How is it that tennis racquets and even some electric guitars and basses can be made of graphite? Is it really graphite, or is the graphite only used to make up part of an alloy or other mixed matierial? Obviously, guitar necks and tennis racquets endure a lot of strain, so how is it possible for them to be made of graphite?
(1) It’s just a fiber reinforcement, not a pure carbon tennis racquet.
(2) As far as I know, it’s not even graphite.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/~newtrad/CurrRef/BDGTopic/BDGtext/BDGGraph.html
As the owner of 2 Steinberger guitars and soon a graphite Chapman Stick as well, I can tell you the necks are not pure graphite, but a “carbon graphite composite.”
You can get more info on the musical instrument aspect of this at http://www.mosesgraphite.com.