These sci-fi-inspired guitars are the most out-of-this-world builds we’ve seen all year

If we told you to picture a guitar partly made using unused Covid tests, we assume you’d probably picture something pretty ugly. Well, allow us to leave your mind blown.

Custom guitar brand Devil & Sons has launched a new series of sci-fi inspired guitars called Craftcasters, and their bodies are hand-constructed via the ‘kit bashing method’, where parts of old model kits, everyday items, hand cut plastic, sculpted epoxy, and yes (in this case), unused Covid tests, are pieced together to create unique artwork.

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The uber-cool, spacecraft-like models were created across three years by artist and luthier Daniel Wallis, and according to him, they’ve been made using the same techniques model makers have been using for screen props since the original Star Wars and Alien films. Upon close inspection, you’ll be able to spot bits of train sets, remote controls, Warhammer models, and even old vacuum cleaner parts on their surfaces.

Aside from their artwork, what exactly do the Craftcasters offer? Well, The Genesis is the first and original Craftcaster. It’s a customised Epiphone SG and it includes a pair of original 1979 Gibson T-Top humbuckers taken from an SG built in that same year.

There’s also The Solar, which gets its name from the Alchemy Pickups humbucker model of the same name, with one of these in its bridge position. There’s also an Alchemy Eternity P90 in the neck.

Although these two models have been made by customising existing guitars, Wallis has different plans for how new guitars will be built in the future: “I’ve used these guitars as proof of concept, to show clients and to take to guitar shows,” he explains.

“The person who buys them is really buying a unique work of art you can play. In the future I expect clients will come to me, as they often do, with guitars they love to play but just don’t like the look of for me to customise. I’ll also be working on a design that I can make entirely from scratch with my own designed body shape.”

One of Wallis’ very first builds was made in 2014, for which he converted an ‘80s Millenium Falcon toy into a bass guitar called the Rebel Bass. During the Covid lockdowns, his fascination with model and prop builders on YouTube began to grow, and thus the Craftcaster was born.

In 2022, Wallis then took one of his work-in-progress Craftcaster guitars to the British Boutique Guitar Festival where YouTubers such as Henning Pauly and Leigh Fuge were able to try it out. Wallis then mixed in their interviews and demos with the build process footage to make a video, which you can check out below:

Both The Genesis and The Solar are available now for £3,000 each. They each include a hard case. For more information, go to Devil & Sons Customised Guitars.