I have been asked to build "an acoustic guitar that looks like a Gibson ES-175". Specifically, the same size and shape as the Gibson with Florentine cutaway, f-holes, trapeze tailpiece and archtop bridge. As you probably know, the ES-175 is a pressed laminated "arched" top with a fairly heavy ladder brace that is intended to support the pickups. My guitar will not have pickups and I've come up with the following idea for a top.
It is Lutz spruce, thinned to 0.110 and domed in my 15 foot radius dish. The braces are 5/16 and were radiused at 15 ft - the main idea is have a fairly high arch supported by the X. The small bridge patch is also radiused. Even tho he does not intend to plug in, I'm going to install a K&K soundboard transducer on the bridge patch while the box is open.
The two little braces above the crossing of the X are not glued in - we are going to play the guitar in the white and if it sounds truly terrible I can route a cavity for a neck P90 and install those braces thru the pickup hole for the mounting screws.
So, before I go too much further - does anyone have any comments on this. I've told my customer that it is a complete crap shoot and might sound truly terrible - he is willing to go ahead. I'd just like to hear if anyone has any suggestions at this time. One thought is that I might put some little spruce cleats on the center seam below the bridge patch as prevention against splitting.