BUILDING A FIBERGLASS GUITAR

[John Backlund]

That's really impressive! and a great looking guitar.

 

I've always thought that molded fiberglass for bodies would be the material of choice for some of my guitar designs rather than wood, especially ones like my 'Marz' series, which would be a natural for fiberglass with it's rather highly contoured top.

 

Hmmm!

[DaveAronow]

That's really impressive! and a great looking guitar. I've always thought that molded fiberglass for bodies would be the material of choice for some of my guitar designs rather than wood, especially ones like my 'Marz' series, which would be a natural for fiberglass with it's rather highly contoured top. Hmmm!

 

Agreed, but I would prefer Carbon fiber. Just stronger/lighter, but it IS a little more expensive.

 

It would be the PERFECT medium for some of your designs.

[404 Not Found]

The protoype-1 I had made and that's in the pictures above has strings on it. Here was the problem, due to FRP materials made w/o reinforcement such as the foam I mentioned in an earlier post, FRP has a tendancy to warp. In making the 1st prototype, I had the top made with an 1/8 structural foam sandwiched between the layers of matte glass. There is no warping allowed anymore and it's rock solid, but in doing so I have added weight to the guitar and I am looking for a lighter top that will be only 1/8" in thickness. The carbon fiber achieved that and gave me the strength to the top without adding foam and the thickness I was trying to avoid.

 

It sounds realy good! and with the GK3 pickup, I have the best of both electric and acoustic.

 

[EDIT] I also moved the soundhole closer to the end of the fretboard, leaving a spacing of a 1/2" on the 2nd prototype. the 1st prototype was a spacing of 1.5"

 

It's the little things in life!

[404 Not Found]

 

I think since shapes are only limited by imagination, I will probably do something a little more radical.

 

 

Dave...if you decide to go the fiberglass route, keep in mind that...Yes, you can create many shapes, but you will be limited depending on the design itself. If the design has what are called undercuts, you will need to consider using a rubber mold rather than a fiberglass mold. There is also a need to consider a pattern that has draft to it so you can pull it from the mold. With no draft, then you have a two-part mold, usually using a bolt flange to fasten them. This is just extra work and something I tried to avoid. It is not a problem to do, but as I noted previously, I was looking for simplicity. The back of the guitar I made is fashioned after a contoured style/archtop back. I actually have the pattern and mold to make this an actual true archtop, but for the 1st two I went with a flatop.

 

BTW...I forgot to note...there is absolutely no bracing in these FRP guitars.

[404 Not Found]

 

Agreed, but I would prefer Carbon fiber. Just stronger/lighter, but it IS a little more expensive. It would be the PERFECT medium for some of your designs.

 

 

I agree in the use of CF, however you gotta keep in mind that the Fiberglass is much cheaper. The body of the guitar will not need to have CF if you mold the shape so that it's not a flat panel. For example, the pattern and mold I made of the body is one piece eliminating the work of having a back and sides to adhere together. Noting this, you can save a lot of money using Fiberglass and only using CF for the top.

 

To give you an idea of general pricing for the glass and CF:

 

1K, Plain Weave Ultralight Carbon Fiber Fabric runs $224.95 a yard

(3.5 oz./sq. yd., 42" wide, .009" thick.)

 

I used this CF specifically so that I could make the top an 1/8" in thickness and allow for some flex without any warping. It weighs the same as a spruce top I have and has the same thickness and does not require bracing/reinforcing at the bridge.

 

There are cheaper prices for CF depending on the weave.

 

There is another CF that I have seen being used, but is not as light and would most likely require additional reinforcement and or bracing.

 

3K, 2 x 2 Twill Weave Carbon Fiber Fabric runs $53.95 a yard

(5.7 Oz/Sq Yd, 50" Wide, .012" Thick, 3K, 2x2 Twill Weave)

 

The interesting thing about the 3K CF Twill Weave is that there is a Fiberglass 50

[404 Not Found]

cool pic. I'm confused the OP's last post was 4 months ago. Is 404 Not Found and the OP the same person? If not, what happened to the OP's guitar build?

 

I am not OP, I just thought I would add to the topic since I was already working on this type of fabrication. I am a newb in the sense of posts to this forum.

[billm90]

Anyone still into this idea?

 

I am thinking about doing something like this.

[404 Not Found]

Go for it...it has been worthwile for me, as I am still using the same mold for the body, but have been able to make this a slim-line body without making new tooling. I did make a new top to the guitar and now it has a true contoured archtop top.

 

If you have the money and or time to create the pattern of which you will make a mold from, it is a simple process once all the production tooling has been completed. You can also modify and or add changes to the guitar such as I did on the two styles of tops.

 

My one contoured top that was made for an archtop style has the typical "S" holes, but I have one without the "S" holes that I made with an elliptical sound hole on a different mold but using the same pattern/tooling.

 

It has been a lot of fun making these guitars...I actually needed to add bracing in the form of Carbon Fiber rods embedded into the backside of the (flat) top while it was fabricated to correct a problem of bellying. I had this problem show up which slightly appeared once the guitar was strung due to the string tension using a flat top with the bridge. This is not a problem on the Archtop styled top.

 

You learn as you go!

 

Has been awhile...anyone attempt building one of their own yet?

[mymindsok]

Maybe this might help....

 

Go to: http://www.windyurtnowski.com/

 

Windy i s a life-long modeler and is responsible for the introduction of glass and CF molding into the Controline modeling hobby. I worked with him a couple of decades ago and he knows a lot about molding parts, what materials to use and how to use them, doing repairs, joining parts, etc.

 

He also used to (And probably still does.) sell videos of the methods that he uses to build his fantastic model planes, which are true works of flying art.

 

I know that he or his instructional material could and would save you a lot of headaches and wasted material. In some ways hes a genious but like most geniuses, he has his issues.

 

Do a search under his name for more info and then get in touch with him.

[404 Not Found]

Interesting link. I can see as to why the use of CF on the scale modeling he is doing, as one benefit of this is it will eliminate the extra weight from other materials.

 

I only use FRP to fabricate the body of the guitar and the CF for the top. The CF, if you are making an acoustic guitar, will be thinner than your typical spruce top.

 

When he fabricates his parts, I am curious if he is doing this by hand layup or vacuum forming the parts? I have found the vacuum forming results in less waste, as well as it will allow for a faster cure time that can be used on both the FRP and CF. Noting that he is using High Temp resins, I assume he is curing these in an autoclave. Hand layup on the CF is time consuming as well.

 

It really is an interesting process to say the least. For me it has been a step backwards in comparing this to the typical large scale parts I fabricate using chopper guns. But that is for architectural products such as domes, cornice, columns and so on. www.edon.com

[404 Not Found]

Completed the Arch Top Carbon Fiber and FRP model. Much nicer than the slim body with the Roland GK3 I made and the Jumbo Acoustic too.

 

Will post pics soon....much nicer than the standard acoustic models in looks as well...maybe not as loud, but still sweet.

 

Only thing that is a shame about making these, not many people would be willing to pay for one when all is said and done.