3D printed basses

[mushers]

they look like a cheap dust trap

[BassTractor]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1367446027' post='2065918']
Erm... I took a look at the website, but I'm still not clear what material is being used.
[/quote]

Of course it's [b]ink[/b] they use. I'm flabbergasted that you even need to be told.

best,
bert

[shizznit]

I saw one at the Gadget Show Live event a few weeks ago. Despite it being hollow it weighed a tonne.

[bigsmokebass]

They're probably nice guitars for the novelty value but i doubt they sound all that well without a good amp/EQ.

may get one if i come in to some money

BSB

[Fat Rich]

Like all new technology it still needs some work to be really useful. At the moment most 3D printers are quite low resolution so you can see the lines of the layers that build up the shape. It probably won't be all that long before you can buy a high resolution full colour 3D printer for a few hundred quid and then it gets interesting.

Want a new toy car? Download the model and print it. Broken a bit off the front of your washing machine? Print out a new part from the manufacturers website. Want a different looking mobile phone? Design and print a new cover.

Bass guitar body too big or doesn't hang quite right on you? Tweak the shape and print out another. I expect someone will design a decent sounding guitar with a lightweight structural core plus neck, with non structural clip on body and headstock 3D printed panels that can be any shape or colour you feel like that particular day.

But I expect everyone will continue to play same ol' Precisions because Leo got it right first time and yer all a bunch of sheep!

Edit: Basschat's Dave Marks playing one:

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGoTI7nRals"]https://www.youtube....h?v=wGoTI7nRals[/url]

Edited May 5, 2013 by Fat Rich

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1367742448' post='2068829']
Like all new technology it still needs some work to be really useful. At the moment most 3D printers are quite low resolution so you can see the lines of the layers that build up the shape.
[/quote]

I'd not blame the resolution of the printer as much as the laziness of the construction. Routers aren't high resolution devices, even the cheapest Chinese P bass copy gets a sanding down before finishing.

[Junkyard Rocket]

give it a few years & the £100 beginners range from argos will be made like this

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1367779919' post='2069421']
I'd not blame the resolution of the printer as much as the laziness of the construction. Routers aren't high resolution devices, even the cheapest Chinese P bass copy gets a sanding down before finishing.
[/quote]

True some 3D printed models are tidied up considerably afterwards, but some are so intricate you can't sand them. But I don't think it'll be long before the layers are so thin on 3D printed models that you won't see them with the naked eye.

[Mr. Foxen]

Its the flat surfaces of those models that the construction flaws show up on, you wouldn't stand for saw marks showing on a £200 bass, why would you on a £2000 one?

[mckendrick]

[quote name='Prunesquallor' timestamp='1367399083' post='2065023']
Do you think anybody would be printing out Rickenbacker headstocks in the near future?
[/quote]
[i]Rickenbacker[/i], perhaps?

[Mr. Foxen]

When they do, they'll still call them handmade, like they do their CNC routed basses.

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1367742448' post='2068829']
Like all new technology it still needs some work to be really useful. At the moment most 3D printers are quite low resolution so you can see the lines of the layers that build up the shape. It probably won't be all that long before you can buy a high resolution full colour 3D printer for a few hundred quid and then it gets interesting.

Want a new toy car? Download the model and print it. Broken a bit off the front of your washing machine? Print out a new part from the manufacturers website. Want a different looking mobile phone? Design and print a new cover.
....
[/quote]

[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-22421185[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1367851865' post='2070220']
[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-22421185[/url]
[/quote]

I could make a gun comparable to that on a Myford lathe available on ebay for £4-600. I wouldn't bother because I can buy a deactivated proper gun and use basic metalworking to reactivate it, so really, not so much difference happens there, 3d printer is pretty expensive in comparison.

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1367851258' post='2070214']
When they do, they'll still call them handmade, like they do their CNC routed basses.
[/quote]
I fail to see the problem with using a CNC router. Far more accurate than a man would ever be.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1367851865' post='2070220']
[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-22421185[/url]
[/quote]

Yup, we're all doomed!

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1367855096' post='2070254']
I fail to see the problem with using a CNC router. Far more accurate than a man would ever be.
[/quote]

It's the calling it handmade part that is the problem.