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Anyone out there using this plan ? If so , the bridge plate calls for rosewood 2.5mm I checked my scrap box , and it has , spruce , fir, osage orange abt .80 density and pecan and black locust abt .70- .75 . Can one substitute one of these woods for the rosewoods ?? thanks.

I would suspect the actual material is less important than the spirit of it. Of the woods listed, I would choose Osage....

I built a 14 fret falcate dread from the Tore/Gilet plans. I used some rosewood because I had it but I would not hesitate to use Osage Orange or Locust. I would use whichever is the least dense. IMO a large portion of the strength and stability of the bridge plate in this design is due to the carbon-fiber layer between the plate and the top.

Here's a link to the one I did for the Challenge last year:
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10133&t=37257&start=100

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Steve of the 3 the pecan IMo is the least dense? thanks for the link

With the CF under, I've taken the wood thickness down to 1.5mm without any problems.

You want a hard, stable wood for your bridge plate, so there's quite a choice, most of the rosewoods, hard maple, bloodwood (brosimum rubescens), etc.. I like to make the bridgeplate out of the same species as the back and sides if they are hard enough and you should be able to get it out of the back off-cuts. If nothing else, osage should be fine.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Maybe I'm missing something but if you're going to have carbon fiber in the bridge plate mix, why not have it on the outside (bridge->top->bridge plate->carbon fiber)? It seems like it would make the structure more stiff and provide the best resistance against wear from the ball ends of the strings if it was the outside layer of the sandwich so to speak. Being inside seems like it would add weight without a whole lot of stiffness. Is there a different reason to use CF there?

It works in conjunction with the CF in the bridge itself so that you have an I-beam type structure. If you put the CF on the "outside" (i.e. not sandwiched between the bridge plate and top) there is a risk of it chipping around the ball ends of the string due to its brittleness.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Is the cf in the bridge plate same as braces trev?

Yes, but it's the CF yarn in the braces that is pulled from the woven cloth that I use for the bridge plate and in the bridge. Spec. is here

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Trevor, I have your book as well. Its an excellent book but I find it even more incredible that you take the time to personally answer questions like this

Call it after sales service...

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Thanks trev , just wanted to make doubly sure.