Slab vs. Quarter, wide vs. fine

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by John Delventhal

Found one! Ken's Martini. I have played this bass, its great! As Ken puts it "It's a Canon." Ken, have you seen others like this? Were they similar at all?

The Martini top is a result of a small tree from what I can see. The grain is tight in the middle and fanning out to flat grain at the outer wings. The back and ribs are Oppio which is a local Italian soft maple. If the back and rib woods were the harder Bosnian type then it might be a brighter sound with the same top. Also, the deep arching of both the top and back has something to do with it as well. Also, Martini was a bass player first and then a violin-bass maker producing over 400 instruments in his lifetime with over 40 of them being basses. My Martini is the earliest known example of a bass from him made right after the 1st war. It's a real bass by a good maker. It deserves the sound it has.

I have played some very very deep sounding basses with quartered tops and backs and that had fairly hard maple in the backs and ribs. Why is that? Maybe it was just a good bass, made right, aged well, repaired well and luck was on its side.

A bass is the sound of the sum of its parts and how its designed, made and put together coupled with how it aged and how it's been played. I think!