The Art of Bending How Guitar Side Thickness Affects Your Performance

nearly one inch at ends of the bouts. It took some pressure and more than a few clamps to hold the sides in place on the guitar top while I ... But the flatter radius is not what makes the guitar easier to bend on. The flatter radius is meant to stop “fret out”. This is where a string ... Before bending them, Kinkead, in his book, "Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar", recommends taking them down to 5/64" or just a little over .08 inches thick. I was ... Those sides look incredibly thick, what thickness are they? 1.5-2mm thick, lightly covered with water should work great. I use a bending iron ... That sounds good to me for a flamenco guitar. Mine are about 2.5 mm in the center and 2.0 at the edges. Once it's glued to the sides, the edges ... This is the beginning step for this build. I've chosen the set of Brazilian Rosewood that everyone seemed to love so its time to bend the sides. Here you can ... Unfortunately, a little extra thickness will add significantly to the bending problems, because the stiffness of a material is proportional to the cube of the ... I have taken mine all down to between .080 and .085" on all the woods I've bent, some by hand and some in my bender machine. This has worked out fine. Backs between 0.085"-0.120", sides 0.70-0.085". Depends on the type of wood and size of the instrument. Some luthiers do go thinner but they are ... . The manufacturer claims "We have heard of good results from luthiers who use the softener to make some species of thin lumber more bendable.".