[zombywoof]

This should be an interesting experiment. Birch in my opinion is a vastly underrated wood for backs and rims. Gibson mandolins from the 1910s and 1920s as well as L-5 and L-10 archtops sported birch bodies. It can also be highly figured and nice looking. Birch tops, mostly because of their association with guitars such as Harmony Stellas, have become associated with the cheapest of guitars. These guitars though are also almost universally ladder braced. I have owned dozens of them and still own two. While Schmidt Stellas are be the best of the breed (they have less bracing than most) the all-birch guitars tend to have an almost a hollow echo ring to them. They are certainly an acquired taste.

While I have never had a full conversion done on one of these guitars, I had one 1920s Regal worked on by a former luthier who was a friend. He did not re-brace it but shaved the existing bracing and added popsicle bracing around the soundhole for stability. He then swapped out the floating bridge for a pin bridge and a maple bridge plate and added a rosewood fingerboard. If I recall he wanted to do this as the combination of the slothead and the board would add more mass to the guitar.

When I got it back he warned me not to expect any miracles as there was just so much you are going to get out of a small body all-birch guitar. But the improvement in sound was very noticeable and much improved. I would expect a far more drastic change with a full re-brace.

But you have goosed me a bit. I do have a 1930s Regal-made Oahu with a spruce top and a flame maple body. I might just get in touch with Steve to talk about a re-brace and replacing the floating bridge with a pin bridge.