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I'm about to embark on my first Bluegrass Dreadnought guitar build, and I was wondering, how can I make my guitar sound like the Holy Grails of the Bluegrass guitar world? (which for me are Martin D-18s, Collings guitars, and Santacruz guitars) What makes these guitars sound like bluegrass guitars?! The bracing? The soundboard radius? The precision of construction? What could it be?


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Not in any order:

Good quality materials
Design appropriate for the goal
Good execution of the design

Is this your first guitar build? If so, I recommend the following:

1. Build a Stew-Mac dreadnought kit. It has the design you are looking for and they provide good quality materials.

2. Don't get fancy the first time out. Stick to the plans. First timers these days sometimes like to mix and match different building tips they learn from different sources. That can work out great, or it can result in mistakes. You are better off following one set of instructions the first time out, just to be safe.

3. Even if you are building a kit, you should read the Cumpiano book. Even though it is decades old, I still find it to be a great source of basic building knowledge.

4. Get comfortable with the fact that your first guitar is not going to be a masterpiece. It may turn out to be a great guitar, but it might only turn out to be a good, functioning guitar. Be happy with the latter, and you will be giddy if the former occurs.

Now, focusing on the finer points of your question:

I think the list I gave at the beginning is key. If you want a dreadnought Bluegrass guitar, you should build to that design. Other body shapes and scale lengths will be a lot harder to coax into making the sound you want. Use good wood. It doesn't have to be great wood; good wood will do fine. If you want to splurge, splurge on the top. It is the piece of wood that has the largest impact on tone. Do good work. Make your joints fit well; make the various parts the sizes dictated by the design.

Beyond those points, I don't think beginners should torture themselves over some "secret ingredient" that turns a normal dreadnought into a cannon. The very experienced builders have opinions on this, and they vary. Just build to the specific design until you have enough personal experience to make up your own mind.

Personally, I jumped straight into building from scratch (no kit first), and my goal was not as specific as yours. I just want the guitars I build (whatever style) to sound balanced, play well, have good intonation, and be great functioning instruments. The tone that results is not something over which I have full control. Not yet, anyway.

Good luck with the build!

Right now I attempt to build pre-war style Martin & Gibson's. I do use adjustable trussrods. I have several of John Arnolds very accurate tracings and its working. I see some very strange attempts at scalloped bracing, The TUMF has several large threads with hundreds of pics of vintage Martin bracing. If you can get that right you will have your sound. Good Luck

"I'm about to embark on my first Bluegrass Dreadnought guitar build, and I was wondering, how can I make my guitar sound like the Holy Grails of the Bluegrass guitar world? (which for me are Martin D-18s, Collings guitars, and Santacruz guitars) What makes these guitars sound like bluegrass guitars?! The bracing? The soundboard radius? The precision of construction? What could it be? "

For the "Holy Grail" sound you need to build at least a hundred Dreadnaughts, and pick the best sounding one. And also learn to play blue grass like the best blue grass players do so you can get the most out of it.
To make a nice sounding dreadnaught guitar, start with a good plan, follow it , and use the same woods as the guitars you admire use. It will get you close. There is a lot of good information on the forums, but don't let it bog you down and confuse you. And always take it with a grain of "salt".

Respectfully -- I think Clay hit the nail -- lower that bar for first build. KMG, Bluescreek and Stew Mac offer high quality kits that get great reviews relative to sound quality, but each one will have its own personality.

Planning a build to have an exact audio signature is a tall maybe impossible order -- might be best to just test and buy off the rack.

_________________
Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

What's the fun of buying off the rack:)

I guess you guys are right, building a dread isn't like building the classical and parlour guitars that I usually build. And I guess to really get the sound, I would really have to het lucky on my tone wood selection. Thanks a bunch everyone!

"What's the fun of buying off the rack:) "

I agree with you! That's a good reason to build rather than buy.

"I guess you guys are right, building a dread isn't like building the classical and parlour guitars that I usually build. And I guess to really get the sound, I would really have to het lucky on my tone wood selection. Thanks a bunch everyone!"

Actually, building a dread is like building a classical or parlor guitar. Just as tone wood selection is a factor, but not the most important factor in building a fine classical or parlor guitar, the wood will only take you so far in building a bluegrass guitar. If you have built many guitars you know that all the factors you mentioned in your first post work toward the goal, but none of them by themselves can make all the difference. If you have the basics down you can find a lot of good information on the forum to fine tune your choices.

P.S. - Don't get P.O.ed if you ask a naive question and get the answer a novice would get. I learn something new here everyday from a group of people who freely share their knowledge. And also - Welcome to the forum.

I think there are three things you could do that would help you accomplish your goal of building a guitar that has the bluegrass sound you're looking for.

1) Forward X-brace.
2) Torrefied Sitka spruce top and braces.
3) Careful construction.

For #1, see: http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Learn_About_Building_Instruments_and_Kits/Banjo_Killer_The_scoop_on_forward_X_bracing_for_greater_guitar_volume_.html

I've built two guitars with the forward x-brace pattern seen on that page and I'm very pleased with how they both sound. The first used Stewmac's master-grade bearclaw Sitka spruce and the second used Stewmac's torrefied Sikta spruce for the top and braces.

For #2, see:
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Bodies_and_Necks_and_Wood/Acoustic_Guitar_Wood/Torrefied_Sitka_Spruce_Soundboard_for_Dreadnought_Guitar.html
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Bodies_and_Necks_and_Wood/Acoustic_Guitar_Wood/Torrefied_Uncarved_Guitar_Braces.html

For #3, you could just do as others suggested and buy a Stewmac kit, which already has a lot of the work done for you. I just looked and they offer kits with torrefied tops. See:

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Instrument_Kits/Acoustic_Guitar_Kits/StewMac_Dreadnought_Acoustic_Guitar_Kit.html

Try and find a Luthier to show your work to as you progress with the build as most people tend to way over build for their first couple of builds.

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"Try and find a Luthier to show your work to as you progress with the build as most people tend to way over build for their first couple of builds."

However, you do want a top that is a bit thicker than what a classical or parlor would have. Too thin a top can cost you some "headroom".

I just built my first dred. It was my 50th acoustic guitar but my first dred. I was not going for Boom Chucka blue grass per se. I used tapered braces with a forward X Honduras mahogany back and sides with a redwood top. It's a fantastic sounding guitar non the less. I guess my point is I think if you follow a plan you may not get exactly what you want but you will get something good.

It's a matter of balance, not the thinness of the top, IMO!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Waddy,
How do you balance a thin top on a dreadnought to get back the "headroom" that is desirable in a blue grass instrument? (honest question)
I have built a couple of dreads with thinner tops, and though nice for finger style they are not the best for bluegrass. Had I left the tops thicker I think they would have turned out better.