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Hi

Mu X brace appears slightly short of the outline of the guitar top. Is this a problem?

compare it to your mold. If it fall inside the pattern by less than a 1/4 inch you should be fine. Often the patterns are a touch oversized.
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

There are many that taper that end of the x brace to nothing. I don't but many do.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

It looks like the upper ends are plenty long enough. I tuck the upper ends, but taper the lower ends to nothing. Rotational forces from the bridge are trying to pull the upper legs of the X away from the top. The force is opposite on the lower legs. By tapering the lower legs to nothing close to the linings you'll get a little more open tone. Of course there's lots of other variables too.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

From the looks of your picture, your sides and lining are going to take up most of the space. Just right for not tucking your linings. Don't see any problem.As others said taper your linings to nothing.
Tom

Yup! What Thomas said. You're fine as long as the tip of the brace is securely glued down.

I believe Tom meant "taper your braces to nothing" rather than taper your linings.

And I just don't get the argument that X braces should stop short of the linings. There is no consensus that guitars made that way are better than ones with tucked braces. There is, however, consensus that the un-tucked brace ends are much more vulnerable to popping loose. Any experienced repair person will be happy to share their stories about this common failure. The argument that the forces tend to release the upper legs and not the lower is clearly incorrect -- failures of the upper legs are rare while lower legs come loose frequently. Anything we as builders can do to keep the guitar together (humidity control, good joinery, tucking the ends of the structural braces ...) is a good thing.

Rick: Thanks for picking me up...!! I did mean to say taper the braces. The first day with my new mouth...!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

It's not that the x-brace legs *Should* always be left tucked or un-tucked... The point is that people successfully do it both ways.

If you look at X-brace leg failures at the brace ends -- I bet there is a preponderance of failure happening when brace legs are ended with short tapers from full height or aren't shaved to nothing at the ends... Both of these were commonly seen on Old Gibsons... which were *Famous* for braces coming loose....

Here's my personal opinion -- Lots of folks successfully do it both ways... If you tuck your braces... Great. If you choose not to tuck your braces -- then you better be darn sure that you gradually taper them to nothing *before* they hit the linings.. or you risk them knocking loose when they take a bump...



Thanks

John