The days of dreaming about owning a Strad or Guarneri may soon be coming to an end. Before too long you might just be able to switch on your computer and print off the the violin of your dreams...well almost. 3D printers have been around for a number of years, mainly as a tool for creating prototypes before the expensive business of mass manufacture in the factory. Though with the technology of 3D printing moving forward at an astonishing rate it may not be too far fetched to see such devices in ordinary homes within a generation or two. For the humble musician this could mean that the days of paying off bank loans and mortgages on expensive instruments could be over. Need a lighter bow for early Mozart symphonies and maybe a heavier Dominique Peccatte for Brahms? no problem, just print a couple off! Carbon fibre bows (and increasingly instruments) have proved very popular with players not able or willing to pay the £0000's needed for examples by famed old masters. 3D printing, if successful, is surely just the next step along the instrumental evolution.
See Simon Hewitt Jones playing a 'printed' violin here:
http://youtu.be/bJA6J5girlo
and read the economist article on object printing here:
http://www.economist.com/node/18114221
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