Why I think the D-03 is the best guitar in the world.

[William2]

I find it super hard to believe that anyone could listen to a guitar and say, "Oh wow, it's the scalloped bracing that's making all the difference..." -- especially if they had no knowledge of the bracing before listening.  I feel the same when someone goes on and on about an "Adi top" or a tune played with a Bluechip pick, etc.  I just can't believe all that stuff is discernable.  Fun to geek-out over, sure!  But a game-changer, I doubt it. 

I'm not saying a listener would hear the difference between bracing systems, but the player can hear and feel the difference. On my two instruments, the non-scalloped has a bass that I can drive harder, and it sounds solid. On the scalloped instrument, the upper register just rings out better and the artificial harmonics are more prominent. And if you listen to any comparison videos of a Martin D-28 vs a D-35 back-to-back, I can hear the difference.

[Silence Dogood]

I'm not saying a listener would hear the difference between bracing systems, but the player can hear and feel the difference. On my two instruments, the non-scalloped has a bass that I can drive harder, and it sounds solid. On the scalloped instrument, the upper register just rings out better and the artificial harmonics are more prominent. And if you listen to any comparison videos of a Martin D-28 vs a D-35 back-to-back, I can hear the difference.

If two guitars were exactly the same except for the bracing, it would be a fun experiment.  Otherwise there are too many factors at play to say it's the bracing alone.  At any rate, if bracing is your thing, I say go for it.  Trust your own ears, not mine. 
 

[Queequeg]

If two guitars were exactly the same except for the bracing, it would be a fun experiment.  Otherwise there are too many factors at play to say it's the bracing alone.  At any rate, if bracing is your thing, I say go for it.  Trust your own ears, not mine. 
 

exactamento.
I figure most people's hearing is likely more discerning than mine.
Far be it for me to know or say what someone else hears.

[William2]

I guess my response to these comments would be, why do so many on this site prefer the modern series? There has to be some reason it is chosen.

[StringPicker6]

I always assumed that the 40 series was trying to bring the sound closer to the Martin familiar tone, and away from what some people call Larrivee's "modern" tone. Just different options.

[William2]

My point is it is something you can hear or feel as a player. I was just watching a video of Martin's 190-year history called the rise and Fall of Martin. in it they describe the sound difference everyone noticed in Martin guitars went from scalloped bracing to non-scalloped bracing from the 60 to 1979. That must have been the fall. They didn't include other issues like binging LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9XS_oZ1yTU

[B0WIE]

I'm a little confused about the Modern series comment. The NEWER Larrivees (40 series) are "Traditional"/"Legacy" series. They are very popular but I've not seen an established favorite type here, and both Contemporary and Traditional seem to sell well. If anything, I've found that people seem to enjoy both for getting different sounds. I could be very wrong there, but it's the impression I've had.

While I have no problem with someone preferring a certain brace, as someone who nerds out on guitar construction methods, I can't say the scallop vs taper determines the sound. Much in the way that the shocks don't wholly determine the ride in a car, they are one thing a maker uses after they have decided how firm or soft they want the ride to be. For instance, what makes the 40 series different is much more than just a scallop. The tone bars are non symmetrical in placement which has a massive influence on the bass to high frequency relationship. Potentially more than the scallops, though you can't pin the sound down in that way. Guitar building is a series of balances. I don't feel you can take one thing from the recipe and say that's the sound. It's the series of things they did to get the desired sound, in this case, scallops were one of those things that contributes to that sound but they don't exist in a void. They are part of an assembled resonator. Some makers use tapered braces that are very thin, lay them in a slightly different spot, and work the top thinner to get the same type of sound. As was said earlier, it really only matters when all other things are equal. With certain Martins, the scallop is what changed. However, that's a specific scenario.

If you find all the guitars you like have scalloped braces, by all means go with that. I certainly would. I'd just keep an open mind that you might run into some guitars that you like even better, and they might not have scallops. That's happened to me many times when I thought I needed a certain wood, scale length, etc. I ended up finding a guitar that did more of that thing I liked, and it was built in a completely different way. My recent hollow-body electric purchase has everything "wrong" (scale, saddle, nut, top, frets, bridge, pickups, it's hollow, etc) according to my logic of what I like, and yet it's somehow the sound I've had in my head for years. The design is more than the sum of the parts.

