Official Luthiers Forum!

As my top is so thin, what would you say to put in a structural brace behind the bridgeplate or in a good place to make sure the top stays safe. I was thinking about this in comparizon to a double x wish have real thin tops ! . if not beneath the bridgeplate, then where would you put it ? "top is already in place as most of you know" OR is it a terrible idea ?

Lars

Sure Lars and good thinking on your part. Mario's magic tone enhancer (PMTE) brace behind your bridge plate would be a good bet IMHO.

Search under "magic tone enhancer" and it will probably lead you to lots of info on it. Mario makes these for his guitars but does not install them until after the guitar is completed and only if it seems to benefit from the added stiffness that results.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Hesh is completely correct, many builders have added a brace after the guitar is completed. And Hesh's answer suggests how you should proceed. String up your instrument and if there are signs of the top not staying put or not behaving, you can always add a brace, for example right behind the bridge plate. Don't panic! Your guitar will probably be just fine as it is.

Having a great guitar to play at the end of the process of making your first instrument is only one of the objectives you should have in making your own. Another objective is to learn from the experience. If you put in extra bracing before you see what the instrument is like now, you will miss the opportunity to learn what it means to make a guitar with the kind of top/thickness/bracing you have right now.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

It is also easy to put a transverse brace between the arms of the X between the bridge and the X crossing. This will keep the top from sinking there.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I would string up 2 opposite strings at a time, wait a while, then string 2 more, not that Ive done it yet, but I have thought about it on my first guitar, as its almost done, but the bracing is too thin most likely...

But you got that German spruce didn't you Lars? Ya, dat kan go a bit thinner anyway if it was real stiff.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I