Bridge Plates

[rusty999]

Does the bridge plate have to touch the X braces or does it have an effect on the sound ? Kinkades book says no but just wondering what you guys do ? I would have thought that having it touch would help transfer sound better around the top but dont have enough experience to make a call on that.

Thanks
Rusty

[ken cierp]

Clear, touching and cut into the "X"--- millions of guitars done each way -- no conclusive evidence that it matter one way or the other. I recommend using the bridge plate as the locator for the "X" and the other braces as seen here

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/topbraceprep.html

[rusty999]

Thanks Ken , Just one more question, What is the measurement on the top brace given here --or what does 54 mm mean ? The brace underneath is a tone bar -correct or not ? I will be drilling a hole in that one for the truss rod access.

The top one looks very heavy regardless but I cant figure where 54 mm comes into play

Thanks
Rusty

[ken cierp]

I believe those measurements are the distance from the upper bout end to the edge of the repective bracess. I call the flat one the "popscicle" brace its actually a cross grain reinforment piece to keep the top from splitting along the edge of the finger-board.

[Dave Bagwill]

The 'brace underneath' the popsicle brace is the upper transverse brace.
The 84mm is I think - the distance from the edge at which the scallop starts?
I have no idea what the 54mm is - that's over two inches, but from what? Could the popsicle brace be 54mm wide?

[rusty999]

Thanks to Dave and ken,

What would a standard thickness of that popsicle brace be if there is such a thing as a standard thickness for a parlor brace. It looks pretty heavy on the drawing but I cant see any measurements given other than 54mm . Isn't this brace usually flat as ken said ?

[dave d]

The 'brace underneath' the popsicle brace is the upper transverse brace.
The 84mm is I think - the distance from the edge at which the scallop starts?
I have no idea what the 54mm is - that's over two inches, but from what? Could the popsicle brace be 54mm wide?

Indeed - One of my plans has a measurement of 65mm in this location, and it refers to the distance from the edge of the upper transverse brace to where the scallop starts. There's also a helpful side-profile diagram to confirm the 65mm curve.

The popsicle brace is usually about 1/8" thick. Perhaps on your plan they have a brace that's 1/8" for 54 mm and then scalloped up to a larger dimension in the centre?