I Bought This 3D Printed Guitar For $50 

Suddenly, I"m feeling a raging tone resin controversy brewing

50 bucks? Not a mistake. It was worth it just so you could make this video.

No way for $50 that guitar is super cool looking ! Great wall art if nothing else

Send a sound sample with the Bad Cat amp to Paul Reed Smith and have him guess the tonewood of this custom shop Tele.

The new TONEWOOD!

Agreed, just for curiosity's sake, it was worth it. I would also like to see other printed bodies checked out. Answered my question about neck dive and stability definitely.

The resonance on that tone plastic is just *chef's kiss*

Hot Plastic with the Fabulous Patented "Armpit Trem" - by Ronco!

Squirt some soap on those holes and you can swing it around to make bubbles 😂😅🎉

"Honeytone" Guitar, sounded pretty sweet. Need to put weights in a bass bout cell or two to fix the neck dive. Other than that, you should keep it around for Blind Test tonewood discussions and Pickup swaps. That will be fun. Thanks

Thats called the Prusacaster, very famous design, im planning to do one soon.

That’s wild man! THANK YOU and keep ‘em coming!

I bet all the Bumble Bee's in your Backyard will love it!! Hang it outside!! 🐝

Call it "The Partly Cloudy Guitar."

For $50 it's a fun experiment.

Been thinking about printing one of these. Now you have me considering printing the center part at about half an inch thick and using it as a template to make a wooden center section with 3D printed "wings". Seems like that would cure the flex problem. but the guitar would still look pretty much the same. Thanks for doing this.

Not a bad sounding guitar at that. 50 bucks, I guess, getting some tele pickups and hardware, it would be worth it? What I would call it. A "Bee - Bender", since it has that honeycomb look and you can bend notes with the body, seem appropriate. 😆Thanks Phil, you never disappoint. 👍

Thanks, you finally put my theories to rest. Ive had a 3d printer longer than I've been making guitars. And I'm so glad you took the option off my printer table so to speak

Thank you for the video. The Prusacaster has been something on my radar for about a year. Been too chicken to buy one or make one myself. I totally appreciate you making this video. There are a lot of videos from the perspective of a 3d printing enthusiast but not from a guitarists perspective.

I love the video. Im thinkin it's the HexCaster or the DisasterCaster...

I dig it. Stuff like this is super cool and fun. I feel like that element is largely missing in the modern guitar world. This is a concept worthy of improving on. I thought it sounded pretty good, maybe even better than pretty good. Maybe build that body around a wood center block for stability and the rest of the design is up to the individual. Super cool, man.

A mistake would be buying a $5000 custom shop that you don’t like and losing money on it. This guitar is awesome on many levels and for that price it is hard to go wrong!

This was hilariously fun! Not a mistake at all for a good chuckle and trying something different for $50 bucks! Yes, totally try to mod this thing and turn it into a beast! Definitely try putting lighter gauge strings too - maybe even 7 or 8’s!

If you stick several golf balls in that Swiss Cheesed guitar body, there will be less neck dive, Phil.

Mistake or not, it's a very cool idea and a very cool video!

Yep, the Prusacaster. I printed one a year and a half ago, and spent more than $50 on the filament, so if you go just on cost, you did well. I teach a Technology class to middle schoolers, and that was our class project one semester. I agree, though...it's virtually worthless as an actual guitar, but it hangs in my office as a show piece and gets a lot of comments! I even used fancy carbon fiber filament to print the middle section to make it stronger, but the action is SO HIGH. Even light strings put too much tension on that plastic body and it just keeps pulling the action up. One thing you didn't mention is how comfortable it is (or isn't) to play. I found it rather painful - the sharp 3d printed edges dig into your arm and make it unpleasant after a few minutes. It was a fun experiment, though! Keep up the good work!

fun project and sounds pretty nice. And look ma, no "tone wood" at all 😀 I hope to see it at least once more, see if it folded in on itself or did settle somewhere.

Enjoyed the program 🤘🏼

Darrell Braun did a guitar build similar to this a while back, but his was neon green. I like your blue MUCH better! Fun video Phil!

I'd definitely love to see you look at a more well put together 3d printed guitar, I love guitars that do something different

A $50 is only a mistake if you can't afford it. This being a guitar channel makes THAT guitar an investment, rather than an indulgence!

I did a different one. Like you, I had the neck already. The one I did was a Strat design, but it had holes through the center portion that you installed carbon rods into. Modified the design for one humbucker and a volume knob. Mine works great and is a lot of fun.

