Another Side-Splitting Question

[George Roberts]

This is the same C. Bruno.  I'm beginning to wonder if this guitar was used as a theatrical prop.  The multiple repairs seem to have been performed only for crude cosmetic appearance rather than for function.

The upper bass bout is the only one without a split.  The upper treble bout has only one split, and both lower bouts have 2 splits.  There are 2 side braces on each side, 2 1/2 inches above and below the waist.  They did their job.  There are no splits in the waist.

The side braces are rounded and extend all the way to the top and the back.  Hopefully, this will show up in the picture.  The yellow is a card I had to place to keep my camera from focusing on the back of the guitar.  The kerfing is made up of single pieces, and is formed over the side brace.

I was thinking that I would add 4 more braces to each side.  It also needs some support in the corners of the neck and tail blocks.

My question is, should I remove some of the kerfing and extend the braces to the top and back, like the original ones?  Or should I just run them to the edges of the kerfing?

Thanks, George

[Ned Knepp]

George, 

I don't know and didn't go check but I seem to remember that you are interested in keeping it as original as possible. That said, my personal opinion is that you should probably leave the the existing kerfing alone unless i't's already needing to be replaced but I agree that you need to add some more side braces. If you feel that they need to fit from top to bottom, you can cut them to taper into the kerfing on each end or you can cut them to fit between. If it were mine, I would probably shoot for something in between by shaping braces to match the existing braces dimensions, then taper the ends to fit part way up/down the kerfing. It would give you a look like they transitioned from above to under the kerfing and give you some attachment directly to the kerfing which is, by default helping to keep the rosewood from splitting along it length.

[George Roberts]

Ned,

Thanks for the help.  That actually is a nice middle road between the 2 options I had considered.  I wonder, though, if it might not be harder to get a decent fit.

As far as originality, I would like to keep it as close as I can, but its already pretty much past the point.

[Ned Knepp]

I have to admit that I've never fit side braces with this shape before. They are much wider than anything I've had to replace or fit where there was no reinforcement but I don't think that fitting the ends should be too difficult if you make them so that they only extend onto the ramp portion of the kerfing. Using a sharp chisel and some sand paper to fine tune, you can cut the ends to a taper which would give you a rounded end on the brace. I do think they are wide enough that you might need to do some fitting to the glue surface on the braces that may fall in tighter curves. I usually use a piece of sand paper on a flat surface and sand the edges of the brace until I have a fit to the curve. Just take your time.

Of course, you can always abandon the original design and make some that is easier to fit.  I'm really not a fan of the "Martin" method of fitting strips of linen ( I think) in place of wooden braces but I think's it's better than nothing and it is faster and easier. I also think that I may be in the minority in not liking that method. My aversion has more to do with my perception that I've seen a lot of them falling off but they probably work just fine as long as they stick.

BTW, When I glue thing to Rosewood, I like to clean the area with a solvent and let it dry before I glue anything into place.   

 

[George Roberts]

Ned,

Thanks again for all your helpful advice.  I have used wood for the side braces on the guitars that I have made (even when they were copies of early Martins.)  This repair side of things gets a lot more complicated than building from scratch.  I have some very dense mahogany to use to duplicate the braces.  I think I will try to ease off one or two of the kerf pieces, and see how that goes.  I still have to get all the side splits together first.