Embrace this question

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I haven't heard of V bracing.

You haven't? That's just Silly

[Rudy4]

I do know in Scotland if you as someone what braces they prefer you may get an entirely different answer.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Knowing what kind of bracing a guitar has prior to playing it is IMHO counterproductive. The fact a major company is hanging it's hat on it is a testament to their well placed faith in their marketing department. I read enough opinion, and watched enough video, and played enough guitars to realize that on every individual guitar, half might like it and half might not.

So you read and read and read, and it seems that a certain consensus has come to the conclusion a certain bracing pattern is superior, so with this consensus you form a bias before you touch an instrument. The overwhelming opinion is that post 2012 Martin D 18s are fabulous. I don't agree. That I may be in a 5 or 10% minority is totally irrelevant. Give me a 65 D 18 any day. The Authentics are very good guitars but I'd still prefer they be dryer sounding.

Marketing is designed to form preconceptions, subliminal or not, so you go in with a bias one way or the other. The prevalence of popular electric guitar players having signature acoustic models is a case study in marketing. Slash? Give me a break.

The only thing that should matter is playing a guitar. The classical world knows this well. You live in an area where all the Mom and Pops have been driven out of business? That's the price you pay, needing to base your opinion on the opinion of others and how effective the marketing has been forming your bias when the only thing that matters is your own experience. That happens to be the scenario less and less likely to be reality. Very sad really.

If you can, go play a Waterloo model that comes both ladder braced and x braced. Do what you can to be oblivious to which is witch. It might be illuminating. If you can't, pick one. You really can't go too far wrong as most guitars today are pretty good.

In the electric guitar world there are rampant video pedal demos. Some of these guys with large followings can get $10k to review a pedal. It will sound great. They play great, and all their other equipment is top notch, and they have a 4x12 cabinet in isolation in their basement so they crank their Marshalls.

It took me decades and some bad purchases to realize I always got plugged into a Blackface Super Reverb in every music store I tried a guitar at. The next guy got plugged into a Marshall. They can size you up when you walk through the door. It was the Super I should have bought LOL. It generally was not for sale.

It really is a lot like the wine business. Yes that raspberry aftertaste has a lot to do with forward scalloped bracing. I like the wine I bought. I liked that Martin I played. I'm quite certain that given a choice of 20 of either, I could find one I liked better.

Great post!

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayer_PR

I love the A Bracing in my Ovation Legend. It has a beautiful warmth without taking brightness.

My 1983 Adamas II had the A-Brace and sounded very balanced and clear with that Adamas crystalline shimmer. I should have kept it!

My 2008 Adamas 2080 NWT had the LX Series Scalloped X and had bass galore along with clear mids and clear but slightly mellow highs. A very loud guitar, too!

[Stomp]

All but three of my acoustic guitars have X bracing, two have ladder bracing and one has fan bracing.

I believe that there are no absolutes, bracing is just one component among many contributing factors and the knowledge of what bracing system is present would not influence me one way or another.
There are way too many variables.

It's the marriage of all components which create a sound which will attract (or "repel") me from a particular guitar.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

So you read and read and read, and it seems that a certain consensus has come to the conclusion a certain bracing pattern is superior, so with this consensus you form a bias before you touch an instrument. The overwhelming opinion is that post 2012 Martin D 18s are fabulous. I don't agree. That I may be in a 5 or 10% minority is totally irrelevant. Give me a 65 D 18 any day. The Authentics are very good guitars but I'd still prefer they be dryer sounding.

I agree with you here. There is a certain bias. I find myself opposite of you. I bought into the Pre*War Guitars hype and found myself in possession of a Model D. I found it way TOO dry sounding. It ended up going back for other reasons but then I got my hands on what is essentially a D18 Authentic 37 with a Martin Outlaw 17 which sounds so much richer than the super dry sound of the Pre*War and I was in love. Goes to show you really have to play and listen to what you're playing to find what works for you and your style instead of taking other's opinions.

[pegleghowell]

I love ladder braced instruments but not more than x braced.Horses for courses.

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayer_PR

Is there any kind of bracing that you love more than the X bracing or the V bracing?

A variation of an "X-Brace" design is Larrivee's 40 Series "Scalloped Parabolic Hybrid" bracing system. My 000-40 has the bass and balance of a dread.

https://www.larrivee.com/news/2015/t...itional-series

When Tommy Emmanuel is asked "What guitar should I buy?"
He responds "The one that makes you happy."

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Matts67

But ask yourself this - if you turn your A-braced guitar upside down, does that make it V-braced?

Almost!!!!

[rmp]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

While many are far too obsessed with bracing.

I don't care what bracing is in a guitar. I don't play the bracing and I don't buy the bracing. I play and buy a guitar. The guitar is the sum of its parts and how those parts are integrated.

Buying a guitar based on its bracing pattern is like buying a car based on its arrangement of pistons.

true! Very true..

however,... I bougth a V Class taylor a few months ago.. It's freakin amazing.... I have two other taylors, that are not v class and a J200 also owned a 314CE for about 15 years before selling it)

IMHO--- Game changer!

