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Signal shreds a cardboard Strat

Signal shreds a cardboard Strat
Linkin Park's Brad Delson gets to grips with a cardboard Stratocaster
Linkin Park's Brad Delson gets to grips with a cardboard Stratocaster
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The use of cardboard results in a see-through body and neck
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The use of cardboard results in a see-through body and neck
The Signal Snowboards, Ernest Packaging and Fender cardboard Stratocaster
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The Signal Snowboards, Ernest Packaging and Fender cardboard Stratocaster
Linkin Park's Brad Delson gets to grips with a cardboard Stratocaster
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Linkin Park's Brad Delson gets to grips with a cardboard Stratocaster
Fender master builder Paul Waller with a special Custom Shop creation in cardboard
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Fender master builder Paul Waller with a special Custom Shop creation in cardboard
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We've seen many examples of cardboard breaking out of its box, including a rolling Lexus, play furniture for kids, and a bike and helmet. But the crazy folks over at Signal Snowboards and Ernest Packaging have teamed up with the Fender Custom Shop to build a one-off Strat that really rocks.

California-based Signal teamed up with Ernest at the beginning of last year to make a snowboard from 100 percent recycled cardboard for the first in a series of Cardboard Chaos projects. Subsequent cardboard creations have included a kid's pushbike, a surfboard and, most recently, a skateboard deck. All pretty cool, but not Fender Stratocaster cool.

The Signal Snowboards, Ernest Packaging and Fender cardboard Stratocaster
The Signal Snowboards, Ernest Packaging and Fender cardboard Stratocaster

After pushing together strips of cardboard to create a semi-transparent Strat-shaped body and neck, the Signal team paid a visit to the Fender Custom Shop where the pieces were reshaped by master builder Paul Waller.

Frets and dots were added to the neck, a truss rod installed for strength, and it was then bolted directly onto the body, though small wooden inserts were glued to the cardboard structure to give the screws something solid to grip onto. The body was treated to three 50s single coil pickups, a Strat scratch plate and other stock vintage-style Fender components.

Once Fender's techs and builders had spent a little time with the custom instrument, the Signal cardboard guitar was taken for its first real-world acid test – a shred-tastic workout by Linkin Park's Chester Bennington and Brad Delson.

You can see the guitar being put together and road tested in the video below.

Source: Signal

Cardboard Guitar Stratocaster Fender : Cardboard Chaos

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Kevin Ritchey
Doesn't it completely depend upon the binding agents used? Granted the base material is cellulose but the elements that give it the strength and rigidity is mainly the resins/glues/gels that keep it a cohesive material. Just a thought. My father ran/managed a paper mill so I have seen more wood pulp turned into all sorts of products; more than I care to remember. Still, it is impressive to see.