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At What Thickness Do Tops Require Bracing?


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Hey, so some semi hollow bodies just have thick tops with no bracing, and acoustic guitars with like 1/8" or less thick tops require bracing.

So at what point do you need to add bracing to a guitar top to maintain structural integrity?

and at what thickness do tops start to become resonant for use in semi/hollow/acoustic guitars?

Cheers

Neil

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It really depends on the type of hollow. If you've got a totally hollowed out body (including under the bridge) then I'd say the becomes responsive quite early. As for when I think you'd start needing to do some bracing, I'd say I'd start after anything under 3/16" (maybe earlier depending on material) if it's a full hollow. If you've got a center block I wouldn't really bother until you get into the 1/8" realm.

This is merely observation and mental games. I'm yet to PERSONALLY futz with this.

Chris

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Thanks for the info.

I'm thinking of hollowing out most of the body but having a normal TOM bridge and so there will be a block there, what kinda thickness should I aim for to get a resonant top (without bracing).

Also I assume if I'm aiming for a resonant top its a good idea to leave a block under each pup to stop feedback?

Cheers

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You guess right. That said, having solid under the pickups and under the bridge won't make it as feedback resistant as a solidbody. But it won't be an archtop with a pickup in 'er either. It's hard to answer your question as to how thick a top you'll want. Cause if you go to the Myka website and watch the video on the front page he's got a really great quote in there that I love. Something along the lines of 'even a 1/8" deep cavity will affect the sound of an instrument. Even though it doesn't hugely change the amount of mass/air space, simply decoupling the top from the body will have an impact.' So in that train of thought, if you have hollows ANY top will therefore become MORE responsive than it would have otherwise been. So this is an all relative thing. That said, if this were my guitar, I'd go somewhere in the 3/16" thick top range with a center block if I was goin' for the "thinline hollowbody" sorta feel.

Chris

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