In recent years musicians have increasingly started to experiment with using 3D printing technologies (predominantly FDM/FFF) to create musical instruments of all sorts. 3D printing instruments provides flexibility in colour, shape, and sound. Allowing unique and custom instruments to be made. The 3D printing of instruments has become more and more attractive to creative musicians and hobbyists who enjoy to experiment with 3D printing.

Violinist laurent Bernadac has created a fully playable 3D printed see-through violin using Stereolithographic (SLA) technology called the 3DVarius. Bernadac explains that:

“The goal was to create a unique design, inspired by the shape of a traditional violin, and refining the forms and supports to obtain a more aesthetic design, simpler, lighter and transparent.”

He goes on to say that: “Our choice of 3d-printing technology is stereolithography because of its exceptional printing definition and the resistance of its printed objects.”

The violin is not completely 3D printable. Parts such as the strings and the tuning pegs were not printed. The result of the 3Dvarius, is a wacky and beautiful looking violin that play amazingly well, as you can hear/see in the video below: