AndrewA's ES5-V

It's weird looking in there and seeing no bracing at all. This is probably where we need Gavmeister to jump in, as he actually makes acoustic guitars.

It's mainly down to the arch top removing (or reducing) the need for bracing. An arched surface has far more strength under load than a flat surface has, as it is able to spread and re-distribute a lot of that load to the sides.

I was previously told by a friend that knows about these things that linking the back and front with a post was a good idea, but so far have failed to find any examples in archtop construction (maybe I need to look at violins & cellos etc.)

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

It's mainly down to the arch top removing (or reducing) the need for bracing. An arched surface has far more strength under load than a flat surface has, as it is able to spread and re-distribute a lot of that load to the sides.

I was previously told by a friend that knows about these things that linking the back and front with a post was a good idea, but so far have failed to find any examples in archtop construction (maybe I need to look at violins & cellos etc.)

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Yes, I believe the violin family uses the "sound post". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_post

Interesting Fretty. The difference between the violin sound post and the one that was in my ES5 are the violin still has braces, the ES5 post was a 1cm x 2cm T-piece rather than dowel and it was glued in dead centre of the bridge, rather than held by friction on the treble side.
It would be interesting to hear the difference. I might have to try cutting some dowel and seeing what it does to my Epi archtop.

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Originally Posted by AndrewA

Interesting Fretty. The difference between the violin sound post and the one that was in my ES5 are the violin still has braces, the ES5 post was a 1cm x 2cm T-piece rather than dowel and it was glued in dead centre of the bridge, rather than held by friction on the treble side.
It would be interesting to hear the difference. I might have to try cutting some dowel and seeing what it does to my Epi archtop.

Sent from my F3115 using Tapatalk

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Well my curiosity is piqued with this. I am going to go home and get my inspection camera out and see what is in the depths of my Casino and my Eastman.

I would imagine it's a T-piece in the PB kits because the top is normally drilled for a tune-o-matic bridge, so needs a wide block under the bridge area to take the post holes. It's probably then just easier for the factory to use the same sized wood to make the rest of the post. It certainly isn't placed properly to tune the acoustic response. Maybe it is simply there for some added structural support, or maybe it increases the sound level at which the body starts to resonate and goes into feedback.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I would imagine it's a T-piece in the PB kits because the top is normally drilled for a tune-o-matic bridge, so needs a wide block under the bridge area to take the post holes. It's probably then just easier for the factory to use the same sized wood to make the rest of the post. It certainly isn't placed properly to tune the acoustic response. Maybe it is simply there for some added structural support, or maybe it increases the sound level at which the body starts to resonate and goes into feedback.

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I agree Simon, I think this is purely for bridge support rather than any type of sound / resonance transfer.
I have a Harmony archtop with very similar construction. It has a floating bridge, and no such support. It has two parallel supports that run the length of the top at about the same width as the bridge

I never bothered to look in the Harmony archtop I restored in that amount of detail, and it's in someone else's hands now. Wish I had looked harder!

Basically like a flat top acoustic with less bracing

UPDATE. I haven't posted for a few weeks, but have been doing stuff when I get the chance. Working in a tin shed isn't fun when it's 43 degrees outside. The photo below shows what I'm currently working on, but can you tell what is happening here?
Attachment 16626