"Cornerless Italian & Spanish Basses"

[David Powell]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

That may be true but I find it hard to believe that there is not a system for developing "italian arching" regardless of the size of the instrument. I am at a disadvantage as I have seen very few italian basses in person let alone up close enough to measure the arching. I think there were systems and secret information that were used in design of stringed instruments though that is not easy to understand in this day and age. Why would there be such a distinction between classican Italian violins and not be carried over to basses? And what explains why Italians sound good then if it is not design proportions?

Thought provoking indeed. I've seen a couple of different theories on how the arch was developed, but neither source offered much in "proof" and admitted that. There were various mechanical methods using rolling drawing aids. My own theory is that the arch needs to be a sine wave section. Intuitively it seems like a deep recurve would aid in resonance.

Thanks for your explanation on the German personality of the arching.