1847 Schmidt & Maul Alternate X Brace Guitar
Several Schmidt & Maul guitars from the mid-1840's have been seen with the identical "hybrid X brace" seen on the Martin & Coupa shown above.
This Schmidt & Maul, dated 1847, has another experimental form of X bracing, consisting of fan braces, with three struts, and a tone bar that extends past the
treble end of the bridge and across the treble strut to form a small X under the treble side of the top.
The Schmidt & Maul contains many elements similar to the Martin, including herringbone trim, a Spanish false foot, ebonized neck with ice cream cone
heel, ebony tie style pyramid bridge with ivory inset, and a similar company stamp on the upper back near the heel, not surprising since Louis
Schmidt worked for Martin ten years earlier.
"Alternate X" braced, containing elements of fan bracing combined with an early small treble side X. I suspect that this variation was an early
one, as it contains a complete three strutted fan, while the other variation, seen on Martins, Martin & Coupas, and Schmidt & Mauls, contain only the
outer struts of the fan in combination with a large X.
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