Ladder Braced Grand Concert, Build #7

[WaddyT]

I thought that was cool too, Dennis. John doesn;'t always comment on guitars he sees at OLF. It's quite a compliment, in my opinion.

[dgimcmillan]

I apologize in advance if I’ve done something bad resurrecting this thread of Joe’s!

I’m still in Mexican “paradise”, so I’m not quite ready to inundate the forum with my 2020 builds.....yet.

But, I have a pending commission to build a ladder-braced 00 ala Stella aesthetics. It will be my first ladder bracing, so of course I went searching through the only reference material I rely on...this forum! And I found Joe’s wonderful build thread from 2008/9, with pictures still in place!

Joe, can you give me a 12 year anniversary update on your ladder braced build? Has the bracing pattern stood the test of time? Would you change anything with the pattern? What about a fixed bridge instead of a floater?

Ian

[Joe Sustaire]

Not a problem Ian, it's nice to go back and check out your old builds. I often have to do that to see what/how I did things since I do tend to change things up.

The top did sink a bit under the floating bridge on this one after a couple of years, but it has been stable since and hasn't sunken anymore. It actually lowered the action just right, ha! And it still plays and sounds fantastic, I just pulled it out and other than needing the strings changed it's good to go. So the sinking top is a visual distraction to me but doesn't appear to have harmed the playability or sound at all.

Studying on it, I think keeping the top a little thicker would have helped and I probably carved the top ladders a bit too low. I haven't had any sinking on the ladder braced guitars I've built since then so I guess my instincts are getting better, ha! I do carve the ladder braces now where they arch over the tone bars instead of notching and touching following suggestions made by Colin and Hanns and I'm liking that, it's a very elegant touch...…. and makes sure the vibrations aren't disturbed which is how they are supposed to work.

And I've built with pin bridges as well and they work fine with this bracing but I'm personally drawn to the vintage vibe/sound/look that the floating bridge gives me. It's just not often seen on a flattop guitar...……

To sum it up, I'm very pleased with the "vintage" tone I'm getting out of these builds, which seems very different than the modern sound coming out of most guitars. They play, feel, and sound like "old" guitars to me...…..

[Steve Kinnaird]

Joe for some reason I'm just now seeing this. So, thanks to Ian for resurrecting the thread. It looks great, and as everyone said, the old-school vibe was nailed perfectly. Didn't see (or hear) any sound clips though...
Unless I missed those too?

Steve

[dgimcmillan]

Thank you very much, Joe!

I’m getting pretty excited about doing a ladder-braced build now, and your thread is pretty darn inspiring!

I’ll watch my top thickness very carefully with the build. Since I’m going to building with a mahogany top, I wonder what my optimum thickness should be? And your point about carving the ladder rungs to let the tone bars float more is something I will try to do.

And Steve, of course, is right on! Please give us some sound clips, Joe! Maybe a little Hellhound on my Trail, or Love in Vain, or even Louie Louie!

Thanks again!

Ian

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks Steve and Ian for the kind comments, and no I have no sound clips. I'm pretty techno challenged, don't even have a smart phone...……...

[dgimcmillan]

Thanks Steve and Ian for the kind comments, and no I have no sound clips. I'm pretty techno challenged, don't even have a smart phone...……...

I’m pretty sure you’re not “totally” techno challenged, Joe. Nobody who builds instruments as nicely as you do isn’t at least semi technically inclined.

But I get it. I’m trying to drop off the computer technology roller coaster now, myself.

When I get home from Mexico, I’m going to re-read this whole thread and use it as a guide point on my ladder builds.

Ian