Laser Marking on Musical Instruments – Sounds Good!

Musical instruments often get marked with company logos, serial numbers or other information. Different marking systems are utilized, depending on the material.

Brass instruments’ mouth pieces, which are polished and highly reflective, require laser marking with great pulse peak power. A Vanadat-laser with a maximum pulse peak power of 60 kW is likely to overcome high absorption edges and can create high contrast marks by just slightly matting the surface. As many instruments require regular polishing, engraving depths of several hundreds of a millimeter can additionally be necessary in order to assure the long-term legibility of the marks.

Fiber lasers might also be utilized for the marking of certain instrumental parts, resulting in color change/frothing or engraving. Wooden musical instruments of uncoated as well as of lacquered wood, like the body or neck of a guitar, usually get marked with a CO2-laser.