How To Build An Acoustic Guitar Episode 21 (Binding the Arm Bevel) 

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

I know next to nothing about guitar and I’m an amateur woodworker at best, but this series is just so zen to watch. I’m glad you’re back!

Welcome back, your loyal fans will always stick with you.

First off, welcome back. Glad you've been too busy to video over the last few weeks. Those are the kinds of problems anyone running a shop needs.

i started building mine step by step along with you guys. and because i was impatient i tried to power through and now i have a new long handled cat litter box. not mad. the cat loves it. lol hope you had a merry holidays and have a happy new year

Very happy to see the series back. Can’t wait for future episodes. Happy New Year to you guys too!

Great to have you guys back at it!

Great to see you guys back. Glad to hear you'll have more content on the way for the new year.

very elegant transition ! Good to see you back

Great to have you back guys!

Yes! Welcome back!

Glad to see you guys back!! Missed your videos!

It’s really great to see you back in the shop working on those amazing guitars!

Really did make us wait long for this one :)

I've been waiting for the build to continue. Glad you had a Holiday break and that you're back!

Welcome Back & Happy New Year!! Been patiently waiting for a new episode for this build!

Can not wait to see it finished. Hope we get to hear it. Your guitars are like works of art.

Glad to see you fellas back on and doing the things. Looking forward to watching you work 😊 Thanks!

great to have you back

Good to see you’re back on the building. All the best for 2022.

Missed you guys!

That wood is going to look gorgeous! Can't wait to hear how this one sounds when it's finished.

Awesome i have missed you guys!

Welcome back!!! Looking forward to your up coming videos:)

Glad you guys are back! Hope you're having a great holiday season! Keep up the great work! ;) Cheers from BC Canada

Missed you , glad you're back! I wish you a great new year.

Having some fun! Love it. And… I love the puns.

Awesome work and learning a lot thanks for sharing and God’s blessings for you and I wish you all a Happy New Year

Love the little technical details you throw in, like angling the push pins to pinch the binding into place.

Welcome back guys. Happy New Year!

Chris good to see that you are recovering from your break.

Great to see the spruce is no longer frozen in time! Seriously tho... I hope you guys had a great patch of time away from the tubes and you're reloaded for the new year. Cheers!

Those back and sides are absolutely gorgeous. Such a character that wood has. That job is not easy. Very detailed, and you better have a good eye.

Glad you are back and I hope the holidays were good. I finally retired last spring and now you have me considering trying my hand guitars. Small time since I live in an HOA with a garage that my wife still wants to pull the car into.

Brilliant use of the thumbtacks. Thanks for that one.

thank goodness your back! I was afraid I was going to have to come down there! Awesome vid.

Totally understand the need to get your Xmas builds done! After all this is Driftwood Guitars, now Driftwood You Tube!

I have never built an arm bevel acoustic guitar but watching your video's have been inspiring. I'd now motivated to give a try with a bit more confidence. Thanks Chris (and Matt)

Glad you explained I have been searching for the series on the 3001 year old guitar 😊😊😊

Just found your channel and subscribed. Thanks for the video.

Thank you Chris and Matt! These are the most informative videos I’ve seen on guitar building! I feel I’m right in your shop with you during this build. I’ve built two guitars so I’m a little familiar with what’s going on. You warn us of all the pitfalls during a build! Thank you thank you thank you for all of your time and energy spent in making it possible for all us other guys who love guitar making. Keep that GoPro rolling! Ed Paine

Do ur thang brother!!

Excited to have you guys back! Your videos have inspired me to attempt my first guitar. I’ve built custom drums for 15 years and always wanted to try a guitar. Random question, what brand chisels do you use?

Hi there Chris. Thank you for letting us in on your processes. I really appreciate that. I'd be thrilled to see how you do your inlays on the fretboards, namley the multi-coloured pieces. I think I remember you saying it was all maple that you colour? Maybe I'm wrong. Showing how you you make the "templates" for the inlays would be really great. Keep up the great work! Greetings from Germany and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

Thanks for the past 12 months of video's. as a a player of a certain age who had to slow records down to learn, its nice to learn how to look after our guitars the easy way. Have a profitable 2022.

Glad you are back. I thought algorithms eliminated you from my feed.

Yes! Cesar Millan younger brother is back!! Great video guys!

Good to see you guys again . I don’t build guitars , but I am a player and owner of a few wonderful boutique guitars . It is a pleasure watching and listening to your presentations : including your “Mini Concerts”. You guys are really good players . It should also be said that your evaluations of stock brand guitars seems to me to be very fair , and recognizing that , though certain structural aspects of your trade are really scientific and objective , you always acknowledge the subjective nature of preferences of tonal and playing experiences . If someone likes a guitar , though if measures out poorly comparatively, that’s ok . Your not trying to:One up other builders or buyers . I find this humility refreshing in a time where so many things in the human experience are framed as “Zero Sum” . Thks !

I'm glad you are both back. One note, those are push pins 📌 not thumb tacks.

