How To Build an Acoustic Guitar. Episode 7 (Bending the Sides)

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In this video, Chris bends the sides for the 3,000 year old guitar, and explains his thought process on why he might do something that isn't typical in some guitars.
For more information on Chris Alvarado and his guitars, go to:
www.DriftwoodGuitars.com

[@jobleynoel]

I just started making laminated sides myself, on a BRW using cherry on the inside. Not a new idea but it's a good one, and you present it well, as usual

[@toddbeeman5933]

This build is so fascinating. Your craftsmanship is incredible. I've started telling people you're my friend, Chris.. so if anyone asks, just go along with it. Thanks. Sending peace & love from Missouri -Todd

[@Bobo_Tapia]

Love how small things can lead to big ideas!

[@anthonymerola320]

I started getting into electric guitar building about three years ago. I was incredibly fearful of the idea of building an acoustic. But your channel is a wealth of knowledge and I really want to give this a go. Thanks for all the lessons and the inspiration. I can’t wait for the next episode

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

That’s awesome to hear! You can do it man! Go get in there

[@nosurfenougheddie]

Perfectly produced video! No music while Chris is talking, explaining his craftsmanship. Love it!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I appreciate that!

[@CarlosGonzalez-tx4cb]

I really appreciate you making this videos. It’s fascinating that you laminate your sides. I made friends with a luthier in San Antonio and when he showed me the sides I saw that they were laminated and he explained that stiffening the sides improves the tone and projection because the energy isn’t being lost. There are things I have learned from your videos as well and then I see it in play at his shop. It’s great to learn about how the guitars are built step by step. Thank you!

[@heymrguitarman7637]

I'd really love to see some videos showing how you create and hand cut those intricate inlay pictures that look so amazing

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

We now sell hand selected and resawn Tonewoods on our website! Each piece was found by Chris Alvarado, and almost always has a story to go along with it. Go check out the selection at www.driftwoodguitars.com/tonewood

[@rogeriocosta1035]

Saying 2 1/4 mm (2.25mm) is the most american way of using the metric system. LOL

[@TEDodd]

Why? 25% is a quarter. You think a quarter past the hour is an Americanism too?

[@zapa1pnt]

@@TEDodd I just read an article, this morning, about AI being able to detect sarcasm. Yet you, obviously cannot.???? HHmmmmm.

[@TEDodd]

@@zapa1pnt didn't seam sarcastic. Sarcasm is much about tone which that missing with text. The tag is great for making it clear. I've heard others make similar comments and they definitely weren't being sarcastic. Complaining about using 1/4, 1/3, even 1/2 with "metric" measurements.

[@zapa1pnt]

@@TEDodd So, the LOL didn't tip you?!?!?!? 🙄🙄🙄 I stand by my comment.

[@TEDodd]

@@zapa1pnt nope. Thought you found it funny that he used such an Americanism, not that you thought your comment was funny.

[@40sgoingonfit]

A science lesson before guitar building?! Holy hell. This is a great series dude.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Thanks man!

[@rauschguitars]

Okay... the magnet thing blew my mind! Very good explanation.

[@nickhewett8815]

Came here to say the same thing. Perfect analogy to explain the concept.

[@dmithsmith5880]

That bending setup is slick ! I have been making seamless one piece sides with just a tiny tail block just enough for the tail peg. I use a pin table with dowels and use shims and work both sides from the center of the tail all the way around to the neck block using only a heat gun and some water. Just did a set of Ipe sides and back. Ipe needs to be fully soaked for three days before it will even think about bending without exploding.

[@danstiverson]

QUESTION: Doesn't the same theory apply to the back as well? Also, if you use 2 hardwoods together isn't that wasteful of the value of the inner wood versus more abundant, less valuable woods as the inside piece? Why do you prefer epoxy over Titebond 3?

[@terrytabor4466]

The demo with the magnets really made the light bulb turn on. Great video series.

[@ryanminyard4446]

Great job again guys! Love every video!

[@Aurelian76]

Another awesome episode. Loved the Side Bending LMI machine. Can't wait to watch Ep.8

[@richiebricker]

Yeah, lamination really does make things 10X stronger. Ive never seen it done with the sides of an acoustic. Cant wait to hear it

[@gavinhutton8455]

I really wanted to see that side bend of the laminate... Hopefully the next video wont have any such issues.. Tx fr uploading this one.. Was worth the wait.. 😄

[@micdunsmore3553]

Chris……could you cover the temperature you use to bend sides and bindings. Do you use the same temperature for all species of wood?

