Can a 3D Printed Ukulele Sound Better Than Traditional Wood One?

A custom instrument is coveted by most musicians. Being able to say you designed and built the instrument...even more so. With the exception of the strings, every single part of this Concert Ukulele is 3D printed and was designed in CAD starting from a blank slate.

[mattparkmakes]

I designed the black tenor-baritone ukulele you referenced (weststar42). We both chose different and equally valid multi-print approaches to the size problem with you printing the front and backs separate. I have printed over ten of my Wave ukuleles and have not had any problems with the glued body. I have a new bigger UBass design that is so far holding up pretty well. Not too surprising, my number one requirement for a larger printer is to be able to print the entire body in one piece. My calculations show typically ukulele woods are probably 4X stiffer than most 3D printed materials and so I have been slowly exploring an inside corrugated pattern to add stiffness while reducing thickness and hopefully liveliness of the sound. Someone else suggested that an inside pattern could mess with the sound.What are your thoughts on the matrixed cell pattern on the back disrupting the sound waves in the body?

[aytunch]

The first Ukulele in the world capable of performing Yoga.

[vellcet]

I love how you show your iterative process and go into details about the problems you're trying to solve and your approach to solving them. The 3d printed dominoes are brilliant. I'm stealing that idea.

[timhoover]

Great video, thanks for getting back to this kind of content. I'm sure many of your sub's appreciate it!

[timesurfingalien]

Guitarist dont have the " justification" problem. We always "NEED" another. Having more already is not a factor.

[Antrimd]

Great video man! This was some fun and interesting content. Awesome job! Keep this kind of content coming!

[yeroca]

Super aggressive design challenge. Well done!

[haylspa]

Petg has less warping also torsion bars are used in necks to tune out the buzz on the frets as well as the action

[DrDiamondSt]

Ideas to think.
1. 3d print your pieces in 45degrees
2. Cure every part in acetone fumes for 3 minutes. Let them rest for a week very carefully (otherwise you will get your fingerprints on it as it will micromelt and resolidify making it far harder).
3. Use pla+
4. As for them neck I'd redesign it in a way you can put a metal rod in it as plastic won't cut it to keep it in shape. (Oh, you just said the same, still watching yiur video).

Must tell you that it is an awesome experiment!

[KanielD]

I really enjoyed these last couple of videos. Thank you

[jonjon]

The triangular supports are called an isogrid and are very popular in the aerospace world for maximizing stiffness in light-weight panels. Cool video.

[CraftedChannel]

Yea!!! 3d Printing! Can't wait to see your results. 9 minutes in, I think you could put a champer/flat on the end of your curvy body behind the face. Tilt it back to print. Should be able to preserve the form of the front view profile. (Should you revisit your initial inspiration). Ending comments: You need some ply for the tuner head. Perhaps a 2.5mm thick face that is glued to the face (printed flat on the bed)

[urgon]

Maybe print the neck vertically, so it gets mostly compressed? I would also include a channel inside, fill it up with resin and insert either carbon fiber tube(-s) or metal rod. Resin would bind it, seal it and combine a bit of elasticity to the stiffness of the insert, so thermal expansion won't cause any problems.
Also PET-G or ASA might be better materials for this type of a print...

[zeldalina]

Ive been critical of your opinion pieces but this is great stuff.

[lost_in_wanderlust]

That's an incredible amount of work... SHOWER UKULELE!!!

[WilliamDP]

Considering that this is your first pass at the design and fabrication of this ukulele, I think you did very well. I was particularly impressed that it makes a bigger sound than your wooden instrument. You mentioned the possibility of carbon-fiber rods being used to strengthen the neck. This might be worth pursuing on a future iteration of this design. I would suggest looking at the design of two 3D printed violins that use carbon fiber tubes for strengthening the neck and body; the Hovalin and the Modular Fiddle. You also might find it interesting to note that some versions of the Modular Fiddle use commercial ukulele tuners, rather than 3D printed gears.

[nbalagopal]

Incredible effort.. That song in the shower was funny 🤣! Very inspiring to see someone make a musical instrument from scratch.. So creative!

[adamchambers]

one of your best videos, sir. More like this more often, pretty please!

[TheWooTubes]

I bought my Grandson a composite Enya plastic and carbon fibres ukelele a year ago and I've learned a lot in that year. One is that plastic doesn't play nicely with wound strings. Another is that I don't like re-entrant tuning because I wanted it to behave like a 4 string guitar for small hands. There are Low-G strings but they are either wound or unwound and too thick for the nut slots. Enya have introduced a 'Pro' model with metal frets and thinner Japanese strings that aren't available in the UK yet.

[brandoneich]

I love the shower song! Lol.

Awesome project!!