Official Luthiers Forum!

I was at a shop recently that had a Gibson round shouldered dread dissected into it's major parts (top, neck, and bank with sides attached). It looked like it had been supplied by Gibson as a selling tool. Anyhow, something I noticed that was curious is the ends of the top braces were notched into the sides, not just the kerfing.

Has anyone here seen this, or use this technique. If so, does it have a sonic and/or structural purpose?

Chris

Many do it this way, it is just easier to make the notch. The end of brace it covered by the binding. When I do it, I make sure the end of the brace is a little short. As the wood shrink, the end of brace will push on the binding, because the brace does not shrink as much as the rest (because of the wood fiber orientation)

I believe it's a fairly common technique. Stopped notches may seem more elegant, but once the binding is in place there is no visual difference. I don't believe there is a structural difference either, as long as everything fits well. That said, I use a dremel mounted in a plunge base to cut stopped notches.