Probably the best bracing video I've seen, and I've seen a lot

Kevin - this video is absolutely PACKED with valuable information for aspiring and intermediate builders. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with the world. It matters!

Another very informative and inspiring video. I’ve made a number of guitars in the 1980’s and now during my retirement I’m looking to pickup on where I left off. Your approach and philosophy is a breath of fresh air. Thanks very much for the time you have put into making these videos 👍

As a hobby, I have built a number of from scratch electric guitars and do some repairs on both electric and acoustics. Although I have a good sense of the mechanical side of guitars, this was the first time that I have heard a discussion of the tonality of acoustic instruments and how the frequencies are affected by bracing. I really enjoy your videos and they have inspired me to at least considering an acoustic build. Well done, sir.

WORTH WATCHING TWICE AND TAKING SOME NOTES!

Great video Kevin! This was my favorite video of yours so far. You covered a lot of the why in areas I have not heard others go into like the spacing in relation to stiffness. I have not seen anyone talk about adjusting these and they usually just have their template that they stick to. Really insightful. Thank you for sharing

Raelly great to hear those words of encouragement too!! Great stuff. Your approach and attitude towards making has unlocked my creativity and has quieted down the perfectionist in me that will serve me for years. Thanks

This video has explained certain aspects of guitar bracing in better detail and far more clearly than even some paid for courses have. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

So much great information!

Thank you for this video. I've watched a number of videos on this subject, but I learned much more from this, (as in how decisions affect tone), than any of the others.

thank you...learned a lot and your thoughts really "resonate" with me

Loved the advice about the grain direction of the bridge pad. thanks for the videos!

Thanks Kevin. This was very informative. I’m building my 2nd; it’s an OM, and have so much to learn. I’ve learned a lot from your channel.

A great video. I think the mental database is vital, but very hard to achieve for someone like me who makes1 or maybe 2 guitars a year. I don't have the vocabulary to write meaningful notes, or the quality of recording equipment to make meaningful recordings. So every one is an experiment, and I spend a lot of time thinking about the tonal info I get, every time. I do know the sound I am looking for in a top at any given stage in its making, but it isn't through comparison with other ones I have made - I just don't have the specialised memory for that. So vids like this one are very helpful, because I can use them to help me think each time I listen. Thanks a lot.

Kevin, thank you for sharing your experience with us. You’ve given me much to think about. I’m working on my 4th and 5th acoustic guitar right now. I will be considering these things, it’s a lot to think about. Please keep sharing. thank you.

Very nice video! Thank you! I have built one Parker guitar for one of my daughters, and, to keep off the couch, am going to build another. This information will serve me well.

Once more, thank you for the useful information!

Kevin, that is a very informative video, thank you! There's a certain amount of mystery in building and especially tops and bracing. This does't resolve all the mystery, but it does encourage thinking through and suggestions to learn and play and hopefully become very good. And I think every guitar itself is subjective in its sound, but it a big brand, a cheap Chinese or a custom built guitar. And honestly I think that's OK and understandable since they're made from wood and no piece of wood is exactly the same.

Love your videos. Very informative. I’m a woodworker; building many things; including flintlock rifles, stick dulcimers; etc. Now gathering tools, info and such to build my first acoustic guitar. Thank you Kevin and keep up what you do. Take care. 😉

FYI, For those who are interested in calculating areas of odd shapes, a nice trick I learned from canoe paddle makers is to trace the area(s) in question onto a peice of paper or cardboard, cut it out, and then weigh the cut outs on a mg scale.

Kevin, thank you for an excellent video!

I'm not a guitar builder but this was incredibly informative and cleanly lectured. Videos like this help me speak the same language as my luthier as we walk thru each step of my custom orders. Thank you Kevin! Subscribed.

I think this is the "Most Important Top and Bracing Video" I have ever seen. Beside being an outstanding luthier, You have a "gift" for teaching. I recognize it because others tell me I was that way as a carpenter. (Retired). I check every day, (even though I don't expect that), just to see if there is something new you have posted. Your timing is impeccable. Just when I need humor, you are there. When I'm struggling to understand, here comes something to really educate me. I am sure I will watch this many times and have book marked it. I know these videos take time. Thank you so much!

THANKS MAN.!!!! What a hell of a video. More like this!!! There are people like me out here trying to figure all of this out and this is how I need to hear it broken down my man. Appreciate your time!

So much knowledge and encouragement shared there Kevin, many thanks.

Well done! This is the best explanation I've heard so far. I listened to many KZfaq videos about construction and sounding the board and you have explained this in a really simplistic but sensible method. Thank you.

Thank you!

