The Luthier Community

Grant,

In the spirit of your "Organic Soundports" build maybe you should start training up some termites to "pre-process" your back braces As always your ideas are very interesting and fresh and keep all of us young.

Is it because it's the New Year or because you've just turned 70 that your getting so creative?

Mac

Grant, I keep visiting this thread to simply admire your work and wonder (as with "awe") at your creative mind. What would this do on the long legs of the X-brace for the top?

Those are cool looking trusses Grant. FYI I stole your idea of cross bracing the back but since I'm a lot more lazy than you I simply cross braced the back the same way I cross brace the top except without any tone bracing - just the single cross bracing only. I've done this on a couple classicals and 2 smaller steel string guitars (LG-1 copies). I've found that the back is less stiff and resonates very nicely - it enhances the bass on these guitars. My main reason for doing it was as you state it reduces the grain-locking affect of perpendicular cross bracing. I suppose that a dread would need the double X-brace as you have been doing but for smaller bodied guitars the single X-brace seems to be working fine for me.

Grant and I came to the double X back brace plan at about the same time, but man, yours are far finer, G! I've not yet adopted the laminated method, but I'm gonna try it now!

E

Well color me impressed, but not surprised...........

That is the coolest thing I've seen in quite some time!

I, too, found myself thinking: "that might work great on a guitar TOP" - any thoughts, G?

BTW - beautiful Coco back!

B

Here is a better look at the components that make up the second layer of laminations.

Remember that there is a first layer that is 1/8" thick that goes ofer the whole xx pattern. The short X segments at the intersections are notched together. Notice how I have roughly sanded a concave end on the parts that will be at the ends of the open spaces. Some of the parts here are shown laying flat so you can see the shape better

Another view

This is on an African tulip back AKA pau rosa.

Hope this helps to explain what I do. This is the third back I have done this on. I make up all of the parts first and the glue-up of the 4 layers goes fairly fast.

G

OK, I am going to show this again in more detail with measurements and how I make all of the parts. Since I will be doing it for my bar fret builds, I will put the process in that thread. Should have the details there by Monday night.

G