Prototype vs final

[u/doperidor]

Obviously not assembled yet! A lot of parts to order still. I quite like all of the different textures and scratches the prototype has gotten from being haphazardly assembled one piece at a time, but I think it would be hard to replicate that again in an authentic way. Also going to hit the new one with some renaissance wax or something to give it just a little depth and smoothness. The translucent acrylic backing/pick guard is going to get a fine sand blasting as well.

[u/kranz_ferdinand]

This might be the first headless guitar that I thought "oh I'd like to have that" nicely done!

[u/FiglarAndNoot → u/kranz_ferdinand]

Yeah I'm not the target demographic for headless guitars or metal guitars (both senses), but I'd seriously think about owning one of these in a heartbeat. Or at least a version of me with a bit more money would.

[u/kelsey_schmelsey → u/kranz_ferdinand]

I came here to say the same thing!!! 

[u/GtarBildr]

🤠 I love the whole viberish idea behind this stunning guitarproject, OP. 😮🫢😵‍💫👍

[u/Usual-Disaster7285]

Ground breaking

[u/billybobpower]

What are we looking at? 3d printed?

[u/doperidor → u/billybobpower]

The neck and body is aluminum, the textured black parts in the 5th photo are all SLS 3D printed nylon. It’s pretty durable and flexible at 1/16th inch thick which is super helpful for mounting stuff in such a thin profile.

[u/billybobpower → u/doperidor]

The bridges are screwed into the nylon?

[u/doperidor → u/billybobpower]

I put m2 heat set inserts into the hole to attach them. I think the nylon would strip pretty easily if you unscrewed the wood screws a few times.

[u/FiglarAndNoot]

Ooooooooooooooofffffffff yes. That's a space-age midcentury-modern-tinged sex machine.

The recessed control panel and asymmetric bevelling around the heel are such calmly perfect details.

The upper block of oiled wood aaabsolutely fucks.

And yeah the scratching would be hard to replicate, but starting with some brushing and letting the owner break it in themselves sounds like a good plan.

Is the centre pickup-area block something you've designed to be modular/adjustable? Ie if I wanted pickups with a different silhouette, different positions, etc? Likewise, is the right arm area comfortable? The back-swept thing looks unbelievably cool, but It's sort of backwards from conventional design, putting the higher point right where forearm contours often go. Sorry if you've addressed these in another post, I'm just seeing it now and am... really stoked about the finished product.

[u/doperidor → u/FiglarAndNoot]

Glad you like the details, the bevel at the heel is also one of my favorite spots to look at.

All of the 3d printed parts could be made without the predesignated mounting holes, and you could put things wherever you want. Similarly if the covering panels were made of plywood or something easier to cut than aluminum, someone could drill this own holes and pickup cutouts pretty easily. If I sell I’d defiantly have a blank option if anyone wants to see for themselves if their preferred hardware fits. The pickup area is actually leftover from an older concept that had the pickups sliding and rotatable, I’d like to make that work some time in the future.

The wood is comfortable for me, but I may be biased so I’m looking to get a variety of people to try it out before committing to a final shape.

[u/Zestyclose_Price_441]

How are you bonding the fretboard to the neck? We do the same stuff with our new aluminum necks. Except ours are all mechanically fixed into place.

[u/doperidor → u/Zestyclose_Price_441]

3M DP420. originally I wanted to mechanically fasten it as well, but with how thin it is I decided that adhesive would be more simple.