Lucite Diy Guitar?

[Aharon]

I just got a hold of a large chunk of lucite.

I was thinking of making a one of a kind using this material,actually a sandwich of lucite and a plank of maple in the middle.

HAs anybody tried anything similar?.

Pros/cons/caveats.................

Thanks

Aharon

[Xanthus]

Lucite? Like, the plastic stuff? That's pretty cool!

No really helpful comments here, sorry but the post caught my eye because my dad, who is guiding me on my build, got inspired and mentioned a couple days ago that he wants to make a guitar out of corian (He's awesome with a router and a lathe, and has spent a lot of time making candlesticks, countertops, covers, everything).

Hey, if you've got the material, why not? Give it a shot, man, be creative. I've heard, seen, and read about lots of guitars being built out of weird material, and I see nothing wrong with being unconventional. I know most people are going to skewer me for saying this... *dons kevlar vest* but it's an electric guitar, right? Doesn't that mean the focus is on the electronics anyways? hahahahaha

Have fun!

-Xanthus

[crafty]

Unconventional materials are great especially if you can actually play the instrument you built. You can build guitars out of metal, plastic, concrete, whatever, but if it's a bitch to stand up on stage with for three hours, why bother?

I'd be curious about the Corian guitar, especially with the expense of the material and the finished weight.

[sumphead]

WOW, a corian guitar would weigh a friggin' ton...

Lucite, though is a continuous material. meaning that it is softer than a cast material and scratched faily easily. That's not a huge deal, but crazing is. Crazing is the effect of small cracks within the material that can be seen but not felt. This is caused by pressure and contact with solvents. Though if careful crazing can be avoided too. My main concern is how you are planning on adhearing the sandwich. Acrylics are solvent welded together which won't adhear to wood and glues will destroy your clarity. There is a thicker solvent called weld-on #16 (it is essentially a solvent with solids already dissolved into it, clear) that "may" fill wood pores enough to adheare.

Plasics are my realm and you have me intregued...

Keep us posted.

R-

[Ben]

I saw this yesterday and I thought you might find it interesting:

http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?50@238.yj...z.0@.1dcf75a2/0

Danelectro made some hollow lucite guitars IIRC

And as theres also this:

http://images.misupply.com/products/origin...mpeg/478905.jpg

I think the guy in the foo fighters has one of those

[George Brown]

yeh dave grohl has quite a few, this may be of interest i found it on the ampeg site

"Dan Armstrong Reissue Guitar

Ampeg is reissuing the Ampeg Dan Armstrong acrylic guitar which features a completely unique body made of an eye-catching clear Plexiglas material that eliminates unwanted vibrations and frequencies, while producing tremendous sustain. The Ampeg Dan Armstrong guitar also features a removable pickup system that allows users to choose between two different hand-made pickups—the faithfully recreated Rock Treble pickup and a new dual blade Rock Sustain pickup."

i remember reading that small scratches can simply be polished out of a lucite guitar if thats of any interest

[Aharon]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Sumphead,that was also my concern,how to glue it together.....

I will keep you posted as it comes along,now I need a piece of maple which I'll get locally.

Whish me luck.

Thanks and keep the ideas and/or tips comming .......

Aharon

Edited July 10, 2006 by Aharon

[Drak]

Why would you put Maple in the middle, wouldn't that defeat the entire purpose of a Lucite guitar?

BTW, I built a 100% plexiglass guitar about 20 years ago, you need different techniques and tooling to deal with that stuff, and it's heavy.

[Ben]

BTW, I built a 100% plexiglass guitar about 20 years ago,

100%? as in plexiglass neck too?

Or do you mean a 100% plexiglass guitar body?

[Aharon]

MAple in the middle.......I don't have enough plexi.....

Regular router bits won't cut through plexi?.......what do I need to buy then........

Aharon

[sumphead]

Regular tools for the most part are fine. I cut sheet on a delta X5 10" table saw (52" beisy fence cause' hell yeah, it's heavy). Sheets can be laminated together seamlessly but it take a lot of practice. I use all different router bits from cheaper Bosch to Whiteside, so regular old router bits work fine. Again on the type of material you are using: You said you have Lucite, do you know which type? Does it still have the paper on it? Possible Lucite E, LL, or GP? This plays a HUGE factor in how you work with it as Extuded materials are not as dense as Cast and have a much lower melting point.

On the table saw I use a High tooth count (110) triple chip carbide blade to eliminate blade melt and get a smooth cut. Though if you are cleaning with a router after it doesn't matter as much.

HTH,

R-

[Aharon]

Sumphead,thanks again for pitching in.

The sheet is 30X23X3/8 and is bare,no way to know for sure what it is.

The material seems very hard,maybe there's a scratch test or something I can do to find out what it is,at least an approximation.

Aharon

[sumphead]

Ahh, I can tell by the smell when cutting. I know, I know, the fumes are getting to me. Anyway extruded material isn't bad just a little more difficult to work with. Fortunately in 3/8" thickness there is only one manufacturer I know of that makes a true extruded (and it's an import). So chances are that you have what is called a continuous material, or continuous cast. Which is still extruded but pressed after for a cast like quility. It is somewhere in the middle as far as quality goes.

Where do you live?

R-

[Aharon]

Southern Ontario,Canada

Aharon

[sumphead]

I was going to offer to send some solvents and scraps, but combustables across the border is a big no-no. Look in the phone book under plastics for a local fabricator. They should be able to get you cut-offs for next to nothing to practice on and should sell weld-on solvents. Look for weld-on#16 or #5 (liquid). It should be fairly cheap. I would think the #16 should suffice just fine. If you got another chunk of 3/8" you could try to laminte them together. It takes a bit of practice, thus the scraps, but it isn't that hard to laminate acrylics together seemlessly. Good solvent coverage and good clamps is key. I would actually consider laminating a differnt color acrylic between the two sheets of clear, it would be a pretty neat effect. If you have any specific questions don't hesititate to ask.

I swear I can't type...

[Aharon]

Thanks for all the info,it's been an invaluable help.......

That idea of the diferent color plastic instead of the wood really hit the spot.

I'll see what I can come up with.

Thanks

Aharon

[Aharon]

Ok,things are looking good...........I cut the plastic today in two and it went flawlessly,no melting,no saw marks and very little dust.

I guess regular tools will work after all.

Step two,get either a cad or a template.

Aharon

[Aharon]

Bought wood today.....nothing fancy....poplar.

This is my firrst guitar after all,did not want to go all out with the fancy woods....yes I know,I should not be experimenting with plastics before I get a decent wood guitar built but I could not resist.

Will keep you posted and when I get something resembling a guitar together I'll post pics.

Aharon

[Aharon]

Cut template today in the shape of a tele,looks ok, will use it to cut the body with the router.

When I have that done I will post a pic so I can get some feedback.

Thanks

Aharon

[sumphead]

Sweet, what did you decide to do for a bonding agent?

R-

[Aharon]

As per your suggestion..Weld-on #5 or #16.

Due to weight concern and other random factors it's going to be a thinline tele so there's going to be two chambers....I don't know if I can cut the f holes neatly tho'....I'll have to go slow.....

Thanks again Sumphead

Aharon

Edited July 25, 2006 by Aharon