Acoustic Guitar Construction

I have been working on a new John Standefer Model for awhile...I moved in the process and had to set up new shop. Here is some of what has been done so far. It is ready to build the neck in which I will am using the new "D" tube I helped develop with JB Allred of Allred Corp...he developed I tested
The top bracing based on Vintage Martin Forward Shifted X. The body shape was derived from an old Epiphone Emperor and scaled down to 16" width. Braces are still rough.

Back bracing was just an educated guess at what would work. X needed to be clear of where Leg Cut would be and also the reason for the extra brace. The back needed to be active so X was done in an over-under fashion
The 14 and 17 fret neck join made it necessary to transfer torsional neck load to the sides at the waist.
John didn't want the traditional Flying braces so I developed this attachment so it could not be easily seen through top holes. Also the small holes won't allow access to inside for pickup installation and neck attachment so an access door at the butt of the guitar is necessary.
Back Attached. The blocks for the arm and belly guard can be seen here. Also access door opening is still closed up and Leg Cut hasn't been installed.
Another view with the back attached with the Leg Cut Installed. I was not able to figure a decent way to kerf it, so it is a very well fit butt joint using epoxy as adhesive.
Body closed up and access opened and binding channels routed.
A few of body almost complete...side port still needs to be installed. It is necessary in rder to have enough sound port area.

Thank you Dave! Great workmanship and some really challenging ideas.

Are the soundholes going to get any further reinforcement, or is the soundhole binding and brace placement sufficient?

Maybe next time you could work a little more cleanly? I think I see a nano-sized dust mote on one of the braces - nope, that was on my monitor screen. My bad :-)

Dave...there is no additional soundhole reinforcement. The ebony binding is sufficient. On another note the prototype in the video didn't have the vertical brace in the middle of the X. We had a slight intermittent distortion and it may have come from that area...not sure. I started using the extra brace and no problems. Who knows?

Are those 1/4" top braces, and how did you determine the total area of the 2 soundholes? Sorry for all the questions, but it's a provocative design and I would like to understand your thinking.
Thanks

Dave...good eye 1/4" braces. The overall air volume in the body is about the same as a Dreadnaught, so the open area of holes is about the same as that. That includes the side port also. May not want to think like I do...might drive you over the edge:-)

Excellent! Thank you for sharing this log.

Is the neck block 2 pieces glued up to change the run of the grain?