Burls Art has made a name for himself by creating guitars out of unusual materials. This time, he laminated 700 sheets of newspaper to form a wood-like block. The result is an incredibly cool instrument with a vintage look, visible paper layers along its edge and neck, and historical newspaper headlines on its front and back.
After seeing another artist make a tabletop by scorching wood, Burls Art was inspired to try the technique with a guitar body. After burning some maple, he coated it with epoxy to preserve its finish, then cut a thick sheet of copper to inlay into its face. He forced the copper into a blue-green patina using ammonia, vinegar, and salt.
Burls Art creates guitars from unusual materials. This time, he made an lap steel guitar from aluminum $1 coins that were once good for a discount at RadioShack. He started by making a sand mold, melted the coins to cast its body, then anodized it in red. We were hoping he would have embedded some unmelted coins though.
A typical electric guitar body measures just under 2″ thick. Burls Art wanted to build the thinnest guitar he could out of wood. He used black limba wood for the body, which he cut and planed down to about half the regular thickness. He had to use special low-profile pickups due to the height limitations.
Burls Art made some resin guitar bodies that he wasn’t too happy with, so he decided to refinish one of them by dipping them in a tank of water and paints to produce a marbled design. It took a few tries to get it right, but after some trial-and-error, the finished guitar looks pretty awesome after the clear coat.
It’s a sad story we’ve heard before – our oceans are filled with discarded plastic that is destroying fragile ecosystems. To do his small part to help, Burls Art teamed up with 4Ocean who recovers and cleans plastic from the water. He then melted down the plastic chips and formed it into the body of a colorful electric guitar.