Very informative! Thank you for spending time to explain your experiences. It is very valuable information for an aspiring luthier like myself!

That was a top video mate , great advice and tips . I watch a lot of different luthier videos and I'm always lucky enough to take something new on board . I think your philosophy is correct . Thanks . Peace ✌

Thank you! This is exactly the video I needed to see. Very inspiring and filling me with at least the confidence to crack on and try.

Kevin, Thanks so much for sharing with us your wealth of knowledge. I always say “wisdom not shared is wasted “. It would take me years to learn all of what you have shared in this video. Very well done sir!

This is indeed the most informative video I've found... it explains bracing enough to know what you want to try... and even gives you courage to walk away from the exact Martin design and to even develop a bracing design for whatever type/size guitar you have in your head. If I build a D-18 Style I'll probably go with the standard measurements or close to them however, if the grain is a little wider I know how to stiffen it up a little by brace length and location.. Instead of just thinning down braces more if its tighter grain I'll play with the bracing some.. I'm not above gluing a brace in , tap testing it and thinking, " I don't think a brace is in the best spot" .... and then planning it off and sticking a new one elsewhere to achieve that tone .. That you so much for the encouragement to experiment.... If that's what you were trying to achieve in your video, well you accomplished it with me ..

Hello ! Great Video !! I've been experimenting with moving the sound hole higher up to be able cover the purfling seam with the end of the fretboard on a 1940's Gibson L-00 This flexible test x-Brace works perfect for determining the new x-brace location !!

This is the best explanation of what the bracing and how it’s arranged does to tone. Well done

Really good reminders in this and a lot of new to think about. Thank you.

Great video! Thank you for sharing some of your insight!

Thankyou very much. A very informative video. I've built up certain personal beliefs through observation over the years. I believe that braces, transmit vibrations across the tops grain, as well as mechanically strengthening it. I'm glad that you touched on nodes. I think they are an extremely important element. Yes to do with scalloping. But also to do with a huge number of things, like placement of the braces. Placement of the bridge on the soundboard. Etc Etc. Also a tiny bit off topic. But doing neck angle repairs. Rather than resetting necks. I've started gluing in sort of triangular plates, from scaps of back wood in the area where you place your feather braces. I've noticed that guitars with neck angle issues. are often very slightly sunken there. It only takes a very slight raising to change the neck angle considerably. Once again, thanks so much.

Kevin you are a superb educator. I enjoy all your instruction. Thank you!

Thanks so much. Loved the information. I built a martin dreadnought guitar from blue prints out of pallet wood and oak. Can't believe it worked out but it has encouraged me to try building another

Thanks! Your channel just popped up on my home page. Good advice. I look forward to viewing other videos.

Really inspirational! I am a nubie guitar maker and this video gave me so much confidence to move forward and dig deeper into this fantastic craft!

Kevin new sub here... I have to echo a lot of the other comments, you deserve 451,000 subs not 4.51 for the quality of your channel... this is terrific content.

Great information. I do love your pragmatic approach!!

I'm a player, not a builder, but I found your video to be very educational.Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

by far. the. best. video. about. lutherie. thank you

Very helpful. Thanks!

Bravo! Entertaining, informative and interesting. Well Done.

I'm about to make a top for a Taylor 512. My first, I'm going to reuse the braces in the same pattern but I've gotten a lot from this about top thickness, flexibility and what to listen for when tapping. Thank you.

This is awesome. Really good info and honest thoughts. Really appreciate your videos 👍👍👍

There is no secrets about this. Real common sens is all that needs, as good craftmanship and hands to use the right tools. I my self has used ordinary pine as X bracing on a regular spruce top and it vent well, so common sens is the word.

Really brilliant video for aspiring makers - Great work!!!

Wonderful descriptions of how things alter tone. Thank you. (Current 0 build wannabe luthier)

Thank you , absolutly awesome , so well explained ! 👍👍🤟

Very helpful video. I learned a lot. Thank you.

Well said Kevin! I personally had some Red Spruce top material that was stunning. Most would say master grade. Well, some of it was about as musically tonal as pallet wood. To paraphrase what Kevin was saying though, we all need to sniff a few corks for ourselves. Nothing teaches you how to use a hammer like smacking your thumb a time or three!

Love your work...👍

Awesome video, sir! Very useful info. Thanks for all the informative content!

super interesting👍

Thank you😊

So glad you decided to do this video. HilenI am very science based I am trying to develop my intuition with guitar building and this video helped

Well done

Lol,,, A Lot of My Questions answered from the last Vid. TY !

two thumbs up!! great video

Wow that was fantastic unless I missed it there are a couple of measurements I’d like to pick your brains for. 1/ hole diameter and position 2/ is the intersection of the X in relation to the sound board (say distance from hole) critical or is there some scope to move it back and forth to affect tone. Thanks in advance and you clips are fantastically informative and easy to follow. This subject in particular can appear to the newbie to be some sort of secret magic.

