Fully Braced Sound Board

Here you can see the fully braced sound board, with all the scallops cut.  I still haven't received the parts for my band-saw, so I will likely put off the back until I get the parts, and then again, maybe not.  My wife promised that we could go in search of wood stores on Saturday next -- as she put it, not my favorite thing to do -- and if I can find a suitable piece of mahogany, I will resaw it again at the school.

To tap tune it, I hold it by spreading my fingers in the sound hole, then rap it with my knuckle at the bridge plate.  I sand and scallop until I no longer hear over-tones.  None of the bracing is of a standard size, and frankly, I don't think it's that terribly important.  If you look at several guitars, they are all braced differently, and they all swear by the pattern and dimensions of their bracing.  If you are going for a certain tone (e.g. vintage Martin) I would copy the dimensions, but I am still finding my tone, and I don't mind producing something slightly unusual.


For those who care, however, the x-bracing is 3/8th wide by 1/2 inch high.  The upper traverse brace (above the sound hole) is likewise 3/8th wide by 1/2 inch high.  The lower bout bracing is 1/4 wide by 1/2 inch high.  The finger bracing is 1/4 wide by 3/8 inch high.  It's a little heavier than you might find on most guitars, but tap tells me I'm not sacrificing much in the way of response and I want the redwood to be braced a bit heavier than spruce.  It's stiff enough, but not as stiff as the spruce, and I don't want it bulging under the pressure of the strings.