With the help of musical artist and violinist Laurent Bernadac, French company 3Dvarius designed a fully playable electric violin using the most advanced 3D printing technology and based on the traditional Stradivarius. Printed as a single piece, the process combines the precision of computer renderings and the time honored skills of violin making. Because of his experience with violins, Laurent Bernadac knew exactly what he expected a great violin needed. Together they managed to optimal fusion between musician and instrument.

The 3D violin was optimized to be light weight, simpler and considers all the movements a violinist makes. The research process looked at the acoustic and wave propagation through the body of the instrument as well as proper mechanical resistance for the strings’ pressure. 3Dvarius used stereo lithography – a technology that produces models one layer at a time by curing photo reactive resin with ultraviolet lasers. Then, hand sanding, cleaning and polymerization were completed to remove excess resin and protect the internal structure of the violin. The most fragile step was stringing the violin. The structured needed to be susceptible to slow and progressive string pressure to attain the most accurate chord. In the end, the project was a success, and sounds great.