The X-braced design

In 2009 Model 12 (photo top right) was my X-braced proto-type using a cedar top which employed an elliptical soundhole to allow for the closed up X. This design was very successful and it occurred to me that it would work very well in the small- bodied model 08 (photo bottom right) with simplified strutting, where the long vibrating length of this design can be put to good effect in extending the bass response. A low air resonance similar to a larger fan-braced guitar can be easily achieved with this system - a small guitar with profound bass and great projection is the result. You also get considerable weight of note and sustain with this pattern, as well as an even response and excellent balance. It works extremely well with cedar as well as spruce, which is an added bonus. I recently made one using Port orford cedar (a North American species of cypress), also with excellent results. I first used this pattern in the small body shape for a spruce/indian rosewood 640 mm scale guitar which is used by students at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Although an X - brace design is generally associated more with 20th/21st century steel-string guitar production, it was already being used by the Roudhloff brothers in London for their classical guitars back in the 1830s and 40s ! (bibl. "The century that shaped the guitar" by James Westbrook), and it is possible that later, Martin saw one of Roudhloff's X-braced guitars and subsequently adopted the idea (thanks to James Westbrook who is investigating this area) and used a similar design in his 0-28 models that Julian Bream played in his youth. The Roudhloff's were russian emigrés who trained in France and then set up shop in London where they experimented with various designs, including the X-braced one. Jim Westbrook has discovered more information on the Roudhloffs' first X-braced, so-called "Melophonic guitar" whilst studying for his phd, which he has recently finished - once he has published it I will be able to add some more historical detail.

For whatever reason, it was the spanish fan-braced pattern (as exemplified by Antonio de Torres), which was widely adopted for the classical guitar, while the X-brace was forgotten. Clearly there is nothing new about using an X-brace for classical or other nylon strung guitar types and there are good reasons for using it, as alluded to above- the long bars and greater working area of the top allow the maker to achieve a low body resonance with resultant good bass and better overall balance, without resorting to wafer thin tops and super light strutting of a Hauser style fan-braced guitar, for example. (Hauser also used little or no doming in the top in order to keep the top pitch low, which means the top distorts greatly under tension).

Of course, in recent times the modern nylon strung guitar has undergone dramatic changes, both in the kind of sound produced and in the building methods and materials used, in an effort to produce ever louder guitars with greater projection. However, such guitars are not to everyone's taste and personally I prefer a more traditional approach and sound. An X-braced guitar is just as traditional as a spanish fan-braced one - it's just a different tradition, and it is certainly a valid alternative for the classical guitar, and one worth exploring. Having simplified the X-braced pattern for the small-bodied shape, I went on to use a similar system in the larger bodies ( 12 and 13) where it works very happily.

prototype X-brace

X-brace in a small body

recent X-braced guitars

model 08 cedar and indian rosewood

rippled walnut head veneer and rosette, and rippled maple binding

photos of other new x-braced models

12/99

12/93

13/92