Quote:
Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7
Joel’s top bracing pattern actually reminds me of Florida luthier Simon Fay’s top bracing pattern. His back bracing is also derivative of Jeff Traugott’s floating beam ...
Over time, you see many luthiers evolve their approaches across their time at the bench.
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To my knowledge, I was the first guy that used an upper transverse brace with a curve to compensate for the cutaway. It allows me to keep my x-brace where I want it without the upper transverse brace interfering on a cutaway build. My back bracing used to be quite similar to Jeff Traugott's but I've recently gone back to a slightly more traditional approach while still retaining a few differences. I'm pretty sure the floating back brace was his idea but the concept is not really new -- Kasha bracing has a similar but far more extravagant complexity to it.
Joel's top bracing is actually a fair bit different than mine but honestly, anything with an x-brace will bear more similarities than differences. One common denominator for those of us who build with very responsive and light tops is to make sure the bridge forces are appropriately dispersed, especially in the lower bout area. I don't think the placement and design matters all that much but rather how tight or loose you make that area with bracing height and strength. That said, I find Joel's top bracing very aesthetically pleasing and obviously, very well designed.
As the others have mentioned, this is going to be a striking guitar -- Congratulations on the build !!!