idea.

 

[norminal]

My first thought was "they may not even sell that in my state," but Amazon has options. Not a bad idea.

That’s what we used to fill our stands with when I worked in home audio. Works great to dampen the stands and keeps them in place.

 

[eggpl@nt]

That’s what we used to fill our stands with when I worked in home audio. Works great to dampen the stands and keeps them in place.

Can low frequencies excited the beads and rattle them? If that’s a concern, I could probably throw insulation in there amongst the beads…?

 

[norminal]

Can low frequencies excited the beads and rattle them? If that’s a concern, I could probably throw insulation in there amongst the beads…?

We filled them up enough until they were basically packed and couldn’t move.

 

[eggpl@nt]

Here’s another application for 3D printing in the guitar world. This one is somewhat obvious and already commercialized, but it didn’t occur to me to try this until I ordered some clear PETG filament—foot switch toppers!

I’m using a free STL from Printables and messing with a few settings to strike a balance between appearance and strength.

This particular version is too brittle, though it does let the light through nicely. There are tutorials on printing clear PETG with a glass-like transparency, and I’m working through those.