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Making music from 3D-printed instruments (pictures)

A band playing gorgeous-looking 3D-printed drums, guitars, and keyboards will take the stage at the upcoming EuroMold design festival in Germany.

Michelle Starr
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Leslie Katz Former Culture Editor
Leslie Katz led a team that explored the intersection of tech and culture, plus all manner of awe-inspiring science, from space to AI and archaeology. When she's not smithing words, she's probably playing online word games, tending to her garden or referring to herself in the third person.
Credentials
  • Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Michelle Starr
Leslie Katz
odd_3.jpg
1 of 9 ODD Guitars

Hive B guitar

Olaf Diegel, a design engineer and professor of mechatronics at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, 3D prints gorgeously intricate electric guitars. Here's his $3,500 Hive B Les Paul-inspired bass guitar. Look closely, and you can see bees inside.
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2 of 9 ODD Guitars

Inside the Hive B

A closer look at the bees inside the Hive B 3D-printed guitar. Four of Olaf Diegel's 3D-printed guitars will be played together live onstage at the EuroMold design fair in Frankfurt, Germany on December 3-6.
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3 of 9 ODD Guitars

Buzz-worthy bass

Another view of the Hive B bass guitar's body. You could say the instrument is worthy of buzz.
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4 of 9 ODD Guitar

Steampunk style

Olaf Diegel's company, ODD Designs, uses Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) printing to craft the bodies of custom guitars, then adds a mahogany or maple wood core, a wooden neck, tuning pegs, a bridge, pickups, and controls for a fully playable instrument. The entire body of the Steampunk guitar, including all the moving parts, is printed as a single component, with no further assembly required.
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5 of 9 ODD Guitars

Multicolored music

The Steampunk, which has moving gears and a piston, is a tribute to one of Olaf Diegel's all-time favorite guitars, the Telecaster. New Zealand airbrush artist Ron van Dam took care of the paint job.
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6 of 9 ODD Guitars

Lucky keyboard

The Ladybug keyboard will be part of the 3D-printed band performing in Germany next month. It consists of a Yamaha P35 keyboard inside a 3D-printed chassis.
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7 of 9 ODD Guitars

Drums with flair

For the Atom drum kit, Olaf Diegel replaced the shells of a Sonor Smart Force kit with 3D-printed ones. The "3D-printed Band" (band name subject to change) will play these drums and other 3D-printed instruments at the EuroMold design fair in Frankfurt, Germany next month.
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8 of 9 ODD Guitars

Sounds of spook

The Spider LP 3D-printed guitar from ODD Guitars features a spiderweb motif and spiders on the inside. Introductory price: $3,500, including hard case but excluding shipping.
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9 of 9 ODD Guitars

Hidden inside

Little spiders live inside the Spider LP 3D-printed guitar from ODD Guitars, but apparently they don't affect the sound.

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