[@picksalot1]

It pays to be observant. Interesting demo with the magnets - looking forward to the next video. Thanks

[@brazilianjosh]

Interesting idea. My guess is that the tone of the guitar would become brighter, maybe? I think the quieter, higher pitch frequencies are the first to go when it’s dampened. I wonder if some people would want that mellower, woody tone you associate with Martin guitars?

[@Aurelian76]

Wish I was there with you guys...what an awesome job

[@scottakam]

Cool. Never heard of laminating the sides on high end guitars.

[@elbowache]

Django's old Selmer guitars tended to have laminated sides.

[@judih.8754]

Amazing example. I love it.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Thank you! 😃

[@karljshaw]

Good explanation, Chris. I guess that my next Driftwood will have this new approach... problem with that is that it might outshine the previous two!! Evolution... life goes on....

[@raytristani]

You nailed that explanation

[@adrienami8958]

Driftwood is also simply pure phisics, you believe? Awesome!

[@davidlemoyne6678]

I love how you deemonstrated that with the magnets, firm grip allows the top magnet (soundboard in our case) to maintain its vibration with itself maybe 10 times as much, in that excercise. maybe you could use the time=1/frequency or similar formula to determine how much longer your guitar is vibrating sound. id like to know how that is worked out too...flippin magnets lol

[@troyclayton]

I had a different response to watching the magnets. What struck me was that the top magnet oscillated well because the forces aligning it with the other are relatively weak compared to a glued joint. The lesson I took away is to try and limit interaction* between the top and sides, like what you did by holding the bottom magnet firmly. Is it Taylor who routes a channel around the edge of the top for this purpose? I can't remember, but numerous luthiers sand the edges of their tops thinner and say it works. I did, but IDK. I wont argue that your laminated sides don't sound awesome, but it might not be why you think. That, or you're right. : ) edit:* or energy transfer

[@ShaneDavisDFTBA]

A beautiful analogy.

[@geamax1]

My maaaaan! I love this series.

[@caiorocha1628]

Finally!!! My nemesis was explained! amazing video!

[@paulkozowyk]

These videos are amazing, thank you for sharing! I have a question about the automatic bending. You talked about it cooling down in the mould and so relaxing the wood or something like that. But when you remove it from the mould it still springs out a little bit. When bent by hand, you can over bend the curves slightly, so then it maintains exactly the right shape when not in the mould. Wouldn’t that actually have less residual stress in the wood? Or am I missing something? Thanks again for the phenomenal content.

[@russellscott1151]

Very informative. looking forward to the next episode. Given that even well bent sides give a bit it’s going to be interesting to see how you combat that when you glue them together so that they’ll still go in the mould afterwards perfectly to meet at the neck and tail unless of course there is still enough give in them for you to bend them a little? I presume to a certain degree the laminate wood can be anything likewise for the outside as the whole objective is to make the sides really stiff with little or no vibration.

[@bldallas]

Very cool! So laminated sides are actually a good, if not better, thing. It totally makes sense, but for years, we’ve heard people talk about laminated sides as being an inferior to solid wood. In addition to the added stiffness, I’d think laminated sides would be more resistant to cracking. Learn something new every day. Thanks!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

There’s a difference between full thickness laminate sides using hardwoods like I’m doing, and just plywood sides that you see a lot of cheap guitars made from. I should have mentioned that

[@karelenhenkie666]

I build all my guitars according to old selmer maccaferri tradition and customers are always very weary of the laminated sides . Pretty hard to overkomen but worth it in the end because laminated sides with proper wood are really stiff and light

[@alandust2188]

My Martin D1 has the same type of laminated sides without the smaller upright braces....it sounds good!

[@cinemaipswich4636]

Well seasoned wood is the apex of instrument makers. Brian May from Queen was given a slab of timber from the lintel of a 600 year old Tudor Mansion fire place. Well seasoned indeed. That is why his guitars sound the way they do. A very young Yamaha put their timber in an Industrial Microwave Oven. Now Yamaha have vast warehouses of old timber. If you buy a Maton guitar from Australia, they have a library of the original timber to repair your guitar.

[@ericgiova1663]

I like very much your demonstration, cristal clear. As you said in a previous video, a side resonate while the other sing. If the sides are stiff, resonating side plays its role better. Make sens to me.

[@zapa1pnt]

If the sides do not vibrate, they do not resonate, they reflect. Reflecting does not take vibration away from the top, resonating does. In this instance, vibrating and resonating is the same thing.

[@zapp442]

Now I wanna see how you did it by hand!

[@michaelpennington5111]

Your videos are awesome!!! Don't hear you talk a lot about moisture content of the wood thru the process... in the furniture business we pay close attention to this thru the entire process... hello from Taiwan!

