Francisco Bonansea and his use of 3D printing to create guitars at home

Additive manufacturing is impacting all types of sectors, including music! We have witnessed the emergence of 3D printed instruments with the same sound capacity as a conventional musical instruments. This production method is becoming increasingly common among professional musicians and people from the maker community. For example, a few months ago we were delving into Nik Huber Guitars‘ use of 3D printing: making guitar bridges using amorphous metals, they obtaining the pieces more quickly and easily than with traditional methods. One of the projects that caught our attention comes from the Argentinian industrial designer, Francisco Bonansea, who is also using 3D printing to create his own line of guitars. Under the brand Bonansea, we met Francisco Bonansea to learn more about his activity and his relation with this manufacturing method.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and tell us how your relationship with 3D printing began?

I am Francisco Bonansea Mazzoni, from Bahía Blanca (Bs As, Argentina). I am an industrial designer graduated from the Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Once I finished my studies, I started to work in a self-employed way, until I formed Fractal Design with a partner, and then I formed other partnerships and worked in different projects. I started to make my first impressions in 2016, in a local entrepreneurs’ club, making prototypes and mock-ups of designs, to then start making final products. Last year I concentrated more on this new facet, making drum accessories, guitar and bass stands.

3DN: What are the technical characteristics of the guitar you have developed?

The guitar has a headphone output to listen to yourself, or a speaker with the same 3.5mm audio cable. This allows you to use the guitar anywhere, either outside or inside a house, you can share the space with other people without disturbing them at all, giving the guitarist the flexibility to be able to practice and play in any circumstance. It weighs only 2 and a half kilos (one kilo less than one in the market); an important feature when playing in a show. It also contains a tone control (bass/treble), overdrive graduation, guitar and headphone volume.