Does Your Guitar's Back Affect it's Tone? Is it a Reflector, Diffuser or an Absorber? 

Personally this is one of the most insightful and interesting acoustic guitar channels on RU-vid. You guys are asking very interesting questions and talking about subjects that A lot of us players find fascinating.

Great info! As one who has been playing on stages for decades, I have come to the conclusion that it is much more important for a plugged-in guitar to sound good to the audience through the PA, than it is to sound good to me sitting on my couch. My Alvarez 8 string, with laminated body, and LR Baggs Element sounds great amplified! (my #1 stage guitar is a RainSong jumbo with Stagepro Anthem)…. How the Alvarez sounds to me, playing at home, is honestly inconsequential…and, the laminated body is more resistant to humidity fluctuation, so it has a more consistent tone, show to show. So, I guess it depends what you use the guitar for, and if it is a stage guitar, what electronics you use. Example: Glenn Frey’s #1 stage acoustic, a Takamine EF360 dreadnought, had laminated back and sides. Yet, his signature Takamine has a solid back… a nod to the player requiring tone at home. BTW, my 8 string sounds great in my living room!

You knocked it out of the park. Acoustic guitar dynamics are fascinating to me, and this is the best video on guitar sound and construction I've ever heard. It really conveys the complexity of acoustic guitars and does it in a very useful and informative way. Thank you!!!

Great Video. My Alvarez ARD70 has a Rosewood back and sides. The guitar is nine years old and with the Rosewood back and sides the response and vibration is quite good. I had loaned the guitar to my son during Covid and now the vibration coming from the back has really increased ten fold.

I'm pretty sure that because of these videos, my next acoustic will be a Yairi. Probably the FYM66HD. You guys have done your job in raising interest and awareness of your brand, for sure!

Did you just take a nap while playing? Excellent technique. 😉 In the "Zone". I love you guys. Keep these awesome videos coming. Great, great content. Intuitive, educational and fun. Maybe at some point you could compare/contrast a Breedlove. My favorite choice would be their Redwood/East Indian Rosewood Premier Concert CE. Thanks again for all your hard work and insights. I always end up watching you guys before work and it sets off my day in a good mood. Priceless

Super interesting! Love the rubber band and lock demonstration too 😄

I just bought an Alvarez ag60ceshb acoustic guitar and I love it. It's playability is phenomenal and it's resonant all over.👍👍😎😎😎😎😎

I build the sides strong as possible to for the top to work at its max potential. (Conservation of Momentum). The back as you stated must be semi flexible like a tight drum to reflect and work with the top. The back can emit quite a bit of the sound if you let it.

Amazing!! Love it and can’t wait to see the mock ups . What other company is doing this in such a honest and fun way?! Alvarez for life

Excellent discussion. Look forward to those future videos on the progress of the experimental builds. May lead to guitar innovation that Mr. Martin never thought about. Worth the effort even if it does not. Please keep up these great videos.

Great video! I've always wondered about this

Why doesn't the inside of a guitar get a finish [Lacquer/Poly]? How does an arched/round back affect the sound compared to a flat back?

Like the tonebar-film this is just great. It's fresh, innovative, instructing, informing, exciting, expanding and of course, , , , , , , , cliff-hanging. Thanx ^ Look forward to the follow up.

I've heard the difference with and without a Tone Guard frame on mandolin and guitars. Thankfully God gave me freakishly long arms and I play sitting. As far as back woods I'll admit to purchasing a guitar because the back wood was just amazingly beautiful, funny, they sound beautiful too.

I'd say so. Imagine playing an acoustic guitar without a back and or sides

Outstanding video gentleman. And I think you hit every topic, on the back and sides (and even the neck) perfectly. It's a package... It's a system... They all work together to make sound. You know you have a great guitar when you can feel the vibration through the finger board, neck, and the back. If you don't, I've found, the guitar sounds dead and has very little projection. They are nice to use for outside playing or learning on but for serious guitar playing, it's all solid wood, all the way. I did a video on all solid wood guitars. I too discussed a lot of what you guys brought up in this video. I gave my Alvarez to my son, who's guitar was stolen, so I'll have to save up and get another one. I really miss it Outstanding video.

