Martin Guitars - Forward, back shifted braces

[Silly Moustache]

Maybe I'm the only one but I've always been confused about "normal, forward and rear" shifted bracing options on Martins and probably other brands.

There has been some heated discussion ... elsewhere ... about something that John Greven wrote some time ago about the modifications that Martin has made to the designs of , mainly Dreadnought guitars.

JG's argument was that Martins changes were only ever to reduce warranty claims and never about tone. I'll not argue that.

Bearing in mind that the 14 fret , or Mark II dreadnought was essentially a new design in 1934 and built originally with scalloped, lightly braced hard Adirondack tops and that over the years changed to sitka tops and increased the height and solidity of the braces.

Firstly there was the original design.
Then , because of heavy strings used by bluegrass players, bridges were being pulled up and the belly bump occurred.

To reduce this occurrence, they "rear shifted", the braces to strengthen the most resonant part of the top.

Once they switched to Sitka with heavy un-scalloped braces they could move the x bracing back closer to the soundhole.

This is Martins explanation for this :



I have no issues with this - I just found in interesting to have this business about forward/rear medium ,whatever bracing explained.

Was it just me who was confusled?

[archerscreek]

There are a lot of people confused and/or misinformed about Martin guitars, especially the dreads. I have read countless posts about the D-28 as if it were built to the same specs it always was, ignoring the HD-28's presence. At first I tried to inform others as I would have appreciated access to correct information in my past. I don't bother with it anymore. Haha. It takes too much time. Eventually I imagine (reimagine?) they'll get there.

The interesting part is to think about how the pursuit of a more durably constructed guitar shaped what some people, including me, now think of as "THE" acoustic tone to be sought. I like what is now considered standard position for the X bracing vs the forward shifted bracing, especially when the bracing is scalloped. I have not yet played the new D-28 with its combo of forward shifted nonscalloped bracing. But all in all I'm thankfull all those bridges were lifting way back when because I have a guitar I love and enjoy and can dig in and attack.

[bufflehead]

It depends on the wood, in my book. Standard shifted X brace is perfect for a spruce top. I prefer forward shifting, however, for a cedar top.

[Mr. Jelly]

For me the highs, lows and sustain are different between the different Martin braces. And that is all that is important at this point. I am not sure if the evolution matters. It's another never ending discussion between Martin guitar experts.

[Shades of Blue]

If I'm not mistaken though, I believe that the heavy gauge strings being used back in the day were REALLY heavy and much higher gauges than we'd use today. I struggled for years to understand why Martin never reverted the D-28 back to scalloped bracing once more modern PA systems and pickups were introduced. This magical guitar is considered the standard, but yet it was originally scalloped. Doesn't make sense, right?

So, you've got this coveted "prewar" Martin sound that is changed over warranty concerns in the 1930s/40s. Then the straight braced D-28 comes out that we know today and remains relatively unchanged for many, many years. Now, the craze has reverted back to the coveted "prewar" sound and yet, the D-28 is still stuck in the past.

I never understood it until now. The straight braced sound IS what became the standard. Scalloping is special in its own right, but people across the world and over time grew to love the straight braced sound.

I just purchased a D-28 and chose it over the new HD-28. I understand why the straight braced sound is loved, even though the HD sounds amazing as well.

The Martin sound to me is the straight braced D-28 sound, and it is because it remained this way for, what, 60+ odd years?

[Misifus]

For me, it’s a situation where I simply play it. If I like the sound - volume, sustain, tone, etc, I may buy it. If not, move on to another.