Dale, loose braces can cause a number of different noises: they can buzz, they can rattle and sometimes if you strum the guitar hard enough they can make it sound as though you’re playing the instrument through a fuzztone.
Seriously. I’ve had a brace pull loose and give me a “BRAAAAAP” kind of sound.
Which can be kind of cool on the right songs....
Sometimes braces can loosen in the middle, not at their ends, and it can be really hard to detect. Sometimes the braces will detach along one side and not the other, and - again - that can be quite difficult to see.
There have been three or four occasions when I’ve had braces come loose on guitars, and each of them have presented just a little bit differently. Perhaps the noises they’ve made have sounded different because the braces have come loose in different spots along their lengths.
The good news is that it’s usually an inexpensive repair to have done, and the other piece of good news is that every time I’ve had braces reglued they’ve never, ever troubled me again. So the chances are that if this is a bracing problem and you get it repaired, you’ll never have to deal with the same problem again.
At least not on that one brace, anyway!
So the best advice that I can give you is to make that hour drive to the luthier and have the guitar assessed by him.
Hope this helps.
Wade Hampton Miller
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