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Posts: 2888
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England
Santos Hernandez struts
Just a quick one.
I got a SH template from madinter.
The marked out struts on the template are not symmetrical. So to the left of strut 4 the lengths are different to the ones on the right. Couple of mill.
The only previous soundboard Ive made we made the strut length symmetrical.
Is that how SH did things? Or is the template inaccurate?
This isnt a huge sticking point. I'm just interested as im starting to map out my struts and work on the sb.
I mean in a noob at this stuff really so on just trying to understand how this all works and diff makers diff systems.
From what I’ve seen, I have the impression that Santos worked more from base principles and braced each top according to its individual characteristics. He didn’t use one fixed plan and, while he did employ a number of recognizable strategies, the patterns he used appear to be mutable and are perhaps best seen as being guidelines.
I’ve followed various Santos plans when building and have selected them based on my feelings about the woods but, in a sense, I think that’s missing the point. If anything, one of the great lessons to be learned from Santos is to not rigidly adhere to a plan, but to try to understand the principles behind it. For starters, it’s good to study the relationship between the bridge and the bracing and try to get a sense of the coupling. Then, for example, question why he slanted the lower transverse bar at times; some say it is to stiffen the top in the treble area, but was it that or was he reducing the area to allow the opposite, in other words, so he could loosen that part of the top so the strings could drive it more efficiently? I don’t know. The point is to study the plans and build with them, but with an eye towards increasing your own understanding. Think structure, as well as sound. That’s really important.
I’ve yet to come across explanations of bracing that were definitive. In that sense I agree with Ramirez III, where he felt there was no one magical bracing plan, instead he approached the problem as a systemic whole.
I noticed on the Reyes plan that the headstock carving is a little asymmetrical. and then came to the similar conclusion as Rob. I believe Sr. Reyes must have made an error on his cnc machine tool path file.
But.. I think it’s important to know these things to establish a baseline. We N00bs don’t have much else to reference until we build many guitars. (I’ll Probably be dead by the time I get to 4)
Yeah I'm getting my head around some of the flexibilty of this stuff. and trying to free myself from preconceptions I have.
I'm away for a seaside break so letting go of some of this for a while hence my late/vague response here. Hoping, when I return to London, that the heat will have died down and I can get on with working on the top.... and also need to give my homemade side bender it's maiden voyage.
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I also agree with what you’re saying
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