I started this project with the general idea to have something useful come out of it. Immediately after this project being assigned I started to brainstorm. I went through my house looking for something that I need, something that I would be willing to buy. This was a particularly hard task because I was trying to use exclusively remnant materials. The search was not going well until one night when I knocked my guitar over while doing laundry. Then it hit me, I need a guitar stand and since I currently have an electric guitar that I built from scratch, it seemed fitting to have a stand that I built from scratch as well.
My design process outlined in Figure 1. started with some preliminary sketching.
Figure 1: My Design Process.
Initial sketching went well as I found several designs online that looked fairly simple and sturdy.These designs, seen in Figure 2 and Figure 3, served as primary inspiration for my designing.
Figure 2: Guitar stand with neck support.
Figure 3: Guitar floor stand.
When I started the quest to find materials, I had a lot of trouble finding materials that would be easy to work with, yet could support the weight of a guitar. While looking through the shed, I found some old PVC pipe that my landlord had used to make a sprinkler system for the garden. I immediately emailed him and asked for his permission to put it to use. Since there was only 2 pieces of pipe that were roughly 5 feet in length, it put several design limitations on my idea. 
Figure 4: Initial materials, 2 5 foot sections of 3/4” PVC pipe.
Once I had my materials, I began doing more detailed sketching, keeping in mind my design limitation of 10 feet total of PVC pipe. My final design as well as extra PVC connectors can be seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Final design sketches.
Once I had a design that used about 8 feet of pipe, I laid out which pieces to cut from which pipe to ensure that I could make the guitar stand. I used a simple hacksaw to cut the pipes to size. After I had pieced together the puzzle that was a guitar stand, I placed my guitar on it and watched a piece PVC pipe that was connecting the part of the stand that holds the guitar to the base had slid out of its housing. This was a weakness of the design, but was quickly remedied with a trip to home depot for some PVC cement. Some cement in the joints strongly secured the pipes and connectors.
Figure 6: Final product.
Figure 7: Final product in use.
There were not any real design iterations other than the limitations set forth by the length of pipe I had access to. Going forward, I will probably cement all the joints for rigidity, but I have no plans to paint the stand. I did not really have a set aesthetic in mind, but to keep things simple. I think I hit that pretty well as it looks simple and kind of industrial. I am pleased with how it turned out, but if I had to do it again, I would have designed something more stable and smaller.
Sources:
- http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musicians-Gear/A-Frame-Acoustic-Guitar-Stand-Black-1274228076935.gc?pfm=item_page.rr1
- http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musicians-Gear/Tubular-Guitar-Stand-Black-1274228076940.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=CPiDgdfdk9ICFQiQaQodzhIHqg&kwid=productads-adid^78244844802-device^c-plaid^146601054282-sku^1274228076940@ADL4GC-adType^PLA
8 Comments. Leave new
The finished product wound up looking really good, it seemed like something that would be sold in stores. I think you did a really good job of turning that PVC pipe into something useful. You also managed to build something that you needed, which always makes a project better!
Great that you made something you would keep. The ideation phase was nice. Very descriptive presentation. Only thing I could think of to improve it would be coloring it somehow.
I love that both your guitar and the stand are both projects you made in classes! The guitar itself looks really well done and I would love to know how you did that. I think the stand would look awesome in black but overall, great job!
I like your inspiration for this project.. Bumping into your guitar and realizing you need a guitar stand to keep your room more organized. The design process is also interesting, you had a couple obstacles but were able to overcome them. The final product is awesome. I like the PVC piping you used, there is often lots of it getting recycled and so using it for upcycling is smart.
Interesting upcycle project. I like how you set a limit on how much you are able to spend before starting on your project. The use of pvc pipes is an aesthetic in itself. I’m glad the final product came out good and you are able to use it. Something that would help would be to paint or cover the pipes to make it look better and more aesthetically pleasing. Overall, great project.
I am glad to see that you found inspiration for this design project from a previous design process, even if it was on accident :). It was interesting to see how you operated under the 10′ of piping constraint. Whether it was intentionally or not, you actually matched the flat, white aesthetic of the guitar with the PVC frame. Nice work on a project that you plan on keeping!
The practical inspiration for how you came up with your idea (knocking down your hand-built guitar) was an interesting story. I can’t believe that you made your own guitar too! It was interesting how your design constraint of having only a certain (less than generally needed) amount of pipe made for your design led to your creative solution in creating your own guitar stand design. I think your suggestion about prototyping a future model of your design sounds like a great idea! Very good job!
Cool project. I like that you thought about what would be useful to you before starting the project. I’m sure the guitar is grateful.