[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by Wolfram Slides

A Somogyi also has solid top and back with laminate sides - along with Mike Baranik and many other very high-end luthiers. It's got nothing to do with ease of bending - it's to provide a very rigid rim to support the acoustically active top and back.

Cheers,
David

True, but in the case of Tacoma it was specifically due to cracking at the cutaway bend. They eventually changed to solid sides as they got better at it.