Quite informative. I've been researching to try and build a 13 fret Gibson Nick Lucas copy. I'm almost afraid to actually try it. I think I have my bracing laid out correctly.

I’m new to the channel, what a ton of great info you provide! So I have built a few instruments, never anything as advanced as an acoustic guitar but I’m ready to take the plunge. Trying to get a few specialty tools together. Is it absolutely necessary to radius the top and bottom? Is it possibly to brace a little heavy and leave the top and bottom flat. Steel string acoustic.

Really enjoyed this, Kevin. Like your analog layout tool for X-brace position under the top. It got me to thinking. I'd like to build a traditional dreadnought guitar but with neck/body joint at 16th fret, and with about a 25" scale like my Yamaha. That would put my bridge pretty much right over the X of the usual brace intersection on that size guitar, so there's a couple things to work out there such as clearance for the string holes, and possibly location for a backing plate. I want just a couple more notes of easy fret access at the neck joint on an otherwise standard guitar without resorting to a cutaway, which would preclude the need for a 16th-fret neck joint anyway. Can't see why moving the bridge 1-3/16" to the north and increasing the free playable length of the neck the same amount would be bad structurally, as for size/shape of neck block, or the upper-bout bracing scheme. Not that important sonically at the north end on acoustics beyond just having good fit and joinery. I think I'd just let the internal neck block span into the top cavity of the upper bout if it had to be a little squatter along the center axis anyway. Maybe that extra deadwood on the wings would be a good place to mount electronics. You would just end up with a longer guitar overall with the same scale and it would play easier into the high register an octave up from the chords at the nut. Might sound different with a bridge that far up, might be good. But the extra fret access from 14th to 16th really opens up a lot of music on an acoustic, especially for electric players like me. Thoughts? About pitfalls of 16th-fret guitars basically.

Thanks for the video! I would like to know the reason some guitars have a piece of cloth glued on the centre or junction of the x braces.

Excellent video! I do have some questions though. What wood type is best for bracing? Are all backs braced ladder style? What is the strongest glue long-term for bracing? Thx

Thank you very much for what I believe to be good practical information. This is a great video! Thanks again. LaMar Kemp

Hi Kevin, Fabulous knowledge and teaching skill.! Just getting into making a guitar. I know nothing. I see sound in waves and the sides of the guitar in curves. The only solid straight lines are in the braces. Has anyone tried to curve the braces just for fun??? Just an observation from a newbie. Best Regards,

As a builder of ladder braced guitars with braces that go at 90 degrees to the grain i would have tk disagree with the statement that such a brace shuts off the part behind it. That would effectively mean my guitars would only utilize a 5cm patch in thr middle of the top etween wicb the bridge sits.

Damn! At 13.37 you just nailed my problem. My mic battery died so I guessed at thickness. Too thick lol. Hi ring tone. This will be an interesting fix any ideas. Bracing is in place 😢😮

I love the video but I noticed when you were tap toning the top material that you weren’t as interested in around the 4ish minute mark. One of the problem these days is as cost of materials is getting greater And not everyone has the time or is local to a tonewood supplier to pick out so they’ll most likely buy it online. How do you work with what you’ve been given? One thing I’ve always found amazing is you could be choosing between 2 soundboards both the same spruce there’ll always be a different tap tone. I had a similar experience when I was trying some guitars with the same tone woods and there was some grain pattern differences on the backs They were new guinnie rosewood one had slightly figured grain where as the other had all these weird random blotches and swirls kinda like what you’d see in some pine grains(deffinetly was not the finish) The slightly figured one sounded 10x greater it was almost like playing a completely different guitar

The Martin X brace design is unbeatable. Kasha and all that was insightful but yielded shitty sound. Scalloping is important too, not because it "weakens" the top which I suppose it does but because it increases relative stiffness in some places, giving nodal areas and a bunch of interesting results. Essentially shortening the brace radically stiffens it. To the 3rd power! Doming will really grant stiffness (too much) but not at the radii you mention. It would need to be shorter (more doming). This is a sound killer. Ask me how I know.

I'm so glad you didn't say mental institution 4:40 😂

I guess Mr.Marten had intuition.

As my mental database gets older, the more corrupt those data get. ;-)

You're face is a hobby. Get serious. Thanks for your expertise.