Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith
I watched Arnold along the way in building my Bass. He makes a basic form, puts in the Blocks, bends in the Ribs and glues them in place. After the Ribs were on the Blocks I believe he removed it from the Form and then made the Top and Back. I think the Top was done first and put on the assembly and then the Back. This way he can fit the plates (top and back) to the form of the Rib/Block assemble and not force anything together. The original exact design shape is slightly altered along the way (very slightly) as the wood of the assembly settles in. The Purfling is done last so as to give ample room and time for everything to settle and be built stress free. This is not a mold but rather a method of building from the blocks. The Form is only used to the initial assembly of the Ribs and Blocks. From there on, it's a free style build but the better the maker (and Arnold is one of the best) the better and more uniform the Bass which includes well seasoned and acclimated woods.
He dries the woods first in open air and later indoors. Then the billet is joined and glued in the center to acclimate again as he 'slow builds' the rib/block assembly.
Maybe Arnold will chime in and correct me here and there or add to my interpretation of his method.
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Ken, this is pretty accurate except that I don't remove the rib form until I have installed the back plate. Then I let things settle in the rib assembly while I make the top plate. Once the linings are in, the rib assembly becomes quite rigid, and I use this outline to trace the final top shape.
I spent a few days visiting the Poelmann shop in Germany several years ago, and they do not use any forms. Michael Krahmer told me that his reason is that they make so many models that they would have forms all over the place, and every time they built a new model they would have to create another one. They use a simple template system, and build from the top to the back. I also have used this system for my Ergonomic basses, because I'm less concerned with symmetry. Personally, I think it is more difficult than using a rib form or mold.