About the DHB-01 violin
A minimalist, skeleton-style electric violin, named after an anime-style phrase. The neck and body are printed in carbon-fibre PLA and bonded to a carbon-fibre rod with 5-minute epoxy. A bent brass tube makes the frame that rests on the shoulder and leads to the chin rest. A professional violinist's video shows it played.
The designer prints large parts fast, with a 1.0 mm nozzle at 0.5 mm layers (about 8 hours), since the surface gets sanded anyway. Use 2 mm walls, 40% infill, supports and a brim, but keep supports out of the tube channel (an overhang angle of 80° or more). The finishing guide is thorough. File, then sand to 180 grit, and fill seams and support scars with UV resin, which cures in 60 seconds and stands up to fingers. Steel epoxy putty is an alternative. Then prime matte black and sand at 400 grit. Black paint in the sun can soften PLA.
Bend the brass tube about 7 cm from each end: 90–120° at the chin end, 90° at the body. Filling it with sand stops it kinking. The cavity fits one particular piezo pickup and preamp. Other under-saddle or bridge piezos work too, and a STEP file is included for changes. Without electronics it's a silent practice violin. The printed reference bridge follows the OpenFab PDX electric violin. Leave extra string length on the D and A pegs so the strings don't slip off.
What you'll need
Printed parts
- Neck and body
- Optional false bout
- Reference bridge
Bought parts
- 8 mm carbon-fibre rod, 33 cm (or a lighter tube)
- 9 mm brass tube, 30 cm
- 5-minute epoxy
- UV resin or epoxy putty for filling
- Primer
- Violin strings, fine tuners and pegs
- Optional: a piezo violin pickup and preamp, jack
- M4 × 6 heat-set insert and M4 × 10 screw (for the false bout)
Tools
- Hardened nozzle
- Half-round file and sandpaper (180, 400)
- UV lamp
- Pipe bender and sand
Build overview
Print settings
- Material: Carbon-fibre PLA
- Walls: 2 mm
- Infill: 40%
- Supports: On, with a brim; none inside the tube (overhang ≥80°)
- Nozzle and layers: 1.0 mm nozzle, 0.5 mm layers (designer's preference)
Video
Play video: I 3D-printed an electric violin and absolutely love it! (loads YouTube)
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Photos
All photos: penk, from the design page on Printables, licensed CC BY-SA. We resized them and converted them to WebP, and used the first frame of animated images. These adapted versions are shared under the same licence.