I Built a Guitar Out of Ocean Plastic

I team up with 4ocean and attempt building a guitar out of recycled ocean plastic.
www.4ocean.com/
The epoxy I used: www.totalboat.com/product/thi...

[@themaskedgrappler]

If ever one of your guitars needed to be put into full-scale prodution, this is it.

[@iamthebyron]

"Shut up and take my money!"

[@BigDijon]

I can’t stop thinking about how cool it would be to run a charity or something that makes ocean plastic guitars and give them to kids to want to learn to play.

[@PureJadeKid]

@@BigDijon Even better, sell the guitars at high prices to fund cheaper guitars for kids, and to pay for the kids' lessons.

[@asphalion8291]

@@BigDijon Bro........... thats genius

[@BigDijon]

@@asphalion8291 bro................

[@ashequestionmark]

This is genuinely one of the prettiest guitars I've ever seen, if you ever do decide to sell your creations I think a business making recycled ocean plastic guitars would be sick

[@carmineredd1198]

Gibson Less Plastic Custom

[@ossiehalvorson7702]

If there's a good way to melt it, definitely. I'm going to guess cooking it in an oven probably defeats the purpose a bit since that would release fumes, which is a bit antithetical to a guitar that's (presumably) made to promote environmental friendliness.

[@alphagt62]

@Ossie Halvorson use solar power! A big concave mirror to focus the heat to melt it. Can’t get more “green”, than that!

[@no-ld3hz]

@@ossiehalvorson7702 you might be able to use chemicals or an enzyme or bacteria of some sort to change the behavior of the plastic. I think recent research has been looking into plastic eating bacteria, I am however not in the loop so I could be wrong.

[@kleinergrashupfer]

@@ossiehalvorson7702 well, I think plastics in oceans are way worse than fumes, I mean, big industries do this all the time, and a large scale of those guitars can be a trouble too. You can melt plastic in water, but water can be poisoned by plastic. It's complex lol.

[@PervertedPodcast]

I had no idea...what IF we massed produced ocean plastic guitars for kids that don't have music programs in their schools??? This was an epic build and the tone of the plastic is very unique. It carries the notes well. this is a win. We are all curious to how much of a beating this guitar could take on stage over time. Really a great experiment and you adapted so well to the crazy crap that happens in a laboratory!

[@lemsdarkapprentice2535]

what a brilliant idea, yeah definitely should do this

[@JunkBondTrader]

they would be very expensive wouldn't sell very well. Who is gonna foot the bill for all these kids? Of course, that would be a good idea, and ambivalent ideas are often funded, but just a potential roadblock I see.

[@devarmont87]

It would be cheaper to buy normal guitars. As one who often volunteers on similar cleanup crusades I've learned alot. To grind up the plastic, takes a machine thats worth 100k. Not to mention the cleaning, sorting, and what do you do with all the plastic shreds in the cutting and planing process. I'm actually wondering what this guy did with all that micro-plastic, because that is an even worse problem now. Plastic cannot be changed, certain grades get recycled and other grades cost a lot to recycle.. the rest turns to micro plastic and enters the food chain and ends up in your food.. Although what this guy initially did by cleaning up was awesome of itself, he undid all that by grinding, planing into smaller micro plastics which is even worse. No guitar company anywhere would ever take that on knowing full well the environmental destruction it causes

[@-Teague-]

@@devarmont87 if by "this guy" you mean Burls Art, he says in the video he'll save the plastic for future projects

[@devarmont87]

@@-Teague- thank you. That's awesome, and good that you heard that as I quite often don't listen to videos

[@anshubhatia6609]

Now if 4 ocean could partner with a large manufacturer for guitars. That's a visually stunning guitar, and the guitar actually sounds really good!

[@jonesisdying]

Ok, this is now next-level stuff. You truly are a good man for trying this. Question: are you taking photos as you go through your processes? You should publish a book detailing all the builds. It's so inspiring...

[@ZL1LoVeR]

Follow his insta for photos during the process. The book idea is brilliant!

[@trureinhart4860]

As usual Amazing job!!!!

[@chrismason4224]

@@ZL1LoVeR Instagram requires a membership for viewing and a lot of us don't want that shit. He should definitely publish a book.

