Old Final Project¶
Although I do not play the electric guitar at the moment, I have alway been interested in learning. There is no better way to learn the guitar than creating your own. My final project is an electric guitar that has an embedded music analyzer. That way whenever I play, it will light up. This project will help to motivate me to learn how to play while simultaneously increasing my STEM knowledge.
Inspiration¶
while looking through Fab Academy alumni’s documentation site, Birkir Þór’s site caught my eye. His project was an electric guitar that he milled himself. What made his guitar special was the beautiful illuminated design on the body. I want to make something similar but instead of just lighting up, my guitar would light up according to how loud or soft I am playing.
Birkir Þór’s final project /inspiration
First Sketch¶
Pre-Project Design Specification Considerations¶
- What do you want your project to do?
My project will produce sound just like a store bought electric guitar as well as analyzing sound.
- Will your project be inside or outside?
My project will mainly be inside.
- Will your project be portable?
Yes, My project will be light enough that I can carry it.
- Will your project connect to the Internet?
No, at the moment there is no need for my project to be connected to the internet.
- Will your project use Bluetooth?
At the moment I do not plan to have my project connect via bluetooth, but in the future I may add a smaller part to my project that required bluetooth.
- Does your project use a vinyl cutter?
Yes, I will use the vinyl cutter to create stickers to decorate my guitar.
- Does your project use a laser cutter?
Yes, there are various parts of my project that needs to be engraved with a laser cutter.
- Does your project use a 3D printer?
Yes, I will need to 3D print nobs and buttons for my project.
- Does your project use a large CNC machine (Shopbot)?
Yes, I will need a large CNC machine to create the neck of my guitar and depending on how I want the body to look, I will also use it for the body.
- Does your project have intelligence (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, computer)?
Yes, I will need some sort of micro computer to generate sound for my project.
- What are your project inputs?
The inputs for my project will be the LEDs that I use to light my project up.
- What are your project outputs?
My outputs will be either a music analyzer, or some kind of amplifier for my project.
- What are the dimensions of your project?
I do not currently have specific dimensions for my project, but I will make it about the size of a standard electric guitar.
- What materials will you use?
will use wood, acrylic, LEDs or neopixels, metal strings for the guitar, and epoxy.
- How will you conceal the electronics?
I will put my electronics inside my guitar, or i will create a small box to conceal my electronics.
Designing the pick guard for the guitar¶
Using Corel Draw, I created the pick guard for my guitar. to do this I used an image from the internet as a guide for dimensions and shape (screenshot 18). After importing my guide image into Corel Draw, I used the B-Spline tool to create the round curves in my design (screenshot 19-2). I then used the circle tool while holding shift to create perfect circles(screenshot 19-3). I then used the 3-point ellipse tool to create ovals that I used the line tool to connect. After I had everything connected, I used the segment delete tool to remove half of the circle that was unnecessary (screenshot 19-1). I then grouped all of the shapes I made and set the dimensions to 8.78in x 11.142 (screenshot 20). To conclude this file I set every line to hairline, that way it will cut my lines instead of engraving them. linked here (see more on my week 2 page)
Electronics¶
(see more on my week 6 page)
Electronics- Housing¶
Because I will have a portion of my guitar routed out for electronics, I only need to create a plate to go overtop of the routed rectangle. To do this I just got the dimensions of the area I planned to route on the guitar’s body and made a rectangle half an inch bigger so that I could use screws on it later. I then extruded it 1mm and put holes for the screws. (see more on my week 6 page)