I like the vibe in your studio living room. Great information which only goes to increase the respect I already has for those who build these marvelous machines.

Chris, I would love to see a Yairi 12-fret dreadnought or OM style guitar with a spruce top & Honduran mahogany back & sides, similar to your DYMR70SB. I'd be a buyer for that combination.

The She is my New Alvarez I named Suzi , Macassar Ebony Artist cutaway , She talks alot but She's Sweeeet ! 😉🎸✌😁

great little feature gents, keep them coming. the myriad of factors and and permutations, which effect your choice of guitar(s) is mind bending. the vast majority of guitarists practice, practice, practice, play. why ? to enjoy improve, learn, develop. how it hums through your bones, and sounds to your ears simultaneously, on the wrong side of the guitar while practicing, and playing for your own enjoyment is so important, and motivational. i love to feel the guitar hum, and enjoy that, combined with the sounds i hear. i play because i love to play, and gradually improve. I reckon for most players, how it feels and plays, is as important as how it sounds. How it sounds in the kitchen, vs living room will be very different. a guitar that plays great, will rarely sound less that lovely. i have 3 acoustics with "45mm" nut width, and 1 is 2mm narrower string spacing at the nut, and believe it or not, it's very significant to how it plays ( that nut is being changed soon for the prefered spring spacing). Horses for courses, buying more guitars has now been fully justified, that's what I'm telling the missus at least ;-). i guess more important than anything- play, struggle on, love what your doing, fall in love with it. you don't need to be rich to play a lovely guitar. play on good people.

Back and sides definitely affect the tone. For example, maple guitars will have a short but well defined sustain where rosewood or mahogany will have longer but less defined sustain and that's pretty consistent. Most of my favorite guitars have been maple and walnut, I like midrange. I suspect the back is more important than the sides too.

That's the best Jam I've heard from You Guys Exquisito ! Thank You for all Your generous efforts to this Ol World. Of course The whole Guitar is a Body , any time a part of the Body is missing or not resonating properly, It will affect the Whole Body.So the whole body is important every edge every curve ! That's what She said anyways ! 😁

I think i remember that Furch voice the back of their guitars.

How do you find Honduran compares to Khaya and then sapele? I haven't tried Honduran... Khaya is mid-rich. Characterful. Mid-hump. Very focused. Sapele flat EQ, similar bass, more sparkly trebles. Maybe not the same mid range "character" but applies to wider range of styles since doesn't have country twang. Super interested to hear how Honduran compares if you'd be so kind

All I can say it "Ditto" to Waynzwhirled6181 I want the book Chris!

Great video!!! Interesting as anything. I’m a big black walnut fan with a spruce top, but I own many guitars with different to/back/side combinations. I have a question though. I just purchased an Alvarez Age910 with the Macassar Ebony back and sides and spruce top laminate. What do you guys think of that rare tone combo? Most of my guitars are all solid as compared to the laminate back and sides. I’m excited to play it! Any feedback is welcomed! Thanks so much!

Great discussion confirming why acoustics have soul and electrics are just lumps of wood

There have been luthiers who've made the backs out of paper mache.

Why don't you put dot inlays on any of your guitars?

Good subject for a video and love the guitars! It's quite simple though. The back and sides contribute almost nothing to the overall tone of the guitar. And by that, I mean what you can actually hear. Even more so if the back and sides are laminate. Unlike the soundboard, the back and sides are not made to flex and resonate. They are there as a soundbox and as a means by which you can add more strength to the overall structure without impacting the resonance of the soundboard. It is especially misleading when manufacturers and dealers extoll the virtues of the back and sides on laminate guitars. Because we are talking about an extremely thin veneer stuck on top of what is very often cheap base woods and it lends absolute zero to the tone of the guitar. They know this yet they keep up with the marketing spiel.

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