Ladder Braced Birch

[Dennis Leahy]

...

I think the main difference between these and x or fan braced guitars is that they don't have much in the way of overtones.

And I think that is music to Joe's ears.

Joe and I had an interesting conversation about the sound he's looking for, and it was a cool eye-opener for me. Not only is there no such thing as the guitar that can "do it all", there isn't a guitar sound that pleases all. Vive la différence!

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, ladder braced birch boxes, and especially those with tailpieces, have got a pretty bad rep. And deservedly so for those mass produced in the 50's and 60's. So I guess it's my job to wipe a bit of the tarnish off....... Ha!

No, wait, I said this was going to be a pinned bridge........ oh well. Sometimes I have my plans but the gods have theirs, and it's important to listen when they speak......

So here it is.......















A lot of pictures, sorry.

On the decision to go with a floating bridge and tailpiece..... seems I overset the neck, and to correct it would move the 12th fret further into the body and I didn't want to go there. I've always felt that a higher bridge/saddle height helps on a flat-top with a tailpiece, the extra tension adds in my opinion, so since I hadn't done a tailpiece guitar in a while, and this is a ladder braced, birch, blues box, it was only fitting to shift gears.

The good news is that it seems to work..... it's loud and punchy, strong fundamentals and ringing clear trebles with a good thump in the bass. So it's only been strung up a day, but I'm well pleased.

The neck is a bit too chunky so this am I took after it with spokeshave and sanding blocks and have got it feeling much better. I'll play it a few days before re-finishing in case it needs further whittling.....

[JMPBuffalo]

That's a beautiful, clean-looking guitar, Joe! Great job!

Hope you post a sound clip soon.

Joe

[truckjohn]

Sounds like it came out great. In a way, it's a shame that ladder braced and especially tailpiece guitars have completely dissppeared from the market.

I think these are really fun because you can do things outside the box of what you can easily do with an X braced, fixed bridge guitar.

Especially so with a tailpiece. You don't really need any hardwood under the bridge to protect the top from string ball wear... You don't need to worry about bridge rotation and glue line failures..... So you can use nice light spruce and a smaller, lighter bridge by about 50%.

and... As an aside - you can really dial in the intonation and even readjust it easily with changes to different strings.

Thanks

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks guys! I'm really pleased with it, maybe my best sounding 6 string yet......

I like old guitars and being as the intonation was always way off, at least in the ones I could afford to buy, it didn't take long to figure out that I could get a floating bridge playing and sounding good much quicker and easier than having to move a pinned bridge. And amazingly, if built right than can sound damn good......