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So, the other day I got a commission for one of my ladder braced guitars.
The customer wanted a very simple guitar and I had a one on hand to show him that was made from Walnut and Adi.
He expressed his desire to have one made out of cherry but really loved the walnut Guitar.
So I said how about if I build both guitars and you pick the one you like better, he thought that was a great idea.
I’ve never done this before so it should be interesting.




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That will be interesting Brad.

I wonder what your ladder bracing looks like exactly...?

Cheers Dave

I do either 3 braces or 4 braces depending on the type of guitar And whether it’s a pin bridge or a tailpiece type.Here’s a three brace one




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Here is a four brace one


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The Twins are very cool Brad, looking great!

Gotta love the builder's approach. Finish the guitar. Like it? buy it. No endless haggling about build details.

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Peter Havriluk

Cool Brad, excited to see the outcome. I did triplets a couple years ago - 00’s in cherry, camphor and peruvian walnut. Braced each as similarly as possible. Most people picked the camphor as their favourite.

Looking good . May I ask which bracing pattern gets the tailpiece? I’ve got a small body build I’ve started and been thinking about ladder bracing and tailpiece and I’m not too far along I couldn’t go that direction.

double post

I tend to use the 4 brace top on all the 12 strings -pin bridge and tailpiece.

Also I move the brace behind the bridge patch further back towards the tail on the 4 brace type.



Back in the day Stella used the 3 brace one on all their guitars and Regal used the 4 braces on all theirs.

I have seen many old guitars that had no brace behind the bridge patch. So only the 2 braces on either side of the soundhole.....

Brad are you using a floating bridge with your tailpiece model, and if so are you having to do anything different with your neck angle vs the pinned bridge model? Sorry for the questions but I’m curious about this because I’m seriously considering something similar and trying to sort it all out before I start bracing my top.

Yes, if I am using the tailpiece I increase the neck Angle a little bit so I end up with about 5/8”from the face to the strings (at the bridge) as opposed to 1/2” on the pin bridge models.

I do not glue the bridge on the tailpiece models -it is a floating bridge.


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Progress in real time…




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Thanks I really like what your doing and appreciate it. I will stay tuned!

So cool!! Keep em coming.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Brad:
How are the twins coming along?

Hi Patrick,
I’ve made some more progress on them, The necks are roughed out and I finished the binding on the body and started the fretboards but I have two other commissions that came in ahead of them that are almost done so the twins are on the back burner momentarily.
In another couple of weeks I’ll be finishing them up.

Here’s one of the guitars that’s almost ready to go out the door…



And here’s the progress on the twins.





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More progress on the twins … Almost ready to spray


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The first twin is done!
It sounds like a piano shot out of a cannon!







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Nice Brad! Quartered cherry can look pretty exotic.

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Why be normal?