It is time for another update!
First of all, here is a pic of the finished rosette. The soundhole itself is bound with a thin ebony veneer. I also added a turquoise inlay to the back to tie it all together.
Side construction:
The construction of the sides I use is very rigid for quite a while now. I want the sides to work like the ones on a drum, so the loss of energy will get reduced and the two plates can work more efficient. To realize that I've used double laminated sides in the past with mahogany kerfings to support the top and back. As most people don't like heavy guitars I tried to reduce the weight on them. Around a year ago I started to use a triple laminate technique. To keep the stiffness up but reduce the weight, I used Paulownia for the middle layer. That works pretty good, but bending a 3mm piece of Paulownia is a bit of a pain.
For this current build I used Balsa wood for the first time. It bends way better than the Paulownia and is even lighter. Though you have to be careful to laminate it. Too much preassure and you will compress it. So I've used a vacuum bag to laminate it and it worked just right.
Bracing:
All of my guitars are build with an active back to achieve a warm and colorful tone. I've experimented with different back bracings but the one I have the best control over my backs is a usual ladder brcing. So I used my standard ladder bracing with three braces on this guitar as well.
But the top bracing on this guitar is different than what I usually use.
During my studies at university I started to experiment with falcate top bracing, invented by Trevor Gore and described in his two piece book. I got good results with it. I especially liked the more mellow but still clear sound of the mids and trebles but the bass was always lacking and they've never been as responsive as I wanted them to be. So I stopped using that bracing pattern for a while.
Now that I have some experience with the voicing method of Somogyi style guitars I thought that I should combine my knowledge of it with the pattern of the falcate bracing.
My top construction is different than the one Trevor Gore uses. As his tops are pretty thick for that bracing style, mine is a bit thinner. He uses carbon fibre to reinforce his bracing, I don't. The reason why I don't want to use it is simple, I want to control what the top is doing with removing wood from the braces. If the braces are getting their stiffness with the carbon fibre after I can carve them, I loose my control. To be allowed to keep up my usual voicing method but still keep the stiffness, I increased the height of the braces. It worked really good and the top has a very responsive tap tone.
Here is a picture of the bracing pattern. I will post more updates soon.
