[Mike_A]

Originally Posted by Chris Kemp

Laminate came about because it is easier to work with then bending the wood as in side construction. It usually consist of three layers and each layer is thin enough to bend in the lay-up form with out using heat. In a production environment less skill is required. It depends more on where the laminate is built into the guitar and who and how the guitar is built. Laminate on the sides does not hurt or help sound. It can however help to make the guitar stiffer and keep the vibrations from moving to the sides and it can do this without a whole lot of effort from the builder. This stiffness can help to keep the vibration in the top where it is needed to create sound. But this can also be done with solid wood sides and with good building techniques.

Considering my building ability, if given a choice I would have no problem with laminated sides. Second choice would be to place it in the back but I would be reluctant to use it on a top.

Laminate backs and sides with a solid top makes for a good sounding guitar at a reasonable price.

But on the other hand, Smallman and Shramm guitars are made with laminate and I think they start out at around ten thousand dollars. In the types of guitars that they build, their main focus is to keep as much of the vibrations in the top and stiffer sides will do that. Shramm uses laminate on the backs of his guitars but he builds the radius into them using a mold. In doing it this way the backs of his guitars do not require any braces. The back is in effect an echo board or reflector for the sound that is created from the underside of the top. The lack of braces probably gives his guitars a cleaner sound because there is no bracing to break up the sound as it reflects off of the back. That part is just my thoughts.

my 114 is exactly how you described the smallman and shramm guitars... except for the price.