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For months now I have been wondering about the feasability of covering a guitar body with carbon fiber material.
I was thinking of buying either a beat-up second hand (of decent quality though) guitar from e-bay, or buying a guitar kit from one of the internet merchants to try this on.
I’ve visited a site that sells the carbon fiber material by the yard, 50″ wide. More than enough to cover a guitar body. The clear polyester resin dries clear and is supposed to be easy to work with. It also protects the carbon fiber. The particular weave I’m looking at is supposed to have good drape qualities and will follow curves easily. It is a herringbone pattern that is probably familiar to anyone who has seen this stuff.
I thought about routing the body for binding and hide the edges of the material under the binding rather than trying to stretch or otherwise get the material to follow the edge curves.
After many searches over the months I’ve only come up with manufacturers that make carbon fiber bodies, but no one that actually uses a wood body and covers it with the material.
I only want this for its asthetic appeal, not any sort of structural qualities.
Has anyone that you know of tried this, or do you know of anyone who offers this on a guitar? Thoughts or comments are welcome.
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Related Article:
BlackBird Carbon Fiber Nylon String Guitar
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This site’s great for finishing techniques etc, a real bible:
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It would be just for the look.
I don’t think it’s all that different than some outlandish and gaudy paint jobs I’ve seen on some guitars. I think it would be a very slick and modern look.
I thought about using a spray adhesive such as 3M #77 to initially adhear the carbon fiber to the body. After getting it attached, a light coat of polyester resin to seal and protect it.
Not neccesarily a mirror finish, as I don’t want that. I want to be able to see and feel the texture of the material on the body. Putting on that much resin would add way too much weight.
I agree about the Tele body. It has the least amount of curves and they’re fairly gentle at that. I was thinking of a black or gray binding, but I’ll give some thought to the white. That would really be a stark contrast. It might look good.
I need to do further research on binding a guitar. There is a good tutorial on the Stew-Mac site and they sell the jig to attatch to my Dremel to route the binding relief.
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Well, it would have to be just for the looks. Swamping wood with coatings and glue is never a tone enhancer. Just picturing the idea, and what you mentioned about binding, a flattish body would be the best bet and a black carbon Tele with a white binding does appeal in my head somewhere. It makes the most sense from a least-effort point of view.
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Hi,
I played a carbon fiber guitar at the last London International Music Show. It was by a british luthier but I can’t remember the name off hand. I’ll dig out the details once I’m home. Either way it was very good. I play parker guitars mainly. They’re covered in something similar but I’m not sure if it’s carbon fiver. a boat builder might be a good person to talk to?O
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