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'Guitar Photocopier' Now Available on eBay
Posted by Adam Frucci at 2:00 AM on August 19, 2008
Have a favourite guitar that you wish you had two of? Right now on eBay you can pick up a "guitar photocopier," a contraption that can carve a new guitar body for you that's exactly like another guitar.
Essentially, you put your guitar down underneath it with a block of wood next to it that will turn into your new guitar. The duplicator then traces the contours of your guitar, using those measurements to carve up the block of wood so it's exactly like what you currently have.
Of course, you can use this to duplicate any number of things other than guitars as long as they fit and are made of wood. Wooden pants! Wooden sandwiches! Small pieces of wood! Let your imagination run wild! It's currently at US$1,185 with no bids. [eBay via Music Thing]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
TideGuy
Posted 2:41 AM 19/8/08
Awesome, I could make a wood copy of my wood!
TideGuy
aec007
Posted 2:31 AM 19/8/08
@lostarchitect: @Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity:
It's more like a pantograph router...
aec007
Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity
Posted 2:29 AM 19/8/08
@lostarchitect: A computer controlled jig. I'm guessing you need the computer, which will jack up the price.
Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity
lostarchitect
Posted 2:24 AM 19/8/08
so... it's a jig with a router on it. you could make this (assuming you already have a router) for about $10.
lostarchitect
snoop-blog
Posted 2:12 AM 19/8/08
I forsee the market getting saturated with a bunch of "less-paul's"
snoop-blog
DustyButt
Posted 2:06 AM 19/8/08
Did he say a "wooden sammich"!!??!!
DustyButt
The_Atomic_Pod
Posted 3:07 AM 19/8/08
I would worry about the contour arm effing with the body of my original. Especially on the higher end guitars (since I doubt anyone is going to be photocopying Squires) where the body shape, and the way the pickups sit have so much to do with the sound.
The_Atomic_Pod
Neverkilled: zombiefied, in the summertime
Posted 2:56 AM 19/8/08
skynet announces purchase of duplicator machine, robots are produced in massive ammounts per day.
Neverkilled: zombiefied, in the summertime
Spoondizzle
Posted 2:55 AM 19/8/08
@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: Nope, not computer controlled, says in the description "manual." It is, as was previously stated, a router on a semi-elaborate jig and could be made out of wood for really, cheap (this seems to be made using some metal as well). I know a couple of guys who've made simpler versions of this to replicate guitar necks.
Spoondizzle
ZomBuster
Posted 2:51 AM 19/8/08
@TideGuy: I knew someone would say that
ZomBuster
Mike918
Posted 3:26 AM 19/8/08
Can i make a copy of my guitar hero controller too?! :D
Mike918
Kareem King
Posted 3:21 AM 19/8/08
@Neverkilled: zombiefied, in the summertime: "Their small line of "wooden terminators" (w-10s) proved to be very unsuccessful when swollen up buy this Summer's heavy rain."
Kareem King
Whisssper
Posted 3:19 AM 19/8/08
make a wood copy of your wood? frack that im making a wooden statue of myself!
Whisssper
ripfire
Posted 4:23 AM 19/8/08
"Wow! Cool machine! So what do you make mostly?"
"Sawdust.."
ripfire
ItsSuperEffective
Posted 4:05 AM 19/8/08
My woodshop teacher had one in my guitar making class at school.
CNC machines work better
ItsSuperEffective
SgtBeavis
Posted 4:42 AM 19/8/08
umm, make that $700 more.. sorry.
SgtBeavis
SgtBeavis
Posted 4:41 AM 19/8/08
Way overpriced at almost $1200. $600 more will get you something that is vastly better.
[www.sears.com]
SgtBeavis
yelraf
Posted 5:12 AM 19/8/08
I swear I think I saw something on "How It's Made" or some similar show about a guitar manufacturer using a device just like this, except it had either 6 or 8 routers on it for making multiple bodies in one pass. And that machine was manual also. I recall seeing it and thinking of Jefferson's pantograph. I couldn't believe they weren't using CNC routers to mass produce the bodies.
yelraf
OMG! Ponies!
Posted 5:09 AM 19/8/08
Already have plenty of guitars. Don't need any more of them.
OMG! Ponies!
gotsmart
Posted 5:57 AM 19/8/08
Do a Google search for "duplicarver" and you'll find that it's nothing new.
gotsmart
HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak
Posted 6:58 AM 19/8/08
Duplicating guitars is piracy! You're stealing money from those poor, poor guitar makers!
HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak
unspellable
Posted 9:45 AM 19/8/08
Now to make and sell a machine that will duplicate the quality of the wood.
unspellable
Neverkilled: zombiefied, in the summertime
Posted 12:19 PM 19/8/08
@Kareem King:
touche'
Neverkilled: zombiefied, in the summertime
comp_wiz101
Posted 12:06 AM 20/8/08
@snoop-blog: Considering the last 40 years of guitar building... it already is
comp_wiz101
freakshow54
Posted 6:22 AM 20/8/08
@SgtBeavis: You mean $1899.99. It is simply NOT vastly better. In order to make a guitar body (or anything else), you need to either be able to draw it in their crappy program, or buy the 3D scanning probe for an additional $329.99 to map the body.
At that point you have to wait for the machine, which is very slow. I have heard many people report that some tasks take as many as 10 hours to complete with that machine.
With the machine referenced in this article (which is a carving duplicator, not a guitar photocopier), you can copy a guitar body in less than an hour. In my woodworking shop, we have one and we have done things like make lightswitch covers out of wood, using a metal cover as a template.
Don't pay this much for a used duplicator. It is very close to the price of a pretty good new one, and more expensive than some smaller models. These are machines that can be Permanently damaged very easily if mistreated.
freakshow54