It's worth noting that this device has two different uses and two different names to go with those uses. It's a Bridge Doctor if it's installed on an existing guitar to counteract a bad top belly, but it's a JDL Bridge Truss when it's built into a guitar from the get go as part of the bracing/top system which is what Breedlove did on some of their Master Class guitars. Their rationale for using it was that it allows for a thinner top and lighter bracing.
I have a Breedlove Northwest Classic built in the early 2000s which was a model in their Master Class series and it has the bridge truss. This discussion got me curious so after playing it for a while, I went in and disengaged the bridge truss so it would no longer be pressing against the tail block under string tension. My expectation was that it might sound better/different in some way with the bridge now free to rock forward and back, or possibly make no noticeable difference at all. Instead, I notice right away that it sounded noticeably dulled and the volume was reduced. I then adjusted it back to how it's supposed to be set and the sound and volume returned to their original and better levels. Interesting. Maybe there actually is something to their idea of having it incorporated into the design of the bracing and the top after all with respect to how the guitar sounds and specifically how Breedlove's Master Class guitars that have the bridge truss sound.
_________________ Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter
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