Tech

Here's the first guitar pickup made with a 3D printer

by Tyler Munro

3D printing is a concept I can’t entirely wrap my head around, like a Playdo Fun Factory for well-off adults. So far, we’ve seen it translate into music, from 3D printed records that actually play to sound-designed, printed chairs.

But this next thing takes the technology up a notch. Polish über nerds Rob Klaczynski and Martin Kubacki have printed a guitar pickup, and in the community’s spirit of collaboration, they’ve uploaded the necessary files and instructions to Thingverse.

Like Gear Gods is quick to note, it’s not as easy as loading the files and hitting print, since getting the pick-up to work will require some tedious trial, error and assembly, but chances are that’s up your alley if you’ve got access to this kind of technology.

So what’s next? Maybe former Protest the Hero drummer Moe Carlson prints his own kit? Or surviving members of Nirvana whip-up a Kurt Cobain stand-in?

Above, watch Kubacki’s cover of Bad Religion’s “Them and Us,” which puts the single coil pickup to test. Below, some of the nitty gritty details on the project.