I wonder if Stefan from @CNCKitchen could do a collab video where he figures out how to get an actually-strong one printed out? He really seems to know his stuff. Might be a fun crossover.

Fused filament is SUCH a crapshoot. I would definitely put a large metal plate reinforcement for the neck joint...it's likely that thing will never stop bending.

For $50 you can't go wrong, novilty factor alone 10 / 10, sound wise it sounded pretty cool, with the neck dive wieght the body with something in keeping with the guitar. The guy who printed the flexible body re ivented the hipshot, as for a name , it looks like a honeycomb so call it the Honeycaster. Great video.

It's unique! ...hard to get something unique that works for $50 😂

So great to see you have fun with this one... Would we re-launch the tone wood fight? 😂

This is cool! I’ve really been getting into 3D printed guitars and the quality comes from how the core is printed. I printed my core at 70 percent infill, meaning it’s 70 percent plastic and 30 percent air. It’s super solid and I hope to have a video up soon about it! But these guitars can be fun as a project but buying one like this is a gamble but $50 isn’t too much! You should keep going and try another guitar from a reputable seller on Reverb. Also, it’s pronounced the “Proo-shuh” caster 😉

I have a 3D printer and your $50 saved me $$$ in trying this mistake out for myself, so it was worth it!

Sounds pretty good. And looks kinda cool. Not bad

I printed the same guitar but I improved it a little bit and here is the improvements, body was printed with just 4 pieces, I also added 2x 10mm steel rod from the start of the neck to after the bridge and it is not flexing anymore. I think 3d printed guitar has a great future ahead for quality and design

What grand adventure. I love the bending tone.🖤🖤

I LOVE the idea and maybe using a router in the back and placing some wood or plastic dowels would keep the body from flexing…wondering if there are some lighter necks (I.e. carbon fiber) that can help with the neck dive…I think this could be the basis for us older guitarists from getting neck and shoulder strain after a few hours of playing!

Absolutely worth it! Fun experiment, fun video, thanks for posting

Ryan would love that.. be great for surfy sounds.

As someone who 3D prints things now I might have to build one myself. Last thing I expected to see here. Love the video.

I made a 3D printed Strat . The headstock decal says "Printer, Plasticaster". Mine has no flex and actually feels, plays and sounds Great!! I also printed a Jazz bass that's also great. You just have to pick a good download and take your time!

Nice! I just found a Suzuki Unisynth for $50 last week on OfferUp

I like it, a nice option for an inexpensive instrument. I'm wondering what changes could be made in the printing process to fix the flexing issue.

I built one of these and it’s awesome. I play it live all the time! I made a flame maple scratch plate for mine. The body doesn’t flex on mine cause I used a much higher fill amount when I printed it. I also installed an aluminium rod through the body for strength. If you know what you’re doing, you can actually make it work really well.

I think you're going to be laying in bed one night and suddenly hear a loud "POP!!!"

well you are keeping it interesting - likely more than a few were thinking of printing a body - so you did "us" a service - thanks!

I’d be interested in seeing some good 3d printed bodies. I’m always building new guitars. And always on the look out for new ideas.

I printed my own version of this. That one was definitely not printed with the proper material. I used carbon fiber reinforced material for the important parts so it doesn't flex. Plus it's supposed to be printed extra thick with over 50 percent infill. So it added a decent amount of weight.

Tone Resin debates are the future! It would be a cool comparison to see how these pickups sound in the Somnium guitar though.

I wonder if a neck-thru-body design would help give it more stability.

I have a 3d printed headless guitar. It works well, but needs some tweaking. I have 10s on it but am probably going to put 8s on it and re-print the bridge/pickup part with more reinforcement because of the flex, but it's not as bad as the one you got. I wish RJ would finally release their guitars on Amazon though 😢

Please check out more 3D printed bodies. But also, would adding wood stringers or ply wood to back produce adequate stiffness. Additional weight shouldn't be a problem.

Why not fill the holes with resin? Different colours, stuff inside the resin? Thoughts Phil?

I wanna see the other ones you said look like higher quality, super interesting and I'm glad I didn't get one after seeing this but the trem function was interesting lol

Hmmm...What of "tonewoods"? Is it just a farce for electric guitars, and any of instrument's effect on the tone is in the pickups?

Made one a year ago. I modified the body to accept 2 steel rods but it still flexed. I gave up and threw it in trash. Used the parts for a wood reel build.

