CAD · Prototyping

Super Light Guitar

A client came to us with a provocation: build an electric guitar from only the parts it truly needs to work, and nothing more. We took the idea on together with the luthier and a second designer who specialises in these instruments, and turned a bare-bones brief into a coherent, buildable concept.

The first prototype of the Super Light electric guitar on a concrete floor, showing its pared-back body, reversed headstock and dowel-through arm rest — First Prototype of the Super Light Guitar

Neck and body

To keep weight to a minimum, we made the body only as large as the fretboard, pickup and bridge demanded. To shorten the instrument further we reversed the headstock and mounted it behind the bridge, which opened a cavity between the bridge and the neck for the pickup to sit in. Because the headstock is reversed, the neck finishes in a stub where the strings are caught in a wooden design element that echoes the luthier's signature shape. The headstock itself is a hollow piece, with the tuners turning inside it.

CAD render of the guitar's slim maple neck ending in a stub behind the bridge where the strings are caught

Arm and leg rest

The defining gesture of the guitar is where it meets the player, resting on the leg when seated and supporting the strumming arm. We wanted the most elegant solution that would still feel solid and high quality in the hand. The design we settled on runs a wooden dowel straight through the body, carrying a metal bracket at one end and a turned wooden 'bean' at the other. The bracket follows the same radius as a standard Stratocaster body so it feels familiar, while the bean cradles the player's forearm.

Electronics and scratchplate

The hollow between the fretboard and the bridge houses the pickup and electronics. We explored several arrangements and pickup types before settling on a standard pickup concealed neatly beneath the scratchplate, keeping the clean, pared-back silhouette the brief called for.

Render of the minimal flame-maple body with the recessed cavity that houses the concealed pickup

Render of the walnut underside showing the routed cavity for the pickup and electronics beneath the scratchplate

The Final Piece

Once all the components were done, we have assembled everything and made sure the fits were good. Then followed the ordering of custom laser cut and bent parts, and the creation of the wooden parts by the luthier. The assembled render looks very similar to the first prototype version.

The design and feasibility check in CAD was a success and the guitar was successfully made. Light, unique and bold.

Final assembled render of the Super Light guitar with its dowel-through arm rest and turned wooden bean forearm support

Services used

Concept development
Collaborative industrial design
Parametric CAD modelling
Ergonomic detailing

Deliverables

Full concept CAD model
Design-intent renders
Component and cavity layout

Notable technical detail. Reversing the headstock behind the bridge is the move that makes the whole concept work: it shortens the instrument and frees the cavity the pickup needs, turning a styling idea into a functional one.

Part of Guitar Design.