How to Examine The Back & Sides of a Used Guitar

Video Transcript

"KIP BRADFORD: Hi, my name's Kip and I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. Today, we're taking a close look at used acoustic guitars. So, assuming that we decided that this was a solid top guitar and that, this is not a solid top guitar, but assuming that we decided it was. The next thing that I will look for is try to determine is the back solid. And to do that, a lot of times, you have to look and try to find the grain pattern through the sound hole and then try to match that grain pattern up in the back of the instrument here and if they don't match up, then it's probably a plywood with a veneer on the inside and the back. And sometime, the inside looks really pretty, but it's still just a veneer. If you've determine that the back is solid, the front is solid, then you're pretty--can be pretty reasonably sure that the sides are solid as well, and that would be, you know, this portion of it."