Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey, hi.
I've got this build going again.
Long story short, started this build a while ago, and had many problemos with it, so it's been "on the rack" for about a half year.
I am finally working on it again.
Got the back off, old linings were too shallow, (don't ask),
shaved the bridge plate down to 1/8", feathered the braces down to zero at the ends,
and sanded the inside a bit.
What I want is how does this bracing look?
Just curious if it looks too heavy or light.
Looks about right to me.
9'16" tall at the center of x,
and the top is about .110+.
At this point I am just using measurements for the bracing,
as I have no clue how to tune a top,
and I like the excitement of stringing up the "unknown"!

I would prefer to see a bit larger bridge plate to support the front edge of the bridge..
You don't get the bridge wings sitting on the X braces with a standard weiss layout , so I think the bigger bridge plate helps resist collapse in front of the bridge.

This is just one opinion & I've only built three Weiss style guitars, so the "grain of salt" rule applies.
I made my finger braces quite a bit lighter, with a peak about 1/3 the distance from the X brace to the rim, and ramped down both ways from there. Depending on the top stiffness, mine are between 1/4" & 3/8" high at the peak. I feel you can lose a lot by overbracing this area.
The upper arms of the X looks great. You might be able to taper the lower X arms down more, but they look OK to me, as they are.
I had the opportunity to play with a couple of old Weissenborns before I built my first. Both were showing distortion above the soundhole. To counteract this, I put an A frame brace from the soundhole transverse brace right up into the "neck" area. This brace was notched into the second transverse brace.
My first Weiss is five years old now & doesn't show more than a normal amount of top distortion. (A very slight lift below the bridge) Another fifty years should tell the tale.
Like I said... Just one opinion.
P.S. I agree with Jeff about the bridge plate.

Thakns guys. It's already been strung up, and sounds good, but a little too metalic, that's why I thinned the bridge plate and took the bracing down a little.
This is a pic of that one, and the other one I'm building that has a spruce bridge plate and a lignum vitae patch.
Since the back is off, I set up the bridge pins and strings from both sides.
Comes out cleaner on the inside,
and I will do it this way from now on.

What a good idea! It's a long reach through a weiss soundhole and the thin body doesn't make it any easier.
Another one for the notebook. Thanks Alan!

Yes Daniel,
a long, impossible reach I might add.
Maybe I've come up with a new idea that would become a standard!
Ha!!!!!!!!