About the Cybertwee Baroque Lute
Designed by a luthier who has built several electric lutes, this one takes its measurements from a historical baroque lute and turns it into a modern, skeletal electric instrument. Three threaded rods (one M8, two M6) run through the printed sections and compress the instrument together. You build everything up on the central rod starting from the nut, then add the other two for stability, and nuts on the rods set the bridge position. Two flat piezo pickups, the kind made for acoustic guitar bridges, make it electric.
Important caveat. The designer's first test print in PLA bent too much to play well. A stiffer filament and stronger rods might work, so treat this as an experimental build. The largest parts only just fit a Prusa MK3; use the 3MF for the exact orientation and print without a skirt. A June 2025 update fixed the headstock and added missing frets.
The tuning, lowest to highest, is C c D d E e F f G g A a d d f f a a d' f'.
What you'll need
Printed parts
- Body sections, faces, headstock and frets (see the 3MF files)
Bought parts
- Threaded rods: 1 × M8 and 2 × M6, with nuts
- M4 and small bolts for the body and faces
- 2 flat bar piezo pickups (under-saddle type)
- 20 lute strings
Tools
- A Prusa MK3-size printer at minimum
Build overview
Print settings
- Material: Stiffer than PLA (PLA bent in testing)
- Large parts: Use the 3MF orientation; no skirt