# bracing (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover bracing. Page: Feed: --- ## [Claro Walnut/Redwood OM - New Home Required!](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/08/claro-walnutredwood-om-new-home-required.html) _2026-08-04 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ This guitar is still looking for a new home. My skills as a player are sadly lacking, perhaps because I spend so much time building guitars at the expense of time I could be practising, but I've uploaded a short clip to YouTube anyway to give some idea of what can be expected. For those interested, I recorded the clip using my Zoom H4n recorder - adequate, but not ideal, I know. I have a pair of… ## [For Sale: East Indian Rosewood/Engelmann Spruce 00](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/07/for-sale-east-indian-rosewoodengelmann.html) _2026-07-23 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ Despite its relatively small body, this guitar has surprising presence in the bass register, while notes played on the treble strings are round and sweet. The shorter scale length is inherently helpful where playability is concerned, and this instrument is indeed very pleasant to play. Back and sides: East Indian rosewood Soundboard: Engelmann spruce Neck: Honduras mahogany Fretboard: Maccasar… ## [Complete (Almost!): East Indian Rosewood/Engelmann Spruce 00](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/07/complete-almost-east-indian.html) _2026-07-20 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ It's always a thrill to fit strings to a new guitar for the first time. This one will sit in its case for a week or so before I attend to final action and intonation adjustments. The search for its new home can then begin in earnest. Glamour shots to follow. Cheers, Pete. ## [Archtop Guitar: a Major Rethink](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/07/archtop-guitar-major-rethink.html) _2026-07-11 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ I'm reasonably satisfied with the back and sides of this guitar having carved, bent, and assembled them, even after acknowledging that the outcome is some way short of perfect. It's a prototype, I tell myself! I'd been steeling myself for a struggle as I prepared to carve the outer and inner arches on this back plate - it's a hardwood after all. As it turned out, it was a dream to carve, and in… ## [Archtop Guitar: Back and Sides](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/07/archtop-guitar-back-and-sides.html) _2026-07-02 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ The wood I've chosen to fabricate the back and sides of this instrument from is something of a mystery. I bought it perhaps 25 years ago, accepting without question at the time that the vendor's labelling of the wood as "Tasmanian Oak" was accurate. I don't recall whether I had immediate plans for it, but if I did, it seems I was distracted before I could convert intentions into action. It… ## [Archtop Guitar: Bridge](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/06/archtop-guitar-bridge.html) _2026-06-19 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ In keeping with the theme of this project, which is to make use of nondescript pieces of wood cluttering up the workshop, the bridge I'll fit to this instrument will be fabricated from a highly figured and seriously dense chunk of red gum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ) that I wrenched out of our firewood delivery man's hands a few years ago. "I'm not burning that ", I told him! The wood's dramatic… ## [Archtop Guitar: A Dilemma](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/06/archtop-guitar-dilemma.html) _2026-06-15 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ As I prepared to begin carving the top of this guitar I found myself facing a dilemma, mainly because I don't know whether I'll repeat the exercise. Ideally, for a project such as this one, I'd own a range of gouges and a convex-bottomed plane or two, but I questioned whether their purchase could be justified given that I can't be sure that the cost would be spread across more than one archtop… ## [Archtop Guitar: Soundboard](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/06/archtop-guitar-soundboard.html) _2026-06-08 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ Given the significant investment of time and effort involved in crafting an archtop guitar, there's an argument for using the very best materials I can find. An equally valid point of view is that, for my first attempt at an archtop, there are likely to be mistakes along the way and that it's good policy to choose raw materials of a lesser quality to match my modest expectations. For this guitar,… ## [Archtop Guitar: Something From Nothing](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/06/something-from-nothing.html) _2026-06-06 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ It was my admiration for the archtop guitars of Jimmy D'Aquisto featured in Guitar Player magazine almost 50 years ago that sparked my initial interest in guitar building. Despite that interest, this