How are you going to be bending the sides? Hot pipe or bending machine?
Before I bent my first real set of sides (which were mahogany), I practiced bending using sides that LMI sells specifically for practicing side bending. I did four of them and learned a lot in the process before moving to the set of sides that were actually used for my first guitar. (I do my side bending on a hot pipe.)
https://www.lmii.com/tonewood/3597-m...090-thick.html