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http://www.rd.com/slideshows/photo-essa ... how=slide2

Anyone notice the diagonal grain on the fan braces?

Can anyone read the label?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Hmmmmm. Interesting indeed! Amazing what some folks get away with.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Either that photo's been altered or that's one strange guitar.
-The fan brace shape is a little strange-very squared and a fair amount of material where they terminate.
-Not only does the grain direction seem odd but it looks like it's drawn in.
-Appears to be six fans, odd. Seven or five are most common.
-The bridge patch looks like rosewood, very strange for a classical.

Good suggestion regarding the picture being altered. Following your suggestion, I have emailed the editor with that question and also requested label information.

My Ramirez has 6 fan braces....

I'm not sure whether or not the pic has been altered but it looks as though it's possible. I will say this however, I have a newer Alvarez Classical that had been dropped in the music store and the top blew apart requiring a re-top. The bracing on the original top looked very much like the bracing in this pic, squared and all. I don't think this is an Alvarez though because their label is usually attached to the back inside the sound-hole.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I think it was a cheap guitar. The artilce mentions that an acoustic bass and this guitar were cut open to take the photos.

Not enough resolution to read the label when I tried. Maybe if someone did some image sharpening?

Anyone recognize the style of the label, perhaps?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Yeah, but I don't believe the Ramirez bracing is symetrical. If I remember correctly, it's laid out like a 7-fan system but has the treble side cut short by a diagonal transverse bar, not leaving room for the 7th fan on that side.

The pic shows a symmetrical 6-fan system. And I'm not saying it hasn't been done, just that it's not at all common.

Also, I didn't really read the text the first time through, just noticed the Berlin Philharmonic was mentioned so I assumed this was a pic of a nice guitar.
After seeing that it mentions that they took the instruments apart to take the photos I'm thinking that it's probably a cheapy in which case all bets are off as far as bracing, grain direction, materials, etc.