greenscoe
Well-known member
I’m a hobby maker and have been inactive this year. Recent talk of experimenting on the forum has inspired me to venture into the workshop to try one of my own. I decided to investigate a new bracing pattern.
To save time and effort I used a £30 Chinese laminate tenor as a donor instrument.
It occurred to me that those new to making could adopt this approach. By making a new top for a used/cheap instrument they ought to get a feel for building and hopefully improve their donor instrument.
I cut the fretboard at the 14th fret and hacked out the top, then cleaned up the existing lining before stiffening it with strip material (photo is before stiffening added).
My new top is of Engelmann spruce (approx. 1.7mm thick) using initially 5x5mm Engelmann spruce bracing. I’ll let the 2 photos tell the story: suffice it to say I am aware of many alternatives to standard fan bracing and this form was influenced/inspired by an image of bracing by Tom Rodriguez.
It’s necessary to protect the back with card during this work. I should add that care should be taken to ensure the neck doesn’t lose vertical alignment when gluing on a new top.
The instrument is now punchy. It’s very responsive across the range, has lots of sustain and volume. It sounds very different from my other instruments and not what I expected: I'm quite happy playing this. It’s therefore a successful experiment. I would now like to try a similar bracing pattern on one of my ukes in the future.
To save time and effort I used a £30 Chinese laminate tenor as a donor instrument.
It occurred to me that those new to making could adopt this approach. By making a new top for a used/cheap instrument they ought to get a feel for building and hopefully improve their donor instrument.
I cut the fretboard at the 14th fret and hacked out the top, then cleaned up the existing lining before stiffening it with strip material (photo is before stiffening added).
My new top is of Engelmann spruce (approx. 1.7mm thick) using initially 5x5mm Engelmann spruce bracing. I’ll let the 2 photos tell the story: suffice it to say I am aware of many alternatives to standard fan bracing and this form was influenced/inspired by an image of bracing by Tom Rodriguez.
It’s necessary to protect the back with card during this work. I should add that care should be taken to ensure the neck doesn’t lose vertical alignment when gluing on a new top.
The instrument is now punchy. It’s very responsive across the range, has lots of sustain and volume. It sounds very different from my other instruments and not what I expected: I'm quite happy playing this. It’s therefore a successful experiment. I would now like to try a similar bracing pattern on one of my ukes in the future.
