Guitar Brace: Contributive Part of Guitar

Guitar Brace: Contributive Part of Guitar

Guitar brace is the part inside the guitar body to contribute to the sustainability of the structure and attraction of sound.

We all note that tonewood greatly affects the durability and tone performance of guitar. The bracing contributes to the reinforcement of top and side. Besides, affects the tone, sustain, projection of the instrument. All of them are seriously important factors when evaluate the quality of a guitar.

There are types of guitar brace. We will go through one by one. But firstly, it is better for all of us to figure out the exact purpose of the brace more specifically.

Purpose of Guitar Brace

As mentioned before, brace reinforces the sustainability of the structure and attraction of sound. Thus, there are two purposes of the acoustic guitar brace: strong structure and unique sound.

Guitars are instruments need to be passionately played. But we all know that the top of the guitar is a thin wood sheet, thus,we can imagine that how easy for the top to bend and crack,etc. Thus, the first purpose of the acosutic guitar bracing is to ensure that the top wood of the instrument is strong enough for constant playing. This is where the bracing coming from.

Generally, the bracing is divided into two categories: main braces and lateral/other braces. The main brace is the part to reinforce the top. These main braces are usually bigger and others are smaller.

Smaller braces/bars mainly contribute to the tonal performance. These usually include tone bars and treble braces. Commonly, tone bars are much longer and embeded at the rear of the guitar. The bars help to bring out the lower tonal resonance and strengthen the sonic impact of the top tonewood. Treble bars are usually shorter. The main function is to strengthen the points where the top meets the sides and enhance higher frequencies.

The designation of guitar brace should consider how hard playing that the guitar will bear and knowing the functions of each type of bracing is essential.

X Acoustic Guitar Brace

The X acosutic guitar brace was invented by Martin in the 19^th century. The structure is still popular and we freuently meet this requirement.

May be because this is an easy solution for many manufacturers.  But the main reason is that the pattern can support a large portion of the guitar.  And the remaining spaces between the braces allows to customize tone and treble bar configurations. And this structure is easy to craft for special desired tone.

Especially, X-brace is frequently found on 12-string guitar models.  Mainly because this pattern can greatly protect the top from possible damage.

Since the tonal distribution is even, X guitar brace greatly contribute to the tonal performance of guitar. Commonly seen on folk, country and jazz guitars, etc. And X-braced guitar is offent budget friendly. Therefore, this structure is perfered by players as well as luthiers/manufacturers.

V Pattern

The first V pattern was invented by Taylor in 2018.

This structure introduces a V-patterned main brace design with tone bars on either side. The dsign allows the bracing to rest right below the strings to improve sustain. By this pattern, the top can get a better vibration, thus, to get more volume.

Fan Type Bracing

We think this kind of bracing pattern is quite familiar with many players, especially classical guitar players. Because this bracing pattern was firstly introduced by Antonio Torres though the pattern has already been evolved.

Since nylon string guitar doesn’t commend as much tension as steel strings, the long bars of fan bracing provides stronger support. Besides, the bracing pattern can also provides better vibration to make the response of tonewood more sensitive. This enhances the low end of the instrument and improves specific playing style.

Bracing is Still A Mystery

Although the three main type of guitar bracing has been introduced for a long time by various of manufacturers, it is hardly to say that anyone find or can create the best one in the world. The techniques to cut the best bracing are still under exploring.

We know the vibration, resonance, etc. to make the unique sound of guitar, but the vocalism principle is still so complicated.

Therefore, here are our suggeestions:

1. Once you are an experienced designer knowing the bracing very clear, please go ahead for special bracing design;
2. For most of time, it is better to follow the tradition which is the safest way of guitar building;
3. If you have to custom guitar with or without special bracing pattern, it is necessary to understand what kind of bracing that the factory can make. For this, we welcome you to CONTACT US for our detailed information.