Nuke 3D Printable
Electric Ukulele
NUKE started as an experiment in digital fabrication and musical expression: a fully functional electric soprano ukulele designed from scratch to be 3D printed, assembled, and played by anyone, anywhere. I wanted to explore what it would mean to treat an instrument not as a mass-manufactured product, but as a digitally distributed experience, something you could download, print at home, and bring to life with your own hands.
The project grew out of a personal obsession with modularity, sound, and accessible design. Every part of NUKE: its geometry, joinery, and weight distribution, was optimized for small-format printers and hobbyist tools. But beyond the object itself, NUKE was also a statement: that beautiful, well-designed products don’t need a factory to exist. They just need a curious maker, a spool of filament, and a little bit of time. In the following video, NUKE is played by wonderful musician and singer Mary Burke (Providence, RI):
Assembly as Experience
NUKE isn’t just a product, it’s a making experience. The design is broken down into five core parts, all printable on compact, hobbyist-grade 3D printers with no support material. The components: neck, body, fretboard, bridge, and pegs, slide together using dovetail joints and are secured with a bit of glue. With a standard piezo pickup, a set of ukulele strings, and our illustrated manual, users can go from raw prints to a fully playable electric instrument in just a few hours.
But the real story isn’t just how it’s assembled: it’s who gets to assemble it. NUKE was built for digital distribution, meaning the STL files can be downloaded and printed anywhere in the world. It’s part of a larger belief that designers can create objects that travel as files, not freight, and that empowering people to make something themselves is as important as the object they end up with.
For me, this project underscored that good design isn’t just about polished outcomes, it’s about thoughtful, accessible processes. Designers today can (and should) design for participation, not just consumption, crafting systems that are engaging, forgiving, and joyful to build. NUKE was my way of exploring that idea: giving form to a new kind of product, where assembly is part of the reward, and the maker becomes part of the story.
The Finished Instrument
Once assembled, NUKE is more than just a printed curiosity: it’s a fully playable electric soprano ukulele with surprising acoustic volume and compatibility with standard pickups for amplification. Its bold, angular geometry gives it a distinctly modern feel, while its light weight and reliable tone make it a genuinely enjoyable instrument to play.
What’s been most rewarding is the reception. Since launching the project, NUKE has been downloaded and built thousands of times by makers around the world, each version slightly different, reimagined in new colors, materials, and contexts. It’s been printed on everything from high-end FDM machines to humble desktop printers in classrooms and garages.
One of the most surreal moments came when NUKE appeared on television, featured in the SyFy series Dark Matter as a futuristic ukulele played by an android character. Seeing something I had designed in a CAD program, printed by someone else, and then turned into a piece of sci-fi storytelling was a perfect example of what this project is about: objects that travel through culture as code, not cargo.
