Mornin'. Hope everyone is staying warm today!
Since it's too cold in the shop to glue anything up, even in Northern CA, I have a question. I'm in the process of finishing the bracing on my #5 000. The tap frequency, when I tap at the bridge plate, is somewhat high: 255 or so. My last two were closer to 200, according to my notes. Last two were a classic Martinesque pattern in the lower bout, lower bout on this one is braced similarly to the "new" Sexauer pattern. Not overbraced as far as I can tell, braces go from about .6 at the x to .35 at the low point, to about .5 or a little less at the lower peak. .280 braces, .120 top prior to final sanding once it's a box. Tap sounds good and complex too. This process did raise a question for me though: What general affect, if any, does the location of the lower peaks have on tone? My thought is that since bass generally comes from the center of the bout, moving the peaks toward the rim should lean tone toward bass, away from the rim maybe more "shimmer". Not looking for a definitive answer, because I suspect there isn't one, but I was wondering yesterday so I figured I would throw it to the experts. Or even the self-proclaimed experts
FWIW, the peaks on this one are about 2 in from the inside of the rim. FWIW, my thinking on this one was that the bridge plate is a fulcrum, with the center of scallop at the middle of the bridge plate, and the braces getting stiffer moving away from the center of the bridge plate until they hit the x or the lower peak. It's all a mystery...