About the F-F-Fiddle
The F-F-Fiddle (said 'eff-eff-fiddle') from OpenFab PDX was the first open-source 3D-printable electric violin, from 2014. It's a full-size instrument, and every part prints without supports on a Replicator 2-sized printer or larger. The designer is frank about it now: it's cool, but it needs some expensive parts and is 'a mediocre violin at best'. He recommends his later Modular Fiddle (also in the library) for serious playing. We list this one for its history and as a distinct design.
In 2014 he built two in carbon-fibre filament, found they sounded better, and switched all his bridges to CF-PLA. A redesigned bridge sends vibration more directly to the pickups. Suggested slicing is 0.2 mm layers, 10% infill, 3 shells and 3 solid top and bottom layers (the bridge is fine with 2 shells). The full assembly documentation is on the designer's site, and there's a Discord server for builders.
The two videos are an introduction to the F-F-Fiddle and the first tune played on one.
What you'll need
Printed parts
- Bout and neck
- Bridge (CF-PLA recommended)
Bought parts
- Electric violin pickups and violin hardware (see the designer's docs)
- Strings, tuners, chin rest
Tools
- See the assembly documentation
Build overview
Full assembly documentation is on the designer's site.
Print settings
- Layer height: 0.20 mm
- Infill: 10% (bridge 5–10%)
- Shells: 3 (bridge 2)
- Top/bottom: 3 solid layers
- Material: Carbon-fibre PLA recommended
Videos
Play video: The F-F-Fiddle (loads YouTube)
Play video: The first tune on a 3D-printed F-F-Fiddle (loads YouTube)
Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Video thumbnails are © their creators.
Photos
All photos: OpenFabPDX, 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.
15 more photos on Printables ↗