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That's what I used to do, and will again whenever I get back to building. The preventative dryness protection was really a byproduct in my mind, with the main reasons being tonal. Bracing it dried out and relatively flat, allowing it to swell in to a crown as it re-humidifies results in some noticeably different tonal qualities than bracing it directly in to it's final shape. It adds different internal stresses in different areas, and sounds different. It controls the top in a different way. Wish I could be more specific than that, but . The word I've often used is "shimmer", not that that means anything really.

This was a technique we independently arrived at when I was at Bryan's, and rather naively though it something new and innovative at the time. Of course it's been around for a long time though, and is how Steinway has been putting the crown in to their soundboards for at least the last century. I'm sure makers of many other instruments have done the same.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

For what it's worth, I've built ONLY flat tops since my very first guitar...not that I'm against arching the top, but the path I'm on seems to be working out just fine. Maybe I'll change my tune in twenty or thirty years when string pull has them arching like a cat anyway....guess I'll wait and see, God willing.

The biggest tonal factor I've come across is scalloped vs. parabolic bracing, an argument I didn't buy into until I tried both ways. My parabolics have more midrange, and scalloped has more "thump" and highs, which can work well on a smaller body guitar. It seems to me that the bracing is to compensate for the top's native stiffness (or lack thereof), but they naturally impede the vibration of it at the same time....a bit of a paradox.

Now that I've meandered far enough off the original topic, I'll close by saying that I'd like to try a double top one of these days....or really thin bracing laminated with carbon fiber. A few more variables for the radius vs. flat top dilemma?!?