Hey matt...people are jealous...they feel the need to knock you down...those people can just go away...I'm fascinated by your laminated back and sides...and then how fricking colorful the sound of your guitars. I've seen hear. Really cool bro

merry christmas

-Thumb tacks- 'Push Pins' and another THANKS.

I can’t wait to screw up my first guitar, I’m ready, let’s go!!!! Thank you so much for your videos, truly have inspired me to go for it. I’ve been acquiring tools for 3 years. All I need is the hand tools. Selling my amp and electric to get there. Bitter sweet. My first guitars gonna suck, I know not to buy a master grade top, and hundreds of other things.

those push pins are some like ... shoe cobbler shit. I love it!!! Smart technique.

Why in the world would anyone see the need to send you a nasty email based on this youtube video series? It is absolutely wonderful. Thank you!

Ah yes, finally!!! The unbound unfinished arm bevel was the worst cliffhanger ever!

That American flag inlay is very awesome!

Yes! Thank you! I cheated on you guys and checked out some other arm bevel videos. I did not do mine like yours but it came out alright for my first one. I will know for my next one. I still got it kind of wavy and not 100% smooth. Is there a way to fix that after it’s done or amu I screwed?

Very cool... 😎

Good to see you guys back! And please, pay no attention to the trolls, Chris. Sadly, they abound to do nothing more than spread their misery like the plague they are. You guys are doing some fine work and it is dearly appreciated by those of us that know. "When you know you know!" -- Sonny from "That Dude Can Cook." 😁😉🥂✌😊

Missed opportunity on a "tacks man" Beatles reference! The others were priceless.

Great to see you two back, hope you had a nice holiday. Very informative on the binding process, however, l was wonderings, with those "snub type fingernails" how long it actually took to remove all the binding tape???

thank you Matt and Chris . is that a catsup bottle you are using for glue ?

As a woodworker I think I could follow along up until this step. These compound curves are difficult to do unless you are actually doing this consistently.

Finally. Haha anyway, have you tried the half cut away in a guitar?

I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I think on the Bevel you should use some hide. The blend of those two materials would look good. You could also cushion it slightly.

So, Matt DIDN'T blow up the amp. Good to know. Looking forward to seeing it continue.

3000years is not the word age but the time between the start and the end of the build🤣

Really missed your videos!! LOVE the technique and have had limited (read not so great) success. Quick question and hope it's not too proprietary but the thickness of the top looks thicker than I would imagine. How thick did you go on that top? THANKS, and keep the vids coming please.

Are we going to see the rest of this series and the finished 3000 year old guitar

5:12 I’m curious what calculation he did on his watch.

Hi Al, I really like your builds. I'm sorry to say that I can't be your bodyguard thought. Would be a hassle commuting to Florida from Sweden. I also wouldn't feel completely okay being called Betty

This has me wondering, how much effect did that have on the sound? Because through my headphones, it sounded a step above other guitars (based on the final video in this series). What do you think would happen if that bevel wrapped the entire lower bout and tapered down to the waist. 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Wondering why you did not steam the arm bevel binding?

I'm glad to see that you are back but I thought I'd just say that the audio quality on this video was below the par compared to your previous shoots. To me, Chris' voice was kind of tinny, a bit like an old transistor radio. Matt's was better. Just my $0.02

That "beep"-Creek is a popular destination! People are abusing you for not producing videos? For real? WTF, peeps. Chill out!

I’m waiting to see how this bevel becomes comfortable rather than comfortable..

Do the thumb tacks not leave visible marks in the wood?

i like this Acient Wood Built immensly .. i bored people before..with telling em how guitars..are carved from ancient trees...anyhow if i was rich :O i,d rob myself to buy this! with some special inlays....

Do you know if anyone has ever put a bevel in the back of a guitar like on a Fender Strat? The closest I've seen is Linda Manzer's wedge body.

How come when shopping for an acoustic guitar, they seem to direct the arm bevel guitars to beginner level guitars? That's what it seems like. What about people that have played for a long time? I'd like to not have a trench in my arm after playing an acoustic! I've looked at guitars with that bevel, and wanted some form of it for years. NOW it seems, the only ones available with an arm bevel, are beginner level guitars, which I really wouldn't want. That's pretty strange.

You did not build a 3000 year old guitar. You built a guitar out of 3000 year old wood. ;)

I’m sure your guitars are classed as functional art.

Hi I love what you do. You are so big on quality and that is good. I understand the quality material and the time, skill invested on building a guitar dictates the price but is it possible for you to build $500 guitar? I Would love to own a guitar from you some day.

Blind 🦯 squirrel 🐿️..🥜... LoL 😅

They didn't have guitars 3000 years ago, 16th century for something similar but 3000 years um nope.

I notice that you and another RU-vid hand-built guitar builder go into baby talk mode on the word "little" when describing your process. I wonder if this is imitation/flattery of one builder for another, or like minds independently choosing the same vocal delivery mannerism to express a similar idea. It will be interesting to see if any other artisans exhibit this linguistc marker in the making. 🤔

So you gonna take 3000 years to explain what you are gonna do or 3000 years to build that instrument? Lol

Quite painful a video to watch ... will he glue it for good ? or what ?

merry christmas