About Soundboard Bracing
Sometimes
people ask me what soundboard bracing system I use. They seem
to have the idea that the sound of the guitar depends on the layout of
the soundboard bracing. I want to clarify that it is not so much the
bracing pattern--that is, the general layout of the fan braces--that
matters.
For each bracing system or pattern, there are infinitely many ways to modify the soundboard which can have a big effect on the sound: There is the thickness of the soundboard itself and how it varies from one area to another. Then there are the cross sections of the braces--their shape and dimensions--and how they vary within a single brace and from one brace to another on a soundboard, including how the ends are scalloped and how much of the ends are scalloped.
Many bracing systems can produce great guitars. What matters is how a luthier uses or applies a particular system. I happen to use what is basically the original system developed by Don Antonio de Torres, but I treat each of the factors mentioned above in my own way and depending on the materials at hand and the desired sound.
For each bracing system or pattern, there are infinitely many ways to modify the soundboard which can have a big effect on the sound: There is the thickness of the soundboard itself and how it varies from one area to another. Then there are the cross sections of the braces--their shape and dimensions--and how they vary within a single brace and from one brace to another on a soundboard, including how the ends are scalloped and how much of the ends are scalloped.
Many bracing systems can produce great guitars. What matters is how a luthier uses or applies a particular system. I happen to use what is basically the original system developed by Don Antonio de Torres, but I treat each of the factors mentioned above in my own way and depending on the materials at hand and the desired sound.