1st acoustic build - Doyle Dykes video added 3/15/24

[John Osthoff]

Nice Job especially on your first effort. Congrats. I may have missed this in the thread, but do you have others in the works?

[difalkner]

Originally Posted by John Osthoff

Nice Job especially on your first effort. Congrats. I may have missed this in the thread, but do you have others in the works?

Thanks, John! Yes sir, I started #2 a few years ago but have been doing work for everyone else since then. I have three projects to complete and then I'll get back to building the second one.

The second one will be very simple and likely what I should have started with - no cutaway, sound port, or arm bevel. But it'll be the same body style. I have the sides bent and ready for the top and back so it's not like I have to start from scratch. And I already have the top and back ready to begin bracing.

[difalkner]

I had the honor getting to hear Doyle Dykes play my first guitar this week; gotta' say it was pretty cool. I may never play it again, though! LOL!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Like my brother said, the old, and some new I might add, lute makers used flat sawn braces. I have done some informal testing and sure enough, the flat sawn braces win the stiffness test every time. They are harder to carve than the well quartered braces. This shows the pervasive hold that guitar myths can have over data from tested results. So your flatsawn braces are probably superior.

I'm not so sure informal tests will prove to be a reliable myth buster.
When I do my informal tests flatsawn and quartersawn come out pretty much the same. I tested 1/4" sticks from my brace stock so I could just turn the stick a quarter turn and then retested them. That way I was testing the same piece of wood.
I recorded the deflection and added the two quartered sides together and the flat sides together before comparing the flat total to the quarter total.

An interesting note from this was the difference in deflection comparing one flat side to the other flat side and one quarter to the other on the same piece of each stick of wood was far greater than the difference between the flat and quarter measured differences.

With all that said there are other reasons why the braces should be quartersawn. One would be the flatsawn brace ends will split up easier than quartered.
Another reason is vibration travels faster in the hard grain. Not a little faster but a lot faster. Quartered braces maintain the continuity of that harder grain down the full length of the brace.

Sorry about getting in the weeds here but sometimes the myth is new ways are better than proven old ones.

Mark

[difalkner]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Sorry about getting in the weeds here but sometimes the myth is new ways are better than proven old ones.

Mark

Doyle liked it. He didn't ask which way the braces were turned.

[difalkner]

I decided to upload the short video of Doyle playing my guitar. For now, this video is unlisted meaning you'll need the link to see it; it won't show up on my channel page though I may change that later to make it public.

[dcn]

Thanks for posting. Doyle Dykes is amazing, I remember excitedly buying his tab book and being... very, very, humbled. The musicality of it all makes it seem easier than it actually is.

[difalkner]

Originally Posted by dcn

Thanks for posting. Doyle Dykes is amazing, I remember excitedly buying his tab book and being... very, very, humbled. The musicality of it all makes it seem easier than it actually is.

Doyle is definitely an incredible guitar player and genuinely a nice guy. This is the third time I've seen him live in a small group setting but the first time I've spent any time talking to him and getting to visit.

He told me after the concert that he truly enjoyed playing my guitar; he didn't have to do that, yet he did.