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I've been toying with the idea of stopping the x-brace short of the linning on the lower bout of my new SS design. That would allow the top to float more freely, especially if I thinned the top just before it reached the sides. Good idea or bad?Joe Beaver39026.5909722222

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

That's the way I do it. Tuck the front, float the rear. Thin them to a feathered edge to avoid creating a stress riser.

Mario, help me out. Which is the front and which is the rear of the X brace?

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Aoibeann

It does seem to make sense. Especially when you read how Taylor's magic rout around the edge improves top response. If you go to that much trouble then just span it with an x-brace it seems it would negate the whole deal. The only negative I can think of is the possibility of a top fracture at that point, but with the way the grain is oriented it is very doubtful.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Lillian, the rear is,well, at the rear <bg>

Rear is the tail block end, the end pin end.

Thanks.

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Aoibeann

Mario, are the x-brace front ends the only tucking you do on the whole top?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Nope. Everything forward of the soundhole gets tucked.

I tuck because I've fixed to many loose braces on tops that had untucked braces!
You can still feather the brace but just make sure the brace is supported in the lining so a slight tap of the top doesn't dislodge it.
Mike

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Mike Collins

I tuck everything forward of the sound hole also, but so far I've also tucked the lower ends of the x-brace.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Mike Collins] I tuck because I've fixed to many loose braces on tops that had untucked braces!
[/QUOTE]

That is interesting, I never thought that the untucked brace may have a tendency to come loose!

Something to think about!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

That's why you-must- feather the brace end if you aren't going to tuck it. I, too, have seen and repaired plenty of these loose braces, but every one was cut bluntly. What happens is when stressed, it peels. Result is a popped brace end. But if you feather it to nothing over the course of at least an inch, it can flex for that whole inch or more if stressed, and will not peel.

Very simply, yet effective, engineering.Mario39027.0255902778

[QUOTE=Mike Collins] I tuck because I've fixed to many loose braces on tops that had untucked braces![/QUOTE]
Do tucked braces ever come loose?

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I have done like Mario's for all but my first guitar and have never had one pop yet (Knock on wood)
I believe what happens with the end of the brace if its thinned enough is it will flex along with the top if its bumped, where as with a blunt end and sharp edge will have a tendency to peel, or pop.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I believe it is necessary to tuck the bottom legs of the X brace into the kerfing to deliver energy to the lower bout and the sides. I do not think the side or belly braces should be tucked in, and feather them to zero at the kerfing.

Check out the subject re: Tapered/Parabolic OM's, at

http://luthiersforum.3element.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID= 8651&PN=1&TPN=1

There's too much there to go into again.

Scott

<sigh>

Mario - Your self control is amazing. I will practice self control too, I will practice self control too, I will practice self control too........................

             Peace, Paul

Me to Hesh,

After all, is'nt that the whole point of an OPEN forum? You say your bit and allow the reader to eat the meat and spit out the bones.

I for one rejoice in being able to digest what ever I consider to be food for thought, no pre-chewing of any ideas, theories or suggestions are required here.

Peace to all

Kim

Hesh, that is a good reminder.
WE ALL know there are as many ways to do something as there are people doing it

Lets keep respect and peace above all else.

A good friend of mine uses this quote often.

"Tastes Great, Less Filling" LanceK39027.8751273148

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I agree guys.

No one ever forced anyone here to believe what we're all saying.

It could all be hogwash and snake oil for all we know . Hey, don't hogs wash in snake oil?

You all know what I meen I hope. Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to that opinion.

Heck, I still believe that the earth is flat for pete's sake Rod True39027.8863078704

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

[QUOTE=Rod True]
Heck, I still believe that the earth is flat for pete's sake [/QUOTE]

Rod the world is actually a conical shape with the pointy end bearing down fully upon me to hurry up and make my first guitar

Peace Kim

Yes, you guys are absolutely right... This is a forum and as such, exchange of ideas should be encouraged and respected...

Like my good moma says, 'If you don't have anything positive to say, then don't say anything at all'...

Many times I find myself deleting replies because I feel they don't add to the thread at hand...

Peace,

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Forget the tuck rule or the no-tuck rule. I don't believe you need an X-brace at all. That's way too much structure for a guitar top.
Try this:
NO bracing below the upper bout, except the bridge patch.
You'll get an explosion of sound like nothing you've ever heard or seen.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."