Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm getting ready to start building guitar #3. In the past I have thicknessed the sides to 2.4mm or .090 before bending.Do you have any advice or does this sound good?

You can safely go to .080-.085" on a large guitar, with my smaller guitars I often go to .070" of course depending also on the wood you are using.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

The side thickness depends on the wood used and the desired sound of the guitar being made!
If your using figured wood you may have to thin to .080
but for well quartered wood .095 is easy to bend!

Remember thin sides make for a weak sound if the body is deep in thickness-and the top is loose.(it makes a great quick response but decays fast)-Maybe good for flat picking!
It really is best to leave your sides as thick as you can- work with and do the rest of your body tuning with the thickness of the top and the bracing along with -back thickness .

Mike collins
www.collinsguitars.comMike Collins38983.7855092593

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Mike Collins

I generally work my IRW sides to about 0.095" on my steel strings....a little thinner on my classicals. Each piece of wood is different so I judge final thickness by testing "floppiness" as I work down to final thickness with the cabinet scraper.