[@chrismitchum452]

HAHA your intro song sounds like a mix between Benny Hill and Sanford and Son theme songs!! Priceless!!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

We heard it, and had to use it

[@polescalante]

Hi guys. I'm loving your content and looking forward to new videos more and more. So I came across this concept of laminated sides on a Spanish guitar my dad got by Jose Ramirez. Its something they started experimenting with a few decades ago I believe. An interesting question (imo), is: How much does this technique impact the tone that the back and sides add to the guitar? It seems to me that perhaps one of the main reasons the choice of wood for the back and sides play a significant role on the guitars tone is due to the vibration from the top transferring through the sides to the back, and laminating the sides would remove a good amount of this energy being transferred all around.

[@karffiol]

I already had this sort of idea... imagine a drum... it has very stiff rim over which the flexible membrane is stretched (much like a banjo)... same concept. also the laminated sides will resist impact much better. If I may suggest I would use solid lining as well to stiffen it even more :)

[@TheRealMotoNut]

Have you thought about laminating carbon fiber inside your sides instead of another sheet of wood?

[@zapa1pnt]

That would, certainly, save a lot of beautiful wood.

[@Patbwoy]

This series makes me want to order a guitar from you :) Can't afford it though :( BTW thanks for using the metric system, instead of imperial, makes it much easier for us people from the rest of the world ;)

[@MrHeliosoul]

That's freaking smart! Is this the same kind of principle and process used by Greenfield guitars?

[@dalgguitars]

Thank you so much for your videos!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Glad you like them!

[@MarkMetternichPhotographyLLC]

How about make the sides out of a metal (like a thin Magnesium alloy, light weight, but the most rigid you can get without getting too heavy, no movement) and then the laminate?

[@jaytouvelle2359]

OK Einstein I get it now. Where did you come up with the magnets idea incredible Physics. Thanks for getting back to me.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Haha it was just me messing with them and thinking of it. Hope it helped.

[@walterrider9600]

thank you Chris and Matt. i do not understand using the expensive rose wood for this could you not use something cheaper and still get results ?

[@crazyrees23]

6:29 mark the waste line and match that with the clamp. How far down on side board do you measure to get that waste line? How long is the total length and width of your sides?

[@jipes]

LAminated side to improve vibration and sustain I guess, woah that's something really unexpected

[@andreas0s]

Carbon fiber sides laminated as you did to really make stiffness 2000 🤔 maybe something to try one day

[@janip7673]

Any insight for the position of the heating mat? I see people in KZbin place the sandwich (from top): metal / blanket/wood/metal or blanket /metal/wood/metal or as you do, metal/wood/blanket/metal. Do you base your strategy to the fact the heat from beneath the wood would transfer to the wood better?

[@user-ch9jo8mi7m]

have you tired laminating the inside of two sides by sandwiching the side bracing between the the outside and inside of the guitar( so in essence the inside side is glued only to the side bracing) sides rather than epoxying them directly together? I am thinking by doing that you can have your outside sides in the mold so when you glue the inside side to the side bracing and the glue dries, it will be glued to the exact shape of the guitar. This would leave an air gap, the thickness of the side braces between the inside side and outside side. I don't know if that extra air channel changes the vibration of the top or if that extra air space between the sides gives more resonance to the sound of the guitar? Just thinking out loud.

[@charltonwang]

Doh! Camera failed right at the most crucial moment! With the double sides, did you bend the rosewood using the same form or did you have to account for the fact that here is actually a difference to the natural bending radiuses of the two slats? I know some people end both slats at the same time (which is what I would do) but I'm wondering if there is a good solution for things that are thicker like laminated solid linings. Also, are you fine-tuning the sides to deal with the tiny bit of springback? Keep up the good work and a nod to Matt. It's great having him in your videos and the interaction is great to see!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Yeah it was a bummer! I bend both sets on the same mold.

[@danstiverson]

Could you bend both sets at the same time with thinned down Titebond between and skip a few steps yet end up with a better fit in less time?

[@zapa1pnt]

@@danstiverson: No. The glue would be drying, in the excessive heat, before the sides have taken shape. Also, the excessive heat and steam would damage the glue. Heat and steam is how you take apart a Titebond joint, not put it together. Think neck joint.

[@14djfunk]

Imperial?... I think you mean Freedom Units good sir ;) Either way, I really liked the use of magnets to visualize the conservation of energy (specifically resonance in the case of a guitar). As a mechanical engineer I'm really enjoying the technical but well explained sidebars that you're including with each step. Really cool and informative series!

[@troyclayton]

FREEEEEDOOOOOM!!!!! units. As a person who's first major was ME, I agree.

