A variety of bracing patterns for a wealth of tones
In addition to the guitar's tonewoods, body shape, and scale length, the bracing pattern also plays a role in the sound. Guitar braces are strips of wood glued to the underside of the top. Braces provide strength to the top, which is a single piece of wood that has been shaved very thin to vibrate freely and offer good resonance. Without bracing, the tension of the strings would cause it to bend and eventually break. There are many bracing styles, and Kremona uses a different one for each guitar series.
The Soloist Series guitars are based on Panormo-style bracing. Louis Panormo was from a Sicilian violin-making family that settled in London. He built guitars from around 1816 to 1850 and was one of the first luthiers to use a fan-style bracing pattern. Modified fan bracing was later used by Torres and many others. This simple style offers a great sound and is what most Spanish-style bracing that came later is based on.
The Artist Series guitars have a bracing pattern based on guitars built by Torres. Antonio de Torres build guitars from the mid to later 1800s. He made his guitars larger than previous models with thinner, lighter soundboards that were arched in both directions. His bracing struts were laid out geometrically, based on two triangles joined at their base, creating a kite or hourglass shape with the inside braces set symmetrically. This made for a louder, fuller sound that changed guitar making forever.
The Flamenco Series bracing is based on a traditional flamenco pattern. All bracing patterns for nylon-string guitars made by Kremona are based on time-tested building standards, with the workshop making its own design developments over the 90 years its been handcrafting instruments.
The bracing of the steel-string series is a replica of the ones used by the master artisans of Markneukirchen, Germany. C.F. Martin and Kremona founder Dimitar Georgiev both learned their craft in that city and used the same bracing pattern on their early guitars.
