“It’s pretty awkward to hold and you have to make sure water doesn’t spill out... but it’s definitely playable”: Burls Art unveils his guitar-quarium

It looks positively bizarre. It’s a guitar. But it contains water. And – potentially – fish too.

It’s the latest crazy idea from Youtuber Burls Art. The luthier and craftsman has previously constructed guitars out of coffee beans, aluminium cans, copper wires and ocean plastic waste. Now gone one incredible step further - he’s made an aquarium that you can actually play.

Yes, I know. It sounds kinda dangerous..

Needless to say, developing such a bonkers contraption presented a number of engineering challenges. For starters Art had to make sure that the structure was absolutely watetight whilst still being playable. So for durability, he decided to use an ultra-think body, one that’s moulded from foam and shaped like a cross between a Gibson Explorer and an Ibanez Iceman.

There’s approximately 1.5 gallons of water within the guitar. The build also features a sole humbucker in the bridge, but that’s protected from the water by some 16” of acrylic and silicone.

Obviously, great care had to be taken with the installation of the electronics and hardware to ensure that the watertight aquarium remained intact. In particular, epoxy was applied to reinforce the walls of the guitar.

Building an Electric Aquarium Guitar - YouTube

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Art also crafted a wall-mount out of stained birch, and used urethane primer to help create a clear finish. A classic maple neck and rosewood fretboard were then bolted to the body. And finally, to complete his guitar-quarium, he added substrate to the instrument’s bottom and arranged plants so any fish – he hasn’t yet added them - would be able to flourish in their new home.

The luthier seemed pretty happy with his finished work. “I’ll say this thing’s an aquarium first and a guitar second,” he said. “And with that, I didn’t put too much emphasis on the playability. It’s pretty heavy and awkward to hold and you have to make sure water doesn’t spill out when you’re playing it. It doesn’t play like a dream, but it’s definitely playable.”

Art promises an update “in a few months”.