[@ZL1LoVeR]

@@chrismason4224 I agree with you, just thought I’d share for those who are using the app already

[@sergiolazaromartinez491]

Great idea!!

[@belewjeans]

Following the recycling theme, it would be cool to see a guitar made from recycled/discarded vinyl records! Awesome work dude, this is one of the only channels I have notifications turned on for!!!

[@nadiapaiva8170]

Been wanting to do a pickguard with a record, but I can't seem to find anyone who will give any away 😅

[@belewjeans]

@@nadiapaiva8170 You should check out thrift stores/antique malls! I go to a bunch in my area, and without fail, there is always a crate of records somewhere that no one has touched for decades and will continue to sit there. Maybe you can breathe new life into an old Christmas album by having it as pick guard 😎

[@dw-ie2my]

Color scheme wouldn’t be very interesting

[@lemlem35]

Tim Sway on youtube does a lot of reclaimed wood builds and uses records as pickguards or pickup covers, he's got some great videos

[@oneeyeddog6127]

@@nadiapaiva8170 I've made a bunch of pickguard and control plates with records.if you get any stay away from the really old stuff it likes to crack off unexpectedly.ive found the thinner albums work the best

[@zacharypablo3595]

This is amazing and gut-wrenching in equal measure, and you definitely need to make one of these for Joe Duplantier of Gojira, because if there was ever a guitar that was meant to have “Toxic Garbage Island” played on it, it’s this one.

[@the80sthrasher94]

I was thinking the exact same thing!!

[@SxSxG666]

And... it can be worst then his new signature Charvel guitar.

[@regularhuman7939]

Ayeee, gojira

[@kyleclarke4845]

That is actually a stunning guitar. It's sad that the first fret-board failed because I really liked it but the second one looks way better anyway, so I guess it was good the first one failed. This needs to be put into full-scale production. Amazing job.

[@stacyroth8836]

I love how you still put in the footage where mistakes were made to show that everyone makes mistakes. Most creators would probably have just scrapped that part of the footage, but you decided to put it out. Honestly it makes the finished project even better

[@chasesilver4278]

I found your channel a little after I began playing guitar near the Beginning of 2019. I was a senior in high school, and I was going to spend my summer before college building a guitar with my grandfather. You inspired me to pursue becoming a luthier as a hobby. Since then my grandfather and I have spent every summer since the end of high school building instruments. Our very first guitar that we made during the summer of 2019 is still my favorite guitar to this day. I'm currently a Junior in Electrical Engineering, and can't wait to tackle our next guitar this summer. We began working on the neck over Christmas, and I enjoy every moment I spend with my grandfather working on our instruments. We've made several mistakes along the way that we kick ourselves over it but I wouldn't trade those moments for anything in the world. I always love when you upload a new video. Your videos are inspiring and always entertaining. I'll always appreciate everything you put into your work. Much thanks, and I can't wait to see what beautiful instrument you make next.

[@joeytaylor8767]

Very cool! Cheers to you and your nunu!

[@klompsauce]

Nice, I’m going to start rebuilding a ‘70 Torino with my gramps this coming spring/summer

[@rb032682]

very cool

[@joynut1677]

Wow! I love how the guitar is environmentally friendly and I learned about ocean clean up at the same time. Beautiful work!

[@dennisrossonero]

dude, all the guitars i've seen on your vids look GORGEOUS! And your ability to craft them out of seemingly anything is astounding.

[@ibrahimalshmrani8216]

If you could make the demo a little bit longer, or make an album of all your demos that would be awesome 👍

[@ericsanders5357]

It would.

[@PureJadeKid]

Great idea! BurlsTunes!

[@jimmytumbles9640]

That was a zesty demo, I'll say that much.

[@asillypleb8150]

he puts a lot more of the playing on his instagram i think

[@Seki1987]

What was the tune played in the demo? I love the guitar, it has a really nice, surf rockish sound, which is very fitting for the thematic

[@xneurianx]

I absolutely LOVE this. I really want to see more manufacturers embracing stuff like this. Sustainable guitar building is super interesting to me. I REALLY want to see a bamboo build at some point. There are a few bamboo guitars out there, and a guy made a guitar as a school project or something and put the build on KZbin as well, which was cool.