[raysachs]

I've honestly never really thought about bracing. I've recently come to understand the difference between scalloped bracing and non-scalloped bracing and I understand the theoretical difference between the two. As far as different bracing patterns, I don't have a clue. Of my two favorite acoustic guitars I've owned over 40 years, I understand that one had non-scalloped and the one I have now is scalloped. I bought the guitars because of how the sounded and played and only learned that little detail later. As for X bracing, ladder bracing, forward shifted bracing, etc, etc, etc, these are just terms I see here and elsewhere but I really don't have a clue what they mean or how they affect tone. If I like how something sounds, I guess I like the bracing well enough.

Jeez, for that matter, I only really learned the general tonal differences between rosewood and mahogany in the past few years since I've been playing a lot again (after a long layoff). I had a BRW D28 for 25 years and it sounded sublime. Now I have an Adi over Hog CEO-7 and it sounds incredible to me now. My taste seems to have changed, but when I loved my D-28, I'm not sure I'd even played anything with mahogany in it to know the difference. Now, when I play mahogany and rosewood back to back I prefer mahogany almost every time. Now sure if my tastes have changed or if maybe I'd have liked a D18 back in the day as much or more than the D28. But I loved the D28, so I'm not gonna second guess it.

Bottom line, I don't know that much about this stuff. I know what feels right to me - a V neck of some sort is what my hand likes best and I prefer a nut of 1.75" and string spacing of at least 2 1/4". Dreads are too big now and I like a guitar that fits me such that my right hand naturally falls just slightly in front of the bridge, so I can move forward to affect the tone, but not have to move back far at all to get my palm to the bridge for palm-muting or to anchor my hand for some fingerpicking maneuvers. Beyond that, if it hits my ear as fairly warm, not too bright, I'm happy.

-Ray

[Goodallboy]

I don’t love bracing, I love the sound of fine guitars. I have a guitar I absolutely love that has no bracing.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

My 1983 Adamas II had the A-Brace and sounded very balanced and clear with that Adamas crystalline shimmer. I should have kept it!

My 2008 Adamas 2080 NWT had the LX Series Scalloped X and had bass galore along with clear mids and clear but slightly mellow highs. A very loud guitar, too!

Are you sure the Adamas bracing is an A-bracing or the Quintad bracing?They'rekind of alike, except for the fact that the Quintad (which helps deliver the Adamas tone we know) has braces that go from top to bottom of the top, unlike the A bracing, which effectually begins right after the soundhole

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Knowing what kind of bracing a guitar has prior to playing it is IMHO counterproductive. The fact a major company is hanging it's hat on it is a testament to their well placed faith in their marketing department. I read enough opinion, and watched enough video, and played enough guitars to realize that on every individual guitar, half might like it and half might not.

So you read and read and read, and it seems that a certain consensus has come to the conclusion a certain bracing pattern is superior, so with this consensus you form a bias before you touch an instrument. The overwhelming opinion is that post 2012 Martin D 18s are fabulous. I don't agree. That I may be in a 5 or 10% minority is totally irrelevant. Give me a 65 D 18 any day. The Authentics are very good guitars but I'd still prefer they be dryer sounding.

Marketing is designed to form preconceptions, subliminal or not, so you go in with a bias one way or the other. The prevalence of popular electric guitar players having signature acoustic models is a case study in marketing. Slash? Give me a break.

The only thing that should matter is playing a guitar. The classical world knows this well. You live in an area where all the Mom and Pops have been driven out of business? That's the price you pay, needing to base your opinion on the opinion of others and how effective the marketing has been forming your bias when the only thing that matters is your own experience. That happens to be the scenario less and less likely to be reality. Very sad really.

If you can, go play a Waterloo model that comes both ladder braced and x braced. Do what you can to be oblivious to which is witch. It might be illuminating. If you can't, pick one. You really can't go too far wrong as most guitars today are pretty good.

In the electric guitar world there are rampant video pedal demos. Some of these guys with large followings can get $10k to review a pedal. It will sound great. They play great, and all their other equipment is top notch, and they have a 4x12 cabinet in isolation in their basement so they crank their Marshalls.

It took me decades and some bad purchases to realize I always got plugged into a Blackface Super Reverb in every music store I tried a guitar at. The next guy got plugged into a Marshall. They can size you up when you walk through the door. It was the Super I should have bought LOL. It generally was not for sale.

It really is a lot like the wine business. Yes that raspberry aftertaste has a lot to do with forward scalloped bracing. I like the wine I bought. I liked that Martin I played. I'm quite certain that given a choice of 20 of either, I could find one I liked better.

You were far more eloquent in expressing this than I.

Bracing, string spacing, and string tension fall into categories I’m not the least concerned with. Every guitar player I’ve played with over my 40+ year playing career has had they same opinion on those issues.

I embrace things that matter to me, and that is the sound coming from the sound hole and the feel of the guitar in my hands. If I had ran this checklist of things that have to be correct for me to be interested, I wouldn’t have been able to have formed a clear perception of the tone I prefer because I would have eliminated 2/3 of the hundreds of guitars I’ve auditioned over these past 4 decades.

I see new players falling into this focus on minutia and it concerns me.

[capefisherman]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

Falcate bracing is kind of cool. Not sure I like it more but it's interesting to look at.

https://www.portlandguitar.com/blogs...racing-science

Ha! So THAT'S where Taylor got the idea! ;~)