I recently got into 3D printing and design and a bandmate and steel guitar master Lee Jeffriess asked me if I could make one of these, turns out... I can!
3D printing isn't always the cleanest look, but it's definitely functional. I don't have the most fancy printer in the world, but Lee gave them multiple coats of paint and wet sanding and they look pretty legit. See attached pictures for the various prototypes that came off my setup. (the far right is an original one I used to model the replacements)
They are up on shapeways (who can print things at much higher quality than I) now if anyone needs one. The look has a sandy texture, but I think most folks would be hard pressed to nitpick that. I suppose you could try painting them if you wanted. I have not tried. Shapeways is a bit pricey but if there's enough interest perhaps we can set up some kind of bulk order.
This is great! I've been pondering what to do about this for the past year. I will say that an original cover is a very tight fit over the Seymour Duncan repros. I don't know about the Lollar or Sentel pickups. I need three or four if someone does a bulk order. Otherwise, I may just order one to test out first. Thanks for this effort Victor. (Enjoying the music on your website as well.)
Hi Bill, I didn't consider that the reproduction pickups might have different sizing. If this turns out to be an issue, I could also adjust the size of the cover design.
I have a sample from shapeways I'm not using right now, if you want, maybe I could send it to you and you could confirm the fit before pulling the trigger on ordering more. Send me a private message if you'd like.
Jim Myers, here on the forum printed me out some covers for my orphan Stringmaster restoration a couple of years ago. They worked great. You can see the lines on the top surface but that doesn't bother me. I wasn't going for 100% original anyway.
Victor,
That would be great. I'll send you a PM later this morning. Tolerances are pretty tight, it still has to fit through the pickup plate.
Jeff,
Yes, I admired your pickup covers and talked to Jim about a year ago. He no longer had access to a 3D printer or the time to do it right then. I intended to pester him again but if Victor's covers work, I'll go with them. I do think the diagonal lines on yours look pretty good.
If folks really don't mind the lines, I could probably match that quality on my own personal 3D printer and supply these for cheaper than Shapeways. But they do offer better quality and not sure I want to get into the production/fulfillment business. The lines can be oriented diagonally or horizontally as you can see in my pictures.
Also if anyone wants to send me the dimensions of the repro pickups, I can quickly confirm whether my design would fit them. Using calipers to measure would be most accurate.
Just an update: Bill has tried several variations of my pickup cover and confirmed that the original sizing is slightly too small for Duncan reissue pickups. I heard from another source that the original sizing is fine for Lollars.
I uploaded a new model with thinner walls which should accommodate the duncans. If it works out, I will probably remove the other one since there's no sense in maintaining two if this model fits both.
Jeff Mead wrote:I wonder if the Duncan reissues fir into original Stringmaster covers?
Barely. It was very tight on all three Seymour Duncans that I have with both the original and Victor's replacement. His 1mm thick replacements slip nicely over an original Fender pickup though. The .8mm prototype he printed for me fit both very well. I just ordered one from Shapeways so I'll know if the production model works as nicely and report back. I like the matte finish but it would be pretty simple to put a glossier finish (vinyl upholstery paint?) on it as long as you don't build it up too thick for the pickup opening.
There is a process of dipping 3D printed products into a acetone to smooth out surface lines. It does depend on the filament material. Maybe worth investigating.
Just reporting back on the Shapeways "thin wall" .8mm thickness pickup cover I ordered. It fits much better over the Seymour Duncan pickups than the original with no noticeable flaws in the structure or texture. It is noticeably flimsier than the 1 mm thickness though. Not a problem for me, once it's mounted I don't care, but I think most customers will like the thicker one better. Is it too much hassle to offer both, offering the .8mm specifically for the Duncan pickups?
I have updated the original shapeways product listing to include Medium (lollar, fender) and Large (seymour duncan) size options. Also the new price on shapeways is $17/ea
Yes, as a matter of fact. Shapeways can offer more colors. I updated the listing and added all the plastic colors they offer, so go crazy.
There are also metals and other materials but it's insanely expensive. If there's something in particular you're looking for let me know and I can add it. But no guarantee it's going to actually be printable in those materials.
