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Rock Around the Clock

Mark Kuhar

There is Heavy Metal, But If We Are Talking Heavy, How About A Guitar Made of Concrete?

By Mark S. Kuhar

Pete Townsend of The Who was known for smashing guitars on stage. Jimi Hendrix was known to set fire to his. But those seminal rock and rollers would have a hard time destroying at least one guitar.

It is made of concrete.

Crafted Workshop features “video-centric content focused on woodworking, metalworking and making,” according to its creator Johnny Brooke. Crafted Workshop creates free weekly how-to project videos and publishes this content on YouTube.

For some crazy reason, Brooke decided to make a concrete guitar.

According to a report in Guitar World, the first step was to create a silicone mold for casting the concrete. He did this by using a cheap guitar body as the basis for a form, and then surrounding it with cardboard-reinforced aluminum flashing.

He then poured a full gallon of silicone into the form, letting it cure until he had a mold for his guitar body.

From there, he mixed concrete with water until he had something akin to “pancake batter,” and poured it directly into the mold, making sure to vibrate out any bubbles and smooth over the surface.

Brooke then allowed the concrete to set for several days, after which he removed it from the mold and let it sit for 10 months.

After that, he essentially went about things as if it were a standard guitar build, albeit with a bit more masonry drilling involved.

Brooke sanded and sealed the body, mounted the components, shaped the headstock to Strat-like perfection and installed a Mad Hatter Terminator System with an HSS pickup configuration.

Last but not least, he drilled in locking strap buttons – a not-insignificant detail given that the “boat anchor of a guitar,” before electronics, weighed in at more than 19 lb.

Then he strung it up and plugged it in. How did the concrete guitar sound? You can hear for yourself at https://youtu.be/LDyzABbHcEY.

“I know a lot of you are probably asking how a guitar made of concrete sounds as compared to versus a guitar made of wood. Honestly, I don’t think it sounds any different,” Brooke said. “I’m in the camp of people who think tonewood doesn’t really make any difference in electric guitars. It’s really all about the pickups, the amp and, of course, the player.”

Here is a materials list if you want to try making one yourself: