Quote:
Originally Posted by lpa53
Non-builder question: In displays of commercial makers' tops I've seen x-braces capped but usually done with some sort of cloth-like material and usually in both directions. Why do you choose wood and run it only one way?
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The cloth patch hides a sloppy lap joint, a wood cap is purely structural.
Martin profiles their braces to a bullet shape before they are glued to the sound board. You can not achieve a tight lap joint unless you have rectangular braces at the joint. Since they do not have rectangular braces at the joint, the joint is not tight. See the picture below:
Now look at Todd's lap joints. Tight as a frog's bottom!
And now you know why Martin and pretty much all of the big guitar manufacturers use a cloth patch. Some boutique builders use the cloth patch on their guitars in keeping with tradition, but a cloth patch is not nearly as strong as a wood cap like Todd uses.