Burls Art has made a guitar out of 14 skateboards: Possessed To Skate!
Watch 14 skateboard decks turn into a guitar
You might remember YouTuber Burls Art from his unconventional pencils in epoxy resin and Himalayan salt guitars. He has now created what may possibly be his most challenging build yet: an electric guitar using 14 skateboard decks!
Possessed To Skate!
Guitars and skateboards have quite a long history together. A few bands have even dedicated songs to the fine art of ‘concrete surfing’. Some skateboard brands, like the Venice Beach loving Dog Town, even had links to bands like Suicidal Tendencies, the band who penned the classic ’80s punk/thrash tune Possessed To Skate with legendary guitarist Rocky George.
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- Burls Art Skate Guitar · Source: Burls Art
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- The guitar body uses 14 skateboard decks · Source: Burls Art
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- Back of the guitar · Source: Burls Art
Maple Ply
This latest build from Burls Art combines 14 skateboard decks! This was achieved by using a steel frame and car jacks to put enough pressure to keep them stuck together. I used to skateboard a lot as a kid and know first-hand that the maple ply they use is a seriously tough material to work with. So it’s no surprise he had to employ such techniques to get them to bend.
Once the decks were glued together, the resulting hunk of maple was introduced to a band saw and re-cut into manageable planks. These were then glued into a more useable block for building the body. Burls Art then hand draws an almost BC Rich style guitar shape onto the blank, following the lines of the patterns so that the flow follows the stripes.
Skate Guitar
What I really found impressive though, was the guitar’s neck, which uses a similar approach. I love the way the stripes form along the fretboard and neck. It looks great. It reminds me a lot of the Gibson Zoot Suit SG models, which had a similar construction method. But those used different coloured pieces of wood instead of old skateboard decks.
The video is great and well worth a watch. It was really fun seeing the patterns evolve and the build coming together. Make sure you check it out and visit the Burls Art website to see his other work as well.
More Information
- Burls Art YouTube Channel
- Burls Art
- The Burls Art Skate Guitar
- For more Burls Art articles click here
Video
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3 responses to “Burls Art has made a guitar out of 14 skateboards: Possessed To Skate!”
Prisma Guitars did it 1st I think
I’m sure they only do guitar bodies out of old decks, I could be wrong. Will have to check them again.
Funny, in lockdown I was thinking of making a skateboard out of old guitars. I was gonna leave the fret and strings on so I could play it with my toes. The kids in the local skate park have never heard Smoke On The Water….