Martin OM bracing

[Bearclaw Spruce]

Can anyone shed some light on this? I know there are 1/4" braces and 5/16" braces. The OM-28 on Martin's website has 1/4" bracing. Are there examples of 5/16" bracing on OMs?

Secondly, when there is V style scalloping and GE style scalloping, is it arguably better to use 5/16" bracing on the GE OMs since they are scalloped a bit more than the V series?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Bearclaw Spruce

...Are there examples of 5/16" bracing on OMs?...

All of the originals and a few modern examples, including the OM-18A. No one is quite sure why they used 1/4" bracing on the first modern OM's.

Until the D-35 in 1965, nothing bigger than a 00 had 1/4" bracing.

Originally Posted by Bearclaw Spruce

Secondly, when there is V style scalloping and GE style scalloping, is it arguably better to use 5/16" bracing on the GE OMs since they are scalloped a bit more than the V series?

Hard to answer that question since the tonal outcome will be different, not necessarily better or worse. I do think the Vintage Series bracing is a good match for the average Sitka top, where the GE Series bracing works well with red spruce tops.

[Bearclaw Spruce]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

All of the originals and a few modern examples, including the OM-18A. No one is quite sure why they used 1/4" bracing on the first modern OM's.

Until the D-35 in 1965, nothing bigger than a 00 had 1/4" bracing.

Hard to answer that question since the tonal outcome will be different, not necessarily better or worse. I do think the Vintage Series bracing is a good match for the average Sitka top, where the GE Series bracing works well with red spruce tops.

Thanks Todd, I posted something similar over at UMGF and someone replied that 1/4" will generally be bassier than 5/16", so it's interesting to hear that the OM-18A uses 5/16" bracing - the scalloping must be extreme.

[Jeff Scott]

My custom OM 18 has 1/4" scalloped Adi bracing; all I have to say is.....Great Choice!

[Bearclaw Spruce]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

My custom OM 18 has 1/4" scalloped Adi bracing; all I have to say is.....Great Choice!

Same here... But I do wonder sometimes how different it would sound had I gone for GE style bracing (not known to me that it was an option - the Martin Custom Builder does not ask nor did my dealer). I only knew about Adi being an option because I knew it was available for Taylors, but it was only on enquiry. Had I not asked, I would not have known that I could have used Adi. Martin really ought to list all their options instead of only some, I would have added a lot more (such as thinner finish and thinner top).