Side support bracing vs ribbon bracing

[tippie53]

As Dan points out they are for crack control. Tape was the norm up to the 80's in Martin guitars and they switched to wood as that was an off fall from production. So when I am doing a pre war design I will use the brown ribbon.
I have used both and can't say that one is any better than the other or can I can they add anything tonally. I have used them for adding some inside decoration. They do allow a little flare in a design.

[Darryl Young]

Just keep in mind that wooden side braces can also be used to flatten a side if it's cupped a bit. I had to make it a bit thicker to fullfill this function but it worked well.