[@Psychlist1972]

I was wondering what you were doing with the planer and router shavings, etc. I was glad to see you putting it back in another bucket (and then later cover how you were saving that). Helps make your partnership with 4ocean even more meaningful.

[@devarmont87]

Same

[@-Teague-]

I had the exact same thought process

[@Allison_Leigh]

It turned out SO GOOD. You and 4ocean should team up and figure out how to get these into production for limited sale at the very least. Super cool.

[@ScrapwoodCity]

Awesome build! Beautiful guitar!

[@lucassurgeon4122]

Cool seeing you here brother :)

[@britisharmedforcesmilsim3015]

Love your builds immensely

[@lhoezee1]

Would've been cool to make the knobs bottle caps too. Turned out great though, awesome idea 👍

[@bluzshadez]

I am so amazed with your skills as a Luthier. Recycled plastic guitar is a first. Thank you for showing the process.

[@DanGoodShotHD]

That guitar would go great in my shop. It matches the floor perfectly! 😆 Nice build.

[@user-xj5mq5ln2g]

I love how the neck is like an optical illusion how the straws at an angle make the frets look angled and straws straight. Awesome build!

[@michelelefebvre2152]

I noticed that too! So cool! 😎

[@bipbipletucha]

The fretboard looks so cool. Also I just know prince would go crazy for something like this

[@gene_takovic57]

The main concept of this build is that you took plastic out of our planet's oceans and repurposed it into a unique creation. Fantastic job!

[@silv_sun]

It's really cool that you include the errors and problems you encounter in making these Quality content man!

[@SilverWolf473]

All those little holes in the final build really give it character, and overall it turned out amazing. This is fantastic!

[@earlbevan8368]

It makes it look like the ocean

[@Pranaynaynay]

It's really cool to see this project and that you've got so many more tools in your workshop than when you started

[@Pyxe_ZA]

I've binge watched a lot of your videos today, and I'm even more astonished by each design. Just when you think it can't get any better 🤯

[@theCECkicker]

Dude, you're the best!!! I appreciate your willingness to be open about the mistakes and how you adapt. Just a great example for other people learn from your process. Keep up the great work!

[@Tomahawk922]

Dude this was an awesome build. Everything about it was perfect especially the imperfections, they make each guitar you make truly one of a kind. On another note... You ever think of just making a little album out of the the demos you play? Not gonna lie, what you play is really chill and kind of stuff I'd have playing through out my day.

[@gingey9541]

This might be the coolest guitar you’ve made yet! I think showing where you messed up makes these guitars more real and the hand-crafted aspect all the more amazing when you show the finished product. Definitely one of my favorite channels to watch!

[@DavideSantinello]

Fantastic build and message, wish I could have filmed a documentary about the whole process!

[@atakdragonfly1675]

The overall completed result is very attractive. Looks retro. You've brought OLD plastic back into something useful.

[@ghstofme3717]

damn this guy will never fail to amaze me

[@Bloodray19]

Not only this man makes beautiful guitars, but he also helps cleaning the oceans and recycles that ocean plastic. Huge respect towards you

[@jessmather3651]

Just wow, this is stunning! Visually beautiful, interactive and thought provoking. A true work of art.

[@FacuMorel]

Just found your channel, this is like finding gold, love when this happens. I’m very sick at home and your videos are taking me far away from feeling pain! Thank you

[@joermnyc]

There’s also a hand fret press that looks like a weird set of vice grip pliers… might help in situations where too much pressure might break the epoxy neck.

[@FullRythym]

So in the future, you can take small plastic shreds and heat them with a heat gun until they are melted and use them to fill holes. Brothersmake has a lot of good videos about working with this plastic, which is where I got this info from.

[@joyfuflower]

The finish with all the holes and the texture looks awesome, with most guitars being shiny it makes it stand out. I'm in love with the look!

[@RedneckSwede]

I have been planning to make a guitar out of hdpe for years. It makes me so happy to see more people use their ideas to find use for anything. Great work and huge respect for you guys.

[@TotalBoat]

We love everything about this!! Awesome work as always!

[@pineappleking616]

Pretty cool design with the white and blue after it all melted together. Also that neck is really unique

[@isaacpaolino718]

Wow that fretboard is stunning! Nice build!

[@rickr8328]

Amazing video and great playing! As always! I really liked your solo at the end. Congrats! You're truly an artist.