[@mikebell3396]

Haha I'm from NZ and we always use metric so I had to giggle when you said the waist is at 35 mm 😂.....that's a talent being able to bend at 35 mm , I think you were meant to say 350 mm 😜 Anyway I love watching your videos, I'm always learning better ways, so thank you for that! I plan on making my own side bender as it's far too expensive to get the LMI jigs to NZ!

[@roosky203]

Dude, I had those magnets as a kid, we called them sizzlers. I had one of those and a tech deck, and my grandpa took them from me before church because he couldn't stand me being so obnoxious with them, I thought I lost them and looked everywhere, one day I was older and just realized what really happened haha

[@VAXHeadroom]

So the next step in the evolution is to use carbon fiber for the inside, not rosewood. It would be as stiff as steel and weigh even less than the rosewood...using prepreg and the foil you might be able to do it in one step on the bender...no have to do it in a separate step: www.fibreglast.com/product/Prepreg_3K_2x2_Twill_Weave_Carbon_03101 but only requires max 310F but takes 6 hours. Just a thought!! would be a fun experiment, but it would require building an entire guitar!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I’ve thought about that as an option! I’ll have to do some more research

[@zapa1pnt]

@@DriftwoodGuitars: It would save a lot of nice wood.

[@neilmacke4039]

You know, I always wanted a Martin , but......x

[@mikechallgrenguitars9189]

My East Indian rosewood sides are a little lighter color than the back... can I stain the sides to match the back...

[@larscw74]

You said 30 to 35 mm but that looked more like 300 to 350mm to me, I guess you meant cm:-) I'm really enjoying this series, thank you so much.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Yeah I’m dumb and do that all the time haha

[@larscw74]

@@DriftwoodGuitars I was brought up with the metric system, I had to learn the US system when I moved. I made an excel sheet in which i broke up all fractions in an inch with the metric sizes. I wouldn't mind being dumb and build guitars like you do.

[@SteveStubbert]

I feel like I bent my cutaway side quite similar to yours but mine (rosewood) cracked all the way across in three spots right around the tightest bend. Any ideas why this would have happened? I thicknessed to 85 thou

[@rosemaryclark610]

I have a question about sides that are from a kit. So they're pre-bent. But they keep cracking on me. What am I doing wrong?

[@scaira60]

Anyone who says useing a bending jig & heat blankets is cheating They are Dead wrong*** , I have only been building guitars & ukuleles for 2yrs now & I can say the one thing I get stressed out by is bending my sides by hand with a bending iron. I always wrap my wood in foil just to prevent burning it. But no matter how hard I try I always get some ripples in my sides where the system you are using is much better Iam going too buy one of those machines if my production improves. Great vids thank you. Also I agree with laminating the sides.🎸🎼🎼🇺🇸🇺🇸👨🏻‍🦯

[@abates044]

can you use a steam box?

[@creedsexton296]

I am sure you ment 35 Cm for the waist not 35 mm... for those who think they want to use Metric...lOL

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Aw damn, yes haha.

[@creedsexton296]

@@DriftwoodGuitars Just ribbing you, I love your videos..I have been building since 1974, I apprenticed for 4 years with Roy Nobel... But I still after all this time learn and from younger makers it is refreshing..

[@PeterCat1111]

Please start building Dreadnoughts!!!

[@russellharris5072]

I have a Breedlove OM ERE and have always wondered why it's so LOUD,I also now know why Breedlove used laminated sides with an Engleman spruce top and a solid rosewood back.It should really be owned by a teenager full of angst who can holler his/her pain over the sound of that guitar..................................

[@moogoomoogoo5990]

Oh, waist. Not waste. Makes more sense.

[@PaulK813]

Ok, love the science beginning, but that music made me think of Benny Hill. HAHAHahahaha

[@crazyrees23]

Anybody build a flying v side bending jig?

[@emeryacousticguitars2608]

Okay, I bent my sides and at the ends, there is a bit of warp. Will this straighten out when I place my tail and head blocks? Or should I do something about it before I attach them?

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Tha'ts normal. The blocks will straighten them right out when glued on.

[@briansherman355]

Science!!! High tech is amazing!

[@rawvocals4227]

Am not luthier but. I watch ur..all videos...make a Big videos.. plZ.. 👍

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Thanks for watching

[@satyamnameirakpam6093]

From where can i buy your guitar

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

www.DriftwoodGuitars.com

[@twitchbook-1]

The pendulum

[@1001Bull]

Was I the only one wondering why part of the side was "waste"?.......But the it dawned on me....it was "waist"....

[@rhettbh]

guitar channel *exists music on guitar channel * absolutely zero guitars being played

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Then you aren’t paying attention! There’s a guitar in the opening song! Listen closely!

[@whofarted9376]

"Bending Machine isn't cheap." says the guy with a $3K drum sander.

[@jasper_north]

Ben from Dover…