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I was told I might want to start a new thread for this. I'm buying a bandsaw so I can mass produce a design of mine with better quality craftsmanship. Some of you are already familiar with my Archangel design but I'm posting a pic for those of you that aren't. So in the meantime I've got a neck and body blank that would love to be mated to each other. And I'll need the leftover scraps for acoustic guitar blocks. So I decided to make a T5 type guitar out of my Archangel design (see pic). Now I know that this is technically an electric guitar but it does have acoustic properties and that's what I want to discuss.

Now the T5 sounds decent enough unplugged but it still sounds like a hollow body. I think this in part due to the bracing. As you can see in the pic of an opened up T5, there's only two braces or sound bars running up and down the sound board. So what I plan to do is gut out my body blank into a ring or clamshell and throw a more acoustically built sound and back board to it with an acoustic bridge and undersaddle pickup . And I'll reinforce the pickup area like pictured though it will be closer to the fretboard that way I still get good action in the upper area.

Now this build is just for fun it's not that serial but I would like to hear some ideas about bracing the top better. Like what would you do. Now the Eparts I'm not worried about. I just want to improve the acoustic qualities. That's why I'm asking here.

This is my AA design.


T5 opened up.

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It really depends upon what sort of acoustic sound you're after.

You could try X bracing or ladder bracing to see what that will do. What you've got doesn't look too bad, maybe a little heavy, but its hard to tell from the photo.

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I would lean toward some type of modified x-brace also. That would allow more free top area below the bridge. I can't really tell from the photo but your bridge might be a little on the big side. If it is I would look to reduce its footprint and that of the bridge plates also. Other than that you might try adding a little more body depth. More volume, more sound.

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Joe Beaver
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Is this an arched top?

No Sir, flat. And I want it to sound more like an acoustic than a hollow body. I ran across Wade Sylvesters "thorus" page here::: http://www.wadefx.com/BenchPage.html
That's pretty much what I want except in my own design. It looks like he did X bracing with latticed(?) X's in the lower bout. I was thinking of X bracing but fan in the lower bout since it will be cut off in the lower bout.

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In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

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Uh,...
Kindly and frankly, most of us here build flat top style acoustic guitars and really have no idea of anything that could be helpful to you. You are on a path that is your own. There is really nothing much that anyone can help you with.
Bracing patterns we use are specific to the dimensions and specifications of acoustic guitars, so you would have to build in that realm for bracing patterns to even make a difference. Looks to me like you are trying to making some sort of 'lectricoustic guitar.
You might contact Wade, he might be able to help you more than any of us could...

In looking at the Thorus guitar .. I fail to see how bracing it like that, with all the rigid back and neck support, is supposed to make it more acoustic sounding. In the best of scenarios, I find that any guitar with an under saddle piezo, all pretty much sound the same. I was at a show where a guy played a Yamaha silent guitar, the 2x4 with strings and a piezo, and it sounded pretty much the same as any other midpriced guitar with a piezo. I think the Thorus is overbraced IMO .. no need to have the UTB, the neck in that thing will never move the way its set. The X looks too big, and with no soundhole, the top is a lot sturdier than you think, just no need for all that bracing .. see if you can find any pix of an Oneida , made by Ithica Guitar works .. no soundhole, almost no bracing. It works great. I am not sure how much acoustic sound you will get from a guitar with no soundhole, and only an inch or two of depth ... there is a reason that Taylor T5s sound the way they do unplugged ....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"