Scalloped Bracing

[brianf]

What effect does scalloped bracing have on the guitar.

EG: 000-28 vrs. OM 21. I know the scale lengths are different but if they were the same how would they sound different? Does a scalloped brace allow the top to vibrate more?

brianf

[johnlg]

Scalloped bracing allows the top to vibrate more. It is very desirable for fingerstyle or styles where the right hand is doing a lot to effect tone. On Martins, all the scalloping is done by hand therefore no two guitars are scalloped exactly the same. This gives every guitar a certain unique tone. I have an OM 16 GT and between the scalloped bracing and the Tusq pins that I added, the top really vibrates. The top/tone are alive.

There are flatpickers or bluegrass players that prefer the straight bracing for "very loud all the time" tone, D 18's are still made that way. They sound best when you really dig in witha pick and play loud.

If you can a/b a 15-16 or an 18-21, you'll feel it. In each example, the pair is straight brace - scallop brace. 16's are really pretty guiatrs. Cash $ is about $770.00 on the various Gloss Top model 16's.

[stevedenver]

scalloped bracing adds a lot of woodiness and bass, internal resonance,

it also can make the guitar a bit flabby in the bottom end for flatpicking-scalloping braces on early 60-early eighties martins can give them a wonderful sound- it also can weaken the top-

-it gives the guitar a sound similar to the advnaced bracing used on the pre war models-just rings and when you pick