Contemplating a parlor guitar construction on the Megamold

[ken cierp]

Martin uses 52' contoured braces on their sound boards and 15' braces on the backs. Although incorrect many hobbyist and modern custom makers use 28' and 15' There are plenty of opinions as to what Gibson my have used and are using now. 25' and 20' for both top and back are popular combos. KMG uses 40' contoured bracing for the soundboard and 15' for the back on all styles Gibson and Martin.

Now -- because the string tension over years pulls the sound board into a distorted dome, the reality is using a contour measurement off an old instrument in noway reveals how that guitar was actually originally constructed. Thus the varied opinions.

[John J]

I used 28' top and 15' back on my size 2 and my 00's and OM. I have not tried a radius dish yet. Maybe at some point.

[Chris C]

Thanks Ken and John....a lot more than I knew already. Yeah, it's the same with old violins. People have to be careful not to assume too much from the surviving instruments.
Chris