Mandola bracing...

[Bluetickhound]

Now that the A5 is in the books I'm taking a second crack at an H5. My question concerns bracing. Is it preferable to brace f hole instruments with tone bars or would an X brace (or even a transverse brace) have any special merit to make it worth considering? This one will also have a 17" scale but will have an Adirondack spruce top instead of Sitka and a quilted maple back if that makes any difference in considering the brace pattern. If it were going to have an oval hole I know I'd go with X bracing but I'm interested to know if X braces work well with F hole instruments and how to get a toehold on how far open (or closed) they should be to get solid bass response without sacrificing treble... I know it all depends on the wood itself, how the top is carved etc. but since I'm still a beginner I plan on sticking pretty closely to "the numbers".

[Whittle]

I'm sure you could do X-Bracing, though I did parallel for mine. The H5 I'm putting together is Adirondack spruce on top with maple back and sides.

[peter.coombe]

X bracing works fine in mandolas. There are many ways to skin a cat.

[Bluetickhound]

I guess it's not really a big deal as all of my instruments (all 1 and 3/4 of 'em anyway...lulz!!) are experimental... I read somewhere where a luthier advises neophytes (like me!) to build instruments two at a time (with slight differences) so they can be compared side by side... That sounds like solid advice to me. My next build(s) will be another A5 so building a pair might be a fun exercise!