zombywoof Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 After more than 40 years of playing Gibson geetars I have found myself happily settled in with the straight braced guitars - particularly those made between 1955 and 1959. When it comes to playing the straight and natch'el blues those straight braced Gibsons can put you in the pocket as quick as lightnin'. Yeah, they tend to have a bit less bottom end and sustain than their scallop braced kin. But what ya get from a good straight braced Gibson is a tight bass and an incredibly quick, punchy response. Those folks at Gibson were wizards at shaping and positioning braces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Takes quite a bit of doin' to make a $3000 guit tar sound like a $130 pawn shop guit tar. Basically, I think you have to Muntz it. "You can't play the blues if you've never owned a pawn shop guit tar." Not sure who said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Hey ZW.... By straight braced, I am assuming you mean ladder braced like my LG1? If so, I know where your coming from. I am loving the blues more than ever since getting it. My Taylor was too shimmery for blues and my AJ, while good, still had more sustain and overtones that weren't the right tone I was looking for. My LG1 on the other shines on blues and ragtime pieces and is most certainly the guitar to go to for that style. On the other hand, when I play more melodic tunes, the Taylor is my #1 choice because I want the sustain and almost violin type tones. The AJ seems to be getting the most playing time when I work on DADGAD, Drop D, Open G and Open D tunings lately. I guess if I really thought about it I would say that my Gibson AJ is my "Grand Piano", my Taylor is the "Baby Grand" and my LG1 is my "Honky Tonk" bar piano. I think that maybe, I am just as much a tone hound as some electric players. I find myself listening to songs I want to learn and thinking (sometimes even asking my wife) "which guitar would sound best with this song" and between the 3 I have, one always seems to fit, as the proverbial baby bear said,..... "Just Right"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 By straight braced' date=' I am assuming you mean ladder braced like my LG1? [/quote'] No-- I think Mr. Z means 'non-scalloped'. (Unless he managed to find a SJ with straight bracing.) This is a great post!! Someone who has realized that what he hears and wants to hear coming out of his guitar is more important than what someone else on an internet forum asserts. (You mean I DON'T have to have a foward shifted, pre-war scalloped non- popsicle braced guitar to be popular?????) I have a friend with the most uncool D28 you'll ever see. From the 70's for pete's sake, when everything was overbuilt and clumsy. Thuddy Bass and muted sound all the way up the neck. Cracks all over the top. I love that guitar-- it's great for backup and singing. Much more balanced than any HD28V Special Order version I've ever played. Thanks for this, Mr. Z! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 No-- I think Mr. Z means 'non-scalloped'. (Unless he managed to find a SJ with straight bracing.) Ooops..... my bad! Goes to show that while I may know a bit about tone woods, pins, strings, tuners, pickups and such, I know little to nothing about bracings and other things going on inside my pretty little boxes of wood and steel.... I don't care how many people tell me that their short scale, forward shifted Taylor 612C with the NT neck and three piece neck has to be better than my 16 year old 25.5 scale, non forward shifted Taylor with the original Taylor non-NT one piece neck is..... I know better just by playing the newer ones against my 1993 Taylor. I will be reading this thread at every new post in the hopes I can learn something more about the inner workings of guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Gallery of Braces: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/XGallery/xgallery1.html Scallopped Braces: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/SclpBraces/sclpbrace1.html Mutton Braces: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/History/Martin/MartinBraces/martinbraces.html And... a broke brace: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Structural/XBraceWrinkle/xwrinkle1.html That ought to bring you up to speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Just habit - I have always called non-scallop braced guitars straight braced. So yeah, I was referring to non-scallop X braced guitars. Having played and gigged with both the pre-55 scalloped and later non-scallop braced instruments I just found I prefer the later ones. As a bonus, they are also cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I absolutely fell in love with a straight braced 00-18 in a shop about 7-8 years ago: it had a killer spit it out and put it in your face attack. Didnt have the means to bring it home, sadly. Still think about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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