As regular readers may know I recently embarked on a mission to build the nearest thing I could get to a Martin D-18, using the company’s official ‘Mahogany Dreadnought’ kit. As this kit is not quite a bolt-together affair but requires some moderately serious luthiery skills to assemble properly, I enlisted the aid of Bristol guitar maker Alex Bishop, whose tools and seasoned judgment would help my greenhorn guitar-making skills meet the mark.
In the first installment of this feature, published a few issues back, Alex and I laid the foundations of the instrument, joining the two halves of the back together after learning how to sharpen our tools properly – an important aspect of building guitars correctly. With the backset aside to dry, we turned our attention to the braces.
As mentioned, Martin supplies the kit with all the braces for the top pre-cut roughly to shape. For the uninitiated, braces are reinforcing struts of spruce that prevent the wood of the guitar top being ripped apart by the tension exerted by the strings when tuned to pitch, which equates to 75kg of pull for a standard set of 0.012s – quite a load for a flimsy sheet of spruce to stand up to for years on end. For reference, a hefty Fender Twin only weighs 29kg. So it’s important for those reinforcing braces to impart sufficient strength to the top to prevent it from warping or breaking apart. However, the devil is in the detail (as always), because the braces must also be slender enough to permit the top to resonate freely. It’s this balance between strength and resonance that defines the voice of the guitar. What’s more, the kind of playing you do will also influence how robust the bracing needs to be. It’s a good job Alex is an old hand at this because his judgment will help me judge how to tailor the bracing for the best balance of sound and strength.
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Guitarist.
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Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Guitarist.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Sonic Shaper
Electro-Harmonix revisits the effect that launched the company with the LPB-3 Linear Power Booster and EQ
Platinum Blonde
PRS has updated its Texas-voiced David Grissom signature amp with more features, lower wattage and a more approachable price tag
TAN LINES
Many of us regard straps as a bit of an afterthought, but to find one that matches the quality of a custom or vintage guitar, Rod Boyes of Pinegrove Leather can help
ELECTRIC STRINGS
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DIFFERENT WINDS
While there's no end to repros of all the classic pickup styles, more and more pickup makers are mixing things up to move forward - Cream T is a good example
Long termers
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Top Guns
Chapman's new factory move coincides with a bit of a rethink. We track down the key players all around the world
the Wishlist
Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for...
Reach For The Star
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HIGH FLYER
Adrian Thorpe of ThorpyFX remembers the flight path - and turbulence behind Chris Buck's Electric Lightning overdrive/boost, named after a fighter jet and packing a bona fide valve
