About the Stridivarius Fiddle
Despite the playful name, the designer doesn't claim a concert instrument. Musician friends judged it better than entry-level commercial violins, and the video below compares it directly with a wooden violin. It started as a remix of a smaller printed violin, rebuilt to full-size dimensions from a violin-making reference. Some parts were adjusted and some redrawn from scratch for strength, with extra holes and pins for accurate assembly. Later updates strengthened the tailpiece and bridge.
Use PLA. It needs to be rigid to resonate, and the designer says ABS or PET would be a bad choice. Settings vary part by part: 0.1 mm layers by default, finer or denser for specific parts, and solid 100% infill for the most stressed pieces. All of it is listed on the page. Expect a proper finishing job. Every part needs sanding, from 150 grit up to 400 (and 1200 for polishing). Join with superglue gel, using clamps. A 3D pen or soldering iron fills gaps, and putty, primer and varnish are optional for a glossy finish.
You'll add real violin parts: strings, tailgut, chin rest, shoulder rest, fine tuners and a bow. Slacken the strings if you won't play it for more than a few days, so it doesn't break.
What you'll need
Printed parts
- 16 numbered violin parts (body, neck, scroll, fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece and more)
Bought parts
- Violin strings, tailgut and fine tuners
- Chin rest and shoulder rest
- A bow
- A 2 × 20 mm nail (tail knob)
- Superglue gel
- Optional: plastic putty, spray putty, primer, varnish and polish
Tools
- Water-resistant sandpaper, 150 to 1200 grit
- Files
- Quick clamps
- A 3D pen or soldering iron
Build overview
Print settings
- Material: PLA (not ABS or PET)
- Layer height: 0.1 mm default (0.15 mm for parts 5–6)
- Perimeters / infill: 2 and 20% gyroid by default; denser for parts 8, 11, 15, 16
- Parts 12–14: 100% infill, 4 perimeters
- Supports: Yes
Video
Play video: 3D printed violin vs. a classical violin (loads YouTube)
Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Video thumbnails are © their creators.
Photos
All photos: jonnieZG, from the design page on Printables, licensed CC BY-SA. We resized them and converted them to WebP. These adapted versions are shared under the same licence.
28 more photos on Printables ↗