A background story of the inventor of the Indirect Bracing Structure (IBS) System written by:  Kate Websdale.

Joe Barillaro has been on a long journey with the guitar.

Joe came from a migrant family and was always encouraged to make do and to make for yourself whatever you could to support your needs.  As a legacy he gained skills and confidence to use tools and equipment as well as an inquisitive and creative mind to try and solve problems.

In his youth Joe worked in the building industry and became a competent builder who loved to play the guitar.

As a confident wood worker Joe explored the process of building his own acoustic guitar, which he was able to do successfully.  Creatively he found that he enjoyed using different timbers' to produce a handmade instrument.  His Love and depth of understanding for the instrument increased and grew.

In 1980 Joe commenced a guitars repair business, he soon became well known for his expertise and spent many years in a successful business working on many different types of musical stringed instruments.  This gave Joe insight into the way instruments were structurally built by various musical instrument companies.

Many years of experience in this industry gave Joe a clear understanding of the overall frustrations and difficulties experienced by musicians, especially in regards to the short comings of industry produced acoustic guitars.  The complaints and frustrations from both his customers the musicians and Joe himself, revolved around the unstable structure of the instrument which made it very unreliable.  This encouraged Joe; and I am sure many others, to play the electric guitar predominately, as it was musically better balanced and more reliable then the acoustic guitar.

With an interest in electronics Joe explored the idea of building an electronic circuit to give the electric guitar the x factor that it was missing.  In the totally solid body electric instruments he manufactured and sold, he created a built-in electronic circuit, to give the electric guitar that elusive warm tonal quality found only in an Acoustic Guitar.  The electronic unit which he called an "Acoustic Shaper" featured amongst other controls a separate frequency and resonance control. The Acoustic Shaper was also sold separately and became popular amongst customers, who used the acoustic shaper to create a better tonal sound for their acoustic guitar that was fitted with piezo pickup systems.  Although the units were successful, the solid timber electric instrument still did not have the organic natural tonal qualities he had been pursuing.  He believed that there must be some better way to construct an acoustic guitar which could produce a musical tonal balance with sustain and did not have to be plugged into an amp.

This led Joe on a journey to gain a better understanding. Joe studied to qualify for university entrance and then for the next 6 years studied engineering.  Joe qualified as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer with majors in Acoustics and Materials.  With this knowledge Joe was now equipped to dissect the issues that had been limiting the performance of the acoustic guitar.

After a lot of experimental work, a few failures and some successes a set of known principles became evident and by using his knowledge of physics a new understanding of the potential for the guitar become evident.  The development of the "Indirect Bracing System" took place and the building of beautifully balanced guitar evolved.

Joe has worked long and hard to develop this innovative method of bracing an acoustic guitar and has successfully patented his work.  He is proceeding to market the plans of the guitar for luthiers and others who wish to build the instruments.  He is also selling the instruments to those who wish to own one of these wonderful instruments.


                                             BACK TO >>       Home       Overview       Contact Us      Shop -->