You don’t need quick fingers to be
a Guitar Hero these days. Actually, you could work wonders for the
next-generation development of the instrument by offering better printing
technologies.
At least that’s what the legendary
guitar maker, Fender, recently discovered when it launched its now-celebrated
G-Dec (Guitar Digital Entertainment Center) amp. To come up with needed prototypes, Fender used
groundbreaking, 3-D printing technology from Rehovot, Israel-based Objet
Geometries, specifically with its Eden350V printer.
Objet claims to supply the only 3-D
printers in the world capable of printing multiple materials with different
mechanical and physical properties simultaneously, whether those properties are
slick or rough, rubbery or static. Unlike many other 3-D printing systems, Objet
technology works by jetting photopolymers in ultra-thin layers, immediately
curing each layer with UV light, a process that yields models that closely
emulate the look, feel and function of a wide variety of end products.
Thanks to the technology, Fender
has accelerated product development cycles by six to 12 months, cutting
prototype expenses in half. It’s not that using 3-D prototyping was anything new
for the company. But it previously outsourced that part of the process to
service vendors, and the turnaround time even for a "rapid" request would take
up to two weeks. Working with Objet allowed Fender to complete prototyping
in-house for faster development, with parts finished within hours instead of
weeks. The first mockup of the entire amp was finished within a month, more
than enough time to allow for focus-group reviews with musicians and retailers
to allow for fine-tuning.
Something must have clicked in
this revamped process: The amp has been named “Best New Instrumental Amplifier”
by Music & Sound Retailer
magazine. Fender is ecstatic about the resulting acclaim and sales, and credits
Objet for much of the success.
“Getting our product out first is
really important to us,” says Shawn Greene, senior industrial designer for
Fender. “But our instruments and equipment still need to look and sound great.
Our design group works closely with marketing to explore different colors,
graphics and types of metal and plastic parts to use. Before we spend anything
on a product, we do a lot of concept work and research. So the ability to do
rapid prototyping has a huge impact on both fronts.”
The printer, for example, allowed
Greene and his team to quickly come up with 10 different versions of a single
knob, and demonstrate how different hues and brightness would affect the look
of a light-up front panel. As it turned out, the prototype demonstrated early
in the process that the light wasn’t deflecting as needed.
“In the past, we wouldn’t have
done a prototype for that kind of part because it would have taken too long and
cost too much money,” he says. “If there were problems, we’d have to pay to
amend it after we had already paid for the tooling. So this saved us a
fortune.”