[@UncleRJ]

On April's Fool, I want you to make a video titled "Building A Guitar Out Of AIR!" and it's just you pouring empty buckets and drilling nothing and ended the video playing air guitar.

[@feeneeyeeha]

Love that idea

[@jakekunz5168]

A guitar made with sea glass would be absolutely INSANE. but idk if you could really get enough of it

[@DAaron67]

Both your building prowess and playing have been improving, it’s fun to watch! Can’t wait for the next one

[@spooge33]

Fantastic job as always. Been watching since day one. The presentation and your humble demeanor are a joy. Very cool.

[@steffinasue7389]

Wow. That's so cool!! I love watching your videos and this guitar is one of my favorites, because of the idea behind it. You should sell it and donate the money to "4 ocean". They do a awesome job!!!

[@SuperJosiegirl1]

Just amazing! You are so talented! And recycling plastic into a beautiful guitar for it to be used for a long time to come is so inspiring. Thanks to you and Four Oceans for helping keep this world a better place!

[@alphagt62]

So many great things that could be made. Guitars, surf boards! Speaker cabinets! So many things.

[@Hobis_Flower_shop]

It looks amazing!!! I love the way it turned out! The blue and white looks good and the bottle caps with the logo looks stunning! Great job!

[@JeighNeither]

Very cool Burls Art. I'm only a minute in & I'm thoroughly impressed & inspired, & I bet that was part of your motivation. You've succeeded on multiple levels.

[@williambilinski]

What an amazing artist…every guitar is just so unique…your videos are the best! 🎸 ❤️

[@firewordsparkler]

Both versions of the neck looked amazing!! What a cool partnership

[@hellenpollen6897]

Every of your guitar is unique. It is amazing to watch the process of making them. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[@MementosNetwork]

I wasnt expecting this tone from a recicled plastic guitar! Great job

[@driklyn1]

Love the look of the melted blue plastic! This is your best-looking build yet!

[@foadrightnow5725]

You never cease to impress me, my friend! In both your playing AND building! You're an inspiration to many, for sure! Myself included! Keep the great builds, playing and content coming! Cheers!

[@dantesabbath2107]

i LOVE how this build looks. The body looks beautiful and mosaic!

[@skrachamaniacs3878]

The people who are the best in the world out their field know that failure is the best teacher and the way you engineer working around problems like this is pretty fantastic. I work in a steel working shop where we make custom hardware for architects, and we do experimental work and it’s a lot of fun, but it’s also quite frustrating at times.

[@psvf1fan]

Such an awesome job Burl. You keep growing and coming up with amazing idea's. It's really awesome to see. Great cause aswell! Love it.

[@gtags1]

I'm amazed at your craftmanship every video I watch, another masterful job!

[@gaius_enceladus]

Another awesome guitar, both in looks and sound! Wonderful!

[@patrickkeenan6331]

Stunning guitar, and the bridge placement solution was genius....your best work yet.

[@jcoulter43]

Each guitar is just more unique and cooler than the last! Can't wait to see what you try next. God bless and rock on 🎸👍😎

[@rondamatney9633]

I think this guitar came out amazing. Not everyone can make something perfect, even if it's something they make all the time. Using the ocean plastic was a fabulous idea. Keep on building hun & we'll keep on watching (and listening).

[@Rescuepack1]

I honestly think the holes add to the aesthetics. Love the guitar! Your work is absolutely stunning.

[@brandonlee8123]

I dont know if you have a store or online shop, but a cool idea instead of having to make so many ocean guitars could be to make ocean picks. Makes use of the plastic, looks cool, and pretty simple.

[@joshemartinez2577]

Merry Christmas and happy 2022, Burls I still can't wait for you to build an Epiphone Crestwood :)

[@CodyHowellProject]

Great idea to do this, and the guitar looks and sounds awesome, as always.

[@kenbahr7235]

It always amazes me that all your creations end up looking and sounding great! You got a real skill set.

[@andrewsmith7425]

Great craftsmanship, message, etc. Thanks!

[@cjbogannam]

I love watching these videos - thanks for the great work and content

[@CarolMarianaa]

Sustainable, made on a budget and has a beautiful tone: I loved it!