project will be my first foray into creating an archtop guitar of my own, now motivated as much by the music they are known for as their existence as objects of beauty. Bob Benedetto's seminal book,… ## [A Higuerilla Practice Run](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-higuerilla-practice-run.html) _2026-03-31 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ I have two back and side sets of higuerilla, one of which I'd classify as remarkable, with the other set attractive enough, but much plainer in appearance. As this is a wood species I've not previously worked with, I figured I'd put together a 00 model using the plainer of the two sets in an effort to identify potential side-bending problems before I begin an instrument with what I'd consider a… ## [Stream Torrents & IPTV Instantly (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/HmMezLRiWBfa) _2026-03-31 · **Sponsored**_ Search magnet links and stream movies, music, books, and live TV in-browser ## [For Sale: Claro Walnut/Port Orford Cedar OM](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2025/12/completed-claro-walnutport-orford-cedar.html) _2025-12-21 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ The lighting in my workshop is a stand-out feature I notice and appreciate every day. Banks of LED strip lights supplement the natural light illuminating the workshop through several large windows, making woodworking a much more pleasant pursuit and reducing my propensity to screw things up from time to time. One downside is that photographing my work is frustrating to say the least, with… ## [For Sale: Claro Walnut/Redwood OM](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2025/04/completed-claro-walnutredwood-om.html) _2025-12-21 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ It's taken such a long time to complete this guitar that it features a body shape I've long since modified. The shape of the heel is very traditional, and the fretboard end is also from a bygone era where my guitar building exploits are concerned. After some initial indecision, I've decided to reduce the price a little. I'm loving the oil finished neck, which feels super smooth and will be very… ## [For Sale: Manchinga/Engelmann Spruce OM](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2025/04/completed-manchingaengelmann-spruce-om.html) _2025-12-20 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ With this - the first of a batch of five guitars - now strung up, I can begin to relax a little and allow myself a moment to enjoy the sense of achievement at having completed an instrument; for various reasons, it's been a while! There's always a sense of nervous anticipation when I first install strings on a new guitar, but even after hearing the first notes ring out I know better than to pass… ## [Rosewood/Engelmann Spruce 00 - More Photos](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2025/11/rosewoodengelmann-spruce-00-more-photos.html) _2025-11-22 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ Here are some more photos of this 00 model guitar in East Indian rosewood and Engelmann spruce. I expect to be in a position to pore-fill and apply lacquer top coats within the next couple of weeks. I'm very happy with the guitar up to this point, and I'm confident that finishing will present few challenges other than it being the usual long, drawn-out process! Cheers, Pete ## [A New Model](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-new-model.html) _2025-11-16 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ With a lower bout width of 14.5", a 12th fret body join, and a 24.9" scale length, what else could I call this new model but a "00"? It's a relief to see the body emerging from its unavoidable ugly phase. The bindings have been levelled and the Engelmann spruce soundboard and East Indian rosewood back and sides have been cleaned up a little for this initial photo shoot. With plans for an… ## [SOLD! An Enjoyable Distraction](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2024/12/an-enjoyable-distraction.html) _2024-12-02 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ I had some spare time recently as I waiting for the lacquer I'd sprayed on my current batch of acoustic guitars to cure in readiness for polishing, and as I'm becoming a big fan of headless guitars, I put the guitar pictured together while I had the opportunity to do so. I've had the maple neck blank and the Queensland maple drop-top cap in my tonewood stash for what must be a decade, so it seemed… ## [Dry Sanding With Super Assilex and Super Buflex Abrasive Sheets](https://woodwithstrings.blogspot.com/2024/10/dry-sanding-with-super-assilex-and.html) _2024-10-27 · Wood With Strings · Pete Brown Guitars_ I put this East Indian rosewood/European spruce guitar to one side as I proceeded with my usual process of wet sanding and buffing four other guitar bodies, the motivation being that I wanted to compare wet sanding with the dry sanding alternative. There was an unavoidable delay as I waited for delivery of the Eagle Abrasives' Super Assilex and Super Buflex sheets from Stewart MacDonald in the…