Red Cedar thickness and bracing

[Ray Ussery]

I'm going to try hard to get the top on this thing this week...I THINK I kind of have a feel for the thickness and dealing with spruce, the bracing is pretty straight forward...but what about this Red Cedar?
It's a D cutaway, it would seem to me that I could easily get it too thin...what about gluing up thickness? I was thinking about trying to go with a D35 treatment using 1/4" bracing...any ideas or suggestions on any of this?
It looks to me like Taylor uses a 1/4" forward-shifted X on their 514CE but I can't really see all that well inside with the strings on in the store...I wonder if they use that grove around the inside parameter as an edge thinning treatment on the Cedar as well?
Thanks, Ray

[Herman]

I'll be using red Cedar also for the first time, so I'm curious about the answer(s).
Herman

[ken cierp]

It depends on the piece you are using -- same rules apply, hold it on the width edge thin it until it just starts to bend cross grain. Likely that will be about .115 or so. If the instrument is going to be stung with medium gauge strings I would not use 1/4" bracing stick with the 5/16" --- X forward is OK. Bottom line the Cedar is not as strong as the Spruce even Englemann.

And -- Martin uses 1/4' bracing on lots of different models not just the D35, that difference is at it relates to the D28 and also note the D35 does not have scalloped bracing. and for that matter there are other versions of Martin D's that don't use scalloping -- funny when you think about it, there are no rules --- mainly myths.

[Ray Ussery]

Thanks Ken...it IS interesting huh? Boy I sure know all the myths but I'm learning a bit at a time...there really didn't /doesn't seem to be any rules...then what was it that made so many of them sound so good...I went to a little Bluegrass concert here not long ago and got to listen to and play a little on one of the Ricky Skaggs model D's by Bourgeois, I have no idea how much, but we are talking BIG BUCKS HERE...it sounded...well ...amazing to say the least...it was only like 6 months old and sounded at least 50-60...or more...it sounded better than Henderson's IMHO...so I just don't get it...is it the wood? Something gave it a ringing appeal I sure can't explain.

I KNOW it's all subjective...but I wasn't alone...there were quite a few there asking questions about that guitar...Sucker has a magic wand or something HA!
Thanks for the help!
Ray

[ken cierp]

Build it light, build it tight, have spot on intonation and the "the correct strings" (tension load) and likely your creation will be responsive and sound like a million bucks!

[Ray Ussery]

Thanks Ken!