 

[StringPicker6]

I know that when the Beatles went to India, John and Paul brought nonscalloped Martin D-28's. Just something random I had in the recesses of my mind when I was hellbent on getting a D-28 back in 2008. I ended up with a scalloped HD-28 due to a clever salesman. Always felt that it was a little too powerful for me and wished I had looked around more for the standard D-28... Anyway, I'm a Larrivee man now. 

[William2]

I stand corrected on modern series. I meant contemporary. Good points BOWIE. I just have my two as a reference. I did find that vide on Martin interesting in that there was a noticed difference in the Martin sound when they went to non-scalloped bracing and how it spurred that urge to buy war and pre-war Martins.

[B0WIE]

I'd keep in mind that scalloping created a change that many people liked in THAT guitar. Imagine adding cayenne to a soup and you end up loving the way it balances that soup. If you walk away with the idea that you love the way cayenne tastes and you add it to all soups, you'll probably be disappointed. Scalloping a brace is not a sound in and of itself. It's part of the balancing act. I have guitars with tapered braces and if I went and scalloped them these guitars they would not sound like scalloped brace guitars, they would just sound like a muddy mess because they were already balanced around a certain design.

[StringPicker6]

Good analogy with the cayenne. Scalloping on a martin dread doesn't justify scalloping on a guild jumbo or Gibson j-45.

And to sneak in one more Monty Python quote: It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a 1 pound coconut.

[B0WIE]

And to sneak in one more Monty Python quote: It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a 1 pound coconut.

"...an African swallow, maybe, but not a European swallow!"

[rockin_ron]

I don't know if there's such a thing as the "best guitar in the world."  That's a title every player defines differently.  But I do know this: the best guitar is the one that inspires you to play.  For me, that guitar is a late-'90s Brazilian rosewood Larrivée.

If you're fortunate enough to find one today, you'll understand why. They rarely make it to the open market because the people who own them tend to hold onto them. They are the complete package, possessing every quality guitar players spend a lifetime searching for. Even better, they still don't seem to command the prices they truly deserve, making them one of the greatest values in the high-end acoustic world. They're not just exceptional instruments—they're a piece of musical history.

If you ever come across a Brazilian D-10 or OM-10 from that era, take a moment to appreciate what you're holding.

Admire the spectacular book-matched Brazilian rosewood and the mesmerizing grain patterns—swirling, dramatic, and unlike anything you'll find today.  Jean Larrivée had access to a stash of Brazilian rosewood that simply doesn't exist anymore.  To find wood of that caliber today, you'd likely have to spend an extraordinary amount of money with another builder.

Study the craftsmanship.  Notice the quality of the materials and the attention to every detail.  The artistry throughout the instrument is remarkable.  And if you're lucky enough to find one featuring Wendy's headstock inlay work, you're looking at something that borders on fine art—a Picasso or Rembrandt painted on a canvas of wood.  It's the kind of instrument that could just as easily belong in a museum as it could on a stage.

Then play it.

Listen to every nuance in every note.  Hear the sparkle in the trebles, the depth of the bass, and the bell-like sustain that hangs in the air long after the string is struck. Whether you're strumming chords or fingerpicking a delicate melody, the guitar seems alive beneath your hands.

Then do something only guitar lovers understand.

Lean in and gently breathe through the soundhole.  There's often a faint, sweet aroma that only old Brazilian rosewood seems to possess—a scent that's as much a part of the experience as the sound itself. Look at the tightly grained spruce top, now mellowed into a rich golden amber after decades of aging, each year adding a little more character.

To me, that's what the best guitar in the world really is.

It's the guitar that inspires you before you ever play the first note.  The one that makes you smile simply by opening the case. The one you can't help but admire before you even pick it up.  The neck settles into your hand as though it was carved just for you.  The wood is breathtaking, the craftsmanship timeless, the tone unforgettable, and even its scent tells a story.

That's more than a guitar.

That's pure guitar bliss.

[BlueBowman]

Lovely post, Ron!