I think the original designer concluded that you have to use a stronger resin for that hardware mounting central piece. It's a pretty cool video if you find it on RU-vid.

That slight pause before saying “know your gear” at the end pretty much summed up this video lol

May need to go smaller than .009? Awesome video ❤

Recyclocaster...with a full body B-bender

It's a cool concept for a fun little thing to noodle around on. Would you try a guitar from Burl's art? The RU-vidr who makes guitars out of aluminum cans, paper and even jawbreakers. All if these materials are incased in epoxy.

One thing you could do with that design is take some of the honeycomb and print an insert and fill it with weight(s) so you could change the balance and make it sit more how you like it. Maybe even change and modify the resonance depending where you put it.

Hi Guitar Guy 👦 nice video 📹 and workmanship that Guitar 🎸 rocks 🪨 🎸 😎 😀 😄

Actually sounds pretty good in your video.

Swap out the middle piece for some wood, and you may remove the flex.

It sounded pretty good. The HoneyComb Guitar. Fun to try for $50 and you made me smile when you flexed the body. Thanks for being you.

I don't know if you are going to be able to screw strap buttons into that. The honeycomb may be hollow and even if it was solid the plastic probably wont hold long.

I think the neck dive makes the whole concept a no-go, but it was a fun video to watch!

Sounds like the body needs a truss rod as well

As someone familiar with 3D printing and not guitars, I've been really curious about seeing a guitarist's opinion on a 3D printed guitar. This was very interesting! I'd love to see your opinion on one that has some proper care in printing all the parts correctly though!

I love the looks so much and the sound is not bad. I'd have that guitar. Wouldn't think twice.

A 3d printed anything would need to be MUCH less expensive than its competition to be considered - at all! Stiffness and balance are critical. Learning cannot be separated from error. Share it all.

Haha- that "know your gear!" sounded totally different than in all other shows....

I think it's a pretty interesting piece and for $50 you can't go wrong, it was well worth taking a shot... and you got content out of it. I'd call it "The Hex Axe"

lol. Not a mistake. Super fun and crazy. It does create a new avenue for the channel. Higher quality 3-D printed guitars! Good stuff

the idea is really cool. As a amateur builder myself I would try to print or even cnc cut the main body part in a stronger material like wood and print the other parts. This should work really well.

There’s a guy that was trying to do the 3D printed composite ones but I never heard back from him sadly

the funny thing my brother built one. if you do the center piece out of PETG material and increase the infill it will not bow. so if you have a 3d printer just make a new center piece and replace the current one.

Honestly, thank you for doing this! I've thought of buying one for quite a while just to have some fun with it, but I always worried it would bow just as yours has. Good to know.

I would like to see another 3d printer guitar. Great work as always sir!

I'd buy one after setup and settled in properly. I'd love to add this to my tele collection

Looks cool, and doesn't sound awful. Looks rough enough to give some painful pinches though.

For a printed part that size, $50 is a steal. Most of the errors you see are almost unavoidable without a high end consumer grade machine or a ton of tuning.

Always interesting to see what comes up in uncle Phil's box of tricks. Not a mistake at all, it's fun.

Does this kick off a "tone plastic" debate? Cool vid Phil

Have been planning a 3D Build for some time now. This looks interesting.

Prusacaster’s been around for a while. Costs less than the Harley Benton kit that’s used to put it together. Based on the flexing I’m guessing they didn’t follow recommendations on print quality

Cut the bridge to neck part of the body so that you can install a sheet of carbon fiber that will stiffen it from the neck (pocket) to the bridge. From there, keep the guitar as an evolving art project. Those honeycombs definitely need at least one bee ❤

Sometimes you just gotta try something to say you tried it. At least you got some decent parts with it. I'd be interested to see any kits out there that you want to play with and see what can make a good instrument without a ton of expert tweaking. I've never tried to build my own before!

that's some great tonewood!

These is a way (with the STEP files) to change the pattern of the print and have a more stable center piece. Now you just needs to buy a 3D printer.... All kidding aside this is the future of guitar for sure.

I've built a prusacaster and my guess would be they cheaped out on the infill and layers. And that would explain it being overly light and having flexed so bad.

Tone is definitely more than passible! How about the name "Stich" since it is pieced together. Love your content, you always do a great job, keep rocking!!

I think it sounds great on speakers! Despite having practically air for a body, it has a weight to it!