[@allana8253]

Much respect on your honesty. Really like how it turned out and hope it's making you happy. Good luck carrying on.

[@emanuelalvarez1265]

Excellent proyect!!! Keep cleaning the oceans and creating great stuffs. Greatings from San Juan, Argentina

[@iNoelles]

The dedication of this man is admirable, keep going mate!

[@fabianfroidl8618]

That is gorgeous! I always enjoy your Builds alot! Keep it going u rock! Greetings from Austria 🍀

[@fleal21]

Been a follower, for a while now, and honestly, I’m going to need to acquire one of your beautiful pieces for my place. I truly enjoy these videos and the pure craftsmanship behind them. Great job!

[@deathkampdrone]

Im watching all of your videos in a row. This is good for the soul. Thank you!

[@mariaclaraoliveira9597]

Incredible job man, love it 🖤🖤

[@Yaniza]

Your videos are always amazing! This one is extra special though, such a great way to help the earth. This would be so impactful done on an even larger scale - as a musician, I’d definitely get one (if I could afford it lol) and probs celebrities would get in on it too to clear out ocean plastic 🙌🏾

[@glenncohen4023]

Amazing, solving issues! With our current supply chain issues this is brilliant. I hope the big guitar builders are watching!!! All thing being equal I would buy one.

[@OldStreetDoc]

I always associate ‘plastic’ with a sort of dead acoustic quality. But I’ve gotta say - it RINGS a LOT more than I expected it would. In fact it sounds awesome! We all make mistakes in guitar building. I know ‘I’ sure do. All I might suggest is that the string-thru plate you used on the back, maybe could have a chrome plate surrounding it much like the Tele style neck pickup does? It would have more of a matching quality about it. Either way… phenomenal job using a not too easy material in the build. Great job too to everyone at 4Ocean! No one could possible deny that the oceans are full of trash, and the most dangerous potentially being plastics. Great people to direct our support to. Well done, Burl. Well done indeed. 👍🏼🎼🎶🎵🎶

[@robertschreckenbach596]

Absolutely beautiful! What's great is you always learn from your mistakes, but honestly what are mistakes in Art? That guitar sounds amazing, great work Brother, please continue to create and inspire us all! God bless you in all your endeavors Brother! Peace!

[@10xthebass16]

This is a guitar to feel good about buying no matter the price. Dude your channel is awesome keep up the amazing work and thank you for helping clean our waters!!

[@BudoReflex]

Magical. Nailed the demo Islander sounds.

[@grantmalone]

Respect your tenacity. That build looked like a real pain in the neck.

[@my31and37]

beautiful guitar.. due to its connection with cleaning the oceans (and cool appearance), you could sell a "boatload" of those if you chose.. I'm sure that would take the fun out of it though..

[@bambus_ross]

Your guitars always come out looking so clean man 🤘 very cool stuff. ✌️🇨🇦

[@natestaub5113]

September 16 1993

[@natestaub5113]

September 23 1993

[@natestaub5113]

September 30 1993

[@natestaub5113]

October 7 1993

[@natestaub5113]

October 14 1993

[@LelandMaurello]

That is one cool funky looking guitar! And knowing the history, even more so. You are doing fantastic work dude!

[@marshacox6801]

Absolutely stunning. Wonderful job😃🌸

[@Wakendorf91]

Awesome build, very very nice^^. your demos always sound so great why not take somthing like you did in this video( 14:07 ) and make like an album from it or a compilation, that would be mega cool.

[@hakiixx3559]

Insane, thank you for that video

[@artgeometrix6346]

Great job. It's really awesome what you're doing here.

[@jeffh6516]

I'm always incredibly impressed at the end with how well you play those guitars.

[@jasonvandyke5401]

You could use the extra shavings to just make progressively smaller plastic guitars and hang them as art P.S. Burl, obviously you could play guitar before you started making them. What kind of guitar did you start out on?

[@DavidNwokoye]

Get this man on Mr Beasts Team Seas.

[@azsunburns]

Your videos constantly pop up on my feed & I'm always quite impressed. You are amazing.

[@Saplingbat]

I'm really glad you shared the short clip of collecting the materials for later use. I love projects like this, and this one especially, but I always worry about what happens to the left over resin and plastic. I was hoping it gets recycled if that's even possible. But saving it for other projects is even better!