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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...

Interesting take. I lean toward the frequency of the vibration modes affecting the overall tone and complexity maybe more than the shape. With that said, I've wondered if the location of the node lines affects some things. Adding weight to the rim/liner lowers the frequency of the vibration modes (at least the monopole mode) and I suspect it also moves the node line outward toward the rim. So I'm guessing that adding weight to the rim allows the builder to leave the top a bit stiffer yet vibrate at the same frequency (if one can assume a constant mass) and likely this moves the node lines toward the perimeter of the guitar which if true, would increase the surface area pumping air out of the guitar. So wouldn't that make the guitar louder? Sure seems it would in my grasshopper mind. If the top is stiffer, seems that might raise the frequency of some of the other vibration modes which could be good or bad. A lot of variables so difficult to make general assumptions on that.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......