Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey Hesh...I notice that on your current build, you have drawn spaces for two finger braces on each side. In the photo of a recently completed top, there is only one.

What decision factors are involved related to whether you use one, or two? Thanks.

Bill

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Hesh--

I see that you have quite a bit of curve in the main upper bout brace. Are you tapping for a 'ring' tone on the upper bout also?

I'm keeping some notes for my next one and I'm going to follow the advice that you and Bruce have offered by putting more of a triangular cross-section into the bracing.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Thanks Hesh. Brace carving is probably my favorite part also. Just finished the binding and purfling on this one. Might be my least favorite part. I'll be picking LMII binding glue off my fingers for the next three days!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Great job Hesh!

I see that your tone bars are placed in parallel to the treble leg of the x brace and/or perpendicular to the bass side.  We had a discussion about this a few weeks ago and I am still Interested in different tone bar patterns. I'm curious as to whether you place these tone bars in this position because of your personal knowledge and experience or is this from a pattern you are following?  I also notice that the upper tone bar is placed high enough that some of the bridge plate has to be trimmed. Do you feel this enhances or diminishes the tone (or no difference at all?)

Our ideas on parabolic bracing is similar. Even without seeing any of your braces before hand, I do mine almost the same way with the exception of mine being a more rounded over shape VS your pointed shape. I am sold on the tone this gives me and also the sustain of the instruments with this type of bracing.

Thanks for sharing this!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Good, clean work Hesh.
And what a nice looking top!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Looks great
What is that center line tool

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Not a single shaving in that photo.

Hmmmmm, that is really suspicious.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Hesh, That is a gorgeous top. Those tops (with pronounced "hard-line") are the tops that I specifically look for. Great choice.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Yep, same here. I like tops with character.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Tim--

At the risk of asking a question from the Department of Redundancy Department, is the "hard-line" you refered to the more pronounced bands of growth rings on the top?

Inquiring minds and all that!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

"Hard Line" indeed is the darker pronounced grain lines. These lines appear because there was a violent seasonal change and the cellulose was packed or concentrated in the annular rings and leaves these wonderful brown streaks. This is ALMOST always a good visual indicator that the top will exhibit exceptional long grain stiffness due to the concentration of cellulose in the wood cells. Most often these tops are down graded by the wood vendors to B quality but actually they are the BEST tops for tone and stiffness IMHO. I could care less how wide the grain lines are spaced (but I do prefer wider 12-18-ish LPI, but consistant spacing). The two traits that I look for first are Hard Line and silking. You can find these tops in Adi, Lutz, Sitka, Engelmann, BC Engelmann, Euro, Cedar and Redwood if you look carefully.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]   So that curve is just to remove mass and even though it's mouse nuts, weight too.

[/QUOTE]
mouse nuts?? ............ oh I get it

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]

I am also considering not cutting away the bridge plate for the tone bar and instead notching the tone bar to step up onto the bridge plate and continue to the X.

[/QUOTE]

Don't forget that this will make it much harder to remove the bridge plate in the future if that becomes necessary. Just something to consider.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

more super clean, awesome looking stuff. Do you have any sound clips of your guitars being played? I'd love to hear what kind of tone you are getting out of them.

What is your opinion as to how much tweaking the bracing affects the overall tone?

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]
I still fight with the tendency to over brace........[/QUOTE]

I do too Hesh!

Over bracing kills sustain and volume while underbracing causes all kinds of problems with top stability and playability.

The following is strictly opinion and should not be thought of as the only way of thinking about building guitars.

Ultimatly one wants the bracing to be adequate enough to support the top without the torque of the bridge either causing a cave in around the sound hole or the lower bout to develop a belly. It also stands to reason that less mass in the top, especially toward the outer edges of the top, would mean more vibration.

My way of thinking about this is that maintaining top stability as mentioned above is the most important role of the x-brace. It also has to allow the top to move in an up and down motion for proper vibration transfer from the strings. This means that the x-brace should be heavier in the center and progressively thinner and weaker toward the outer limits of the x-brace legs.  The tone bars are most likely to play a role in stabilizing the lower bout from bellying. Then the finger braces are there to keep the top from twisting from side to side. I think that one would do well with trying to decide which braces to remove mass on based on this order of priorities. I'm not a luthier god with all knowledge and I admit it. I am still learning and I doubt that I will ever know all there is to know about this but I keep working on it because it is a challenge that I enjoy.  I know my ways are not the only ways of doing things and I enjoy seeing what others are doing and hearing their reasoning for it also.

I especially appreciate Hesh sharing what he is doing to achieve his fine quality in craftsmanship and sound. That is what the forum is for!

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Reguards,

Ken H