Band of Bega Valley residents creating custom handcrafted guitars with a 3D printer

Built in the Bega Valley on the Far South Coast of NSW, Nate from 3DGT Guitars has carefully selected a group of individuals who will help him accomplish his dream of producing locally produced and handcrafted guitars.

"The goal is to make artistic guitars that are a bit different from the normal, I guess," Nate said.

"We will still carry student guitars and stuff, [but] we'd rather have a shop full of our own custom designs."

The 'Traveler' guitar, which is in its very last developmental stage, is designed in such a way that the headstock, neck, strings and electronics are built as a core module, and the body is separate.

The body, which has been 3D-printed in two designs, but with the ability to be customised further if desired, uses grooves that allow the body to slide on and off when required while also allowing the system to pack down smaller.

Since the strings and electronics are built within the solid timber body, the stresses often caused by the 90 pounds of pressure do not affect the biodegradable, cornstarch PLA used during the 3D printing process.

From curvaceous and rounded guitar bodies, to Stratocasters, Telecasters, the flying V, warlock, or star-shaped bodies, musicians will be able to customise and build a catalog of uniquely shaped instruments using this process, allowing quick changes between sets.

The team building the guitars include two Sapphire Coast luthiers who cut the wooden necks and insert the fretwork, and Rob Bonnes from LRB solutions who has been outsourced to print the 3D bodies.

Rob Harlow from Rob Star Guitars, who has a background in machining and fabrication, builds steel inserts, solid timber bodies, dabbles in epoxy resin, even building a guitar from a chopping block that was used on his family's farm.

Nate who wires the electronics, remembers at the age of 12 pulling guitars apart to see how they worked, his love for them a constant in his life ever since.

"I guess it's like rev heads with cars, you know, I was just the same with guitars, that's all," Nate said.

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"The setup's the most important part of everything to make sure it's the best possible playing machine we can.

"It's all been a very much learning curve over the last three years. It's all sort of gradually just happened," Nate said, before Rob Harlow chimed in, "And it takes a bit of time to prove that they work too."

To ensure the 3D-printed guitars hold up to the stresses and constant use of professional musicians, Nate said the first instrument that incorporated Rob's steel fabricated insert had provided much insight to the longevity and playability.

"They've held up really well," Nate said.

"[It's not like a factory] that's why we haven't got wall-to-wall guitars, we haven't got the production line just spitting them out, you know."

Both Nate and Rob reiterated how the quality and personal touch that each guitar received would be lost if it was all about quantity and mass-production.

"I love them, always loved guitars, probably till the day I die, I imagine," he said with a cheeky smile.

For more information on 3DGT Guitars, click here