"Cornerless Italian & Spanish Basses"

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

Another way of thinking about it, is that without the stiffening corner blocks, the whole assembly is more flexible, so when the top or back moves with humidity, so does everything else, meaning the top and back is less likely to crack.

In a way Matt but the back woods if maple are more flexible than spruce or pine. Also, the pressure of the strings is directly on the top with some on the stronger back wood via the soundpost if a roundback without a center brace.

We don't know how the woods were aged in these old basses and with various thicknesses and designs, science is hard to apply here. I think 'in theory' is about as good as we can do. Then, hope for the best!