God help my marriage if some of the tonewood vendors read this and respond favorably...
Well, I drew up my own crazy guitar design with a deep S-shaped cutaway. But, jumbo-bodied guitars with cutaways must have the same problem: length of sides. I know I need 33.25" as a final dimension on the cutaway side, which means that probably about 34.5" is a good comfortable minimum for the raw sides. It seems as if most tonewood vendors have accepted 32" as a new "standard" length for sides, as well as for binding strips. (Luthiers that make harp guitars, acoustic basses, and Weissborns must have an even harder time acquiring side material and binding strips.)
Whenever my wallet is bigger than my willpower, I look around for "zoot." The idea is that I will get it when it is available, and have all the wood I need to build during retirement. (Any wood around my house will likely be part of a funeral pyre, in the event that my wife and my wood stash outlive me.)
Anyway, I do not "need" any wood right now, but if someone wants to tempt me, they have to start cutting sides longer. Am I alone, or do any of you see 32" as a limitation, and wish that sides and binding strips were 35" long?
Dennis