Small body acoustic - bracing.

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
User avatar
Bob_H
Blackwood
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:27 pm
Location: Lyndoch, South Australia

Small body acoustic - bracing.

Post by Bob_H » Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:15 am

Morning

I am wanting to build a small body acoustic, primarily for unamplified use. As an old fellow with a bad back, I find the small bodied guitars much easier to handle.

I built a Martin Style 5 type guitar, based on the Scott Antes plans, that I am pretty happy with, as long as I use G to G tuning. I would like something with more neck, eg joining at 15th fret similar to Maton Mini, which would be happier with E to E tuning, and am starting to draw up plans based around the Maton Mini dimensions. I note that this is a pretty old idea and plenty of builders here have covered this territory in the past.

I am pretty comfortable with most of the design elements but remain puzzled about bracing. I understand that Maton use a double x bracing pattern on their mini's but I also understand that the unamplified performance is underwhelming. Would I be better off using the Antes bracing pattern (a single x with long and short fingers)? Any suggestions welcome.
Bob Holbert
Lyndoch

User avatar
lamanoditrento
Blackwood
Posts: 585
Joined: Thu May 05, 2016 9:50 am

Re: Small body acoustic - bracing.

Post by lamanoditrento » Tue Jul 05, 2022 2:09 pm

My instinct is that a sparse lattice or double x are going to be over braced for a small body. Also the more frets to the body, the more neckward the bridge location is going and less efficient the sound board. If you want a 15 fret, you might also be consider moving the soundhole north and also possibly the waist. You may end up with something looking a bit like a mini grand symphony...
Trent

yakka
Myrtle
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: Small body acoustic - bracing.

Post by yakka » Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:47 pm

12 FRETS TO BODY, CUTAWAY IF YOU WANT TO PLAY HIGHER ON THE FRET BOARD AND DO NOT LET THE X BRACES INTO THE SIDES IN THE LOWER BOUT BUT FINISH THEM SHORT OF THE KERFING, THIS MENTIONED 2 TIMES IN GORE GILET BOOKS AND ALSO SEEN ON THEIR X BRACE PLAN FOR J 45

User avatar
Bob_H
Blackwood
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:27 pm
Location: Lyndoch, South Australia

Re: Small body acoustic - bracing.

Post by Bob_H » Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:58 pm

lamanoditrento wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 2:09 pm
My instinct is that a sparse lattice or double x are going to be over braced for a small body. Also the more frets to the body, the more neckward the bridge location is going and less efficient the sound board. If you want a 15 fret, you might also be consider moving the soundhole north and also possibly the waist. You may end up with something looking a bit like a mini grand symphony...
I was worried about over bracing contributing to less lively sound. I might look at a few more parlour sized guitar plans (OOO and the like with 24" + scale lengths) for some ideas for longer scale lengths and small body sizes
Bob Holbert
Lyndoch

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 88 guests