Feathered braces v tucked braces

[Bruce McC]

On the J 45 drawing #1 only the top end of the X braces are housed into the linings.
The bottom ends of the X braces are feathered and not set into the linings.
Is this normal on all X braced guitars? Does this make for a more responsive top?

[Trevor Gore]

On the J 45 drawing #1 only the top end of the X braces are housed into the linings.
The bottom ends of the X braces are feathered and not set into the linings.
Is this normal on all X braced guitars?

Most guitars have the bottom ends of the X braces set into the linings, which is fine if you want a truly "robust" guitar which will effectively double as a baseball bat.

Does this [feathering] make for a more responsive top?

Yes, substantially. Does it make the guitar more fragile? Not dangerously so. My guitar, from which the drawings were made, is over 25 years old, has mostly been strung with 13s, and survived a drop from waist height onto a wooden floor, landing on the lower bout treble side binding and survived virtually damage free.

[Bruce McC]

Thank you Trevor. Speaking of baseball bats must try hickory for back and sides on the next steel string.

[kiwigeo]

"survived a drop from waist height onto a wooden floor, landing on the lower bout treble side binding and survived virtually damage free."

But has it survived the ultimate test of resilience.....a full on bar room fight?

[Taffy Evans]

Hi, I agree that braces that are not checked into the linings could contribute to a more responsive top or back; however, the chance of a failed top or back, I think, is more likely.

As a repairer for many years, I have repaired more guitars with braces that end at the kerfing and have not been checked in than you can count on two hands, and your feet for that matter. A simple knock or bump that would not affect other guitars can cause a failure in those with "free" braces.

A case in point, true story. I was in a local music store picking up repairs, and a customer who wanted to demonstrate his guitar to me, clamped his guitar under his arm and against his body to play, as I shouted Don't! There was a loud crackling sound. He had pushed on the top and broken a brace free. That easy.

Maton, for years, kept me busy with that brace job, along with the modifications I do after the repair. Now I see they are checking the brace ends in. I remember that on one guitar, the whole cross brace assembly fell off the top of the guitar and was lying inside. I have photos of that job - gluing cross braces into a guitar through the soundhole, great fun.
Taff

[Trevor Gore]

But has it survived the ultimate test of resilience.....a full on bar room fight?

This one didn't survive a bar room fight. It got stood on (accidentally). The guy was heart broken.

Whilst braces were broken, they cracked along their length or split away from the top, rather than snapped in two. None of them detached from the ends.

P1040768s.jpg (104.98 KiB) Viewed 42 times

The thing that prevents that is that they are tapered down to nothing, so preventing a stress concentration at the ends (a "corner" where the brace end stops) and where cracks would propagate from. That's the reasoning behind "fish-tailing" the CF, too. If the CF hadn't been there and the braces were tapered to zero, they still wouldn't have popped from their ends.

Fortunately, only the top suffered any damage. I fixed the guitar using the "drop-in re-top" method, saving the bindings and not having to re-finish the rest of the body.

P1040820s.jpg (191.14 KiB) Viewed 42 times

Good as new!

Actually, probably better. He said he didn't use the original pick-up (a "just-in-case" installation) so I left it out and the second top was made with a higher monopole mobility (which needs to be reduced when a pick-up is fitted to avoid perennial feedback).