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I have a couple guitars in the works back at home. One will have a sitka top and the other is undecided thus far, probably red spruce though. I am about to order bracewood and I am just wondering who recommended suppliers are. I know Shane has Spruce, but isn't that Lutz? Does it really matter? Should Red Spruce bracing be used with Red Spruce sound boards, or can you mix and match? Some people use mahogany? Can anyone recommend a good supplier for Adirondack Red Spruce bracing?

I want my guitars to be harmonically rich, I know that how you brace them is very important to that aspect, but which woods are most harmonically friendly?

thanks

For bracing the top you want to use spruce, and nothing else. IMHO red spruce seems the perfect brace wood simply because it is so stiff and carves easily. Next would be sitka, then European. I've not used Lutz so I do not know. Martin used sitka in the pre-war era.
Personally I've not heard any tonal difference between bracing species. As an experiment, weight your top before and after bracing (when it is carved and cleaned up) and you'll notice that the weight of the braces and bridgeplate is absolutely negligible compared to the weight of the top, especially if it's a dense red spruce top.
You can use Spanish cedar, mahogany, cherry, even maple on the back if you know what you're looking for.
I process my bracewood from wedges I get here in Maine, but I've had good luck with Bob at RCTonewoods in the past. Lastly you want absolutely no runout in your billets, and obviously straight grain.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I get mu bracewood from Shane. Lutz spruce, as Laurent mentioned.

Works great for me!

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Joey, I can send you a piece of both adi and sitka to "test the waters" if you like.