Origin or the outer Rib Linings/Moldings..

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

1) Glue joint too wide; prevents seams opening, therefore more cracks.
2) Glue joint too wide, prevents de-coupling of the vibrating plates, therefore less sound.
3) Interior dimension is less (if the outside linings were not there, the corpus could be subsequently larger within the same plate size), therefore less depth of tone.
4) Looks wrong (no other member of the violin family has them).
5) When they come loose, buzzes occur.

But I think they are a good thing to have on psychobilly players' basses...

Well,

#1 makes sense.
#2 is understandable as this stiffens up the Bass.
#3 to me is the most obvious but most often not recognized. The same outer lip dimensions of the Top exposed with the Linings in place mean the Ribs themselves are that much further into the Plates therby reducing the internal air space of the 'sound-box'.
#4 is not a complete answer as no other member of the current family of 4 (excluding the Viols) has the Gamba Form in use or the angled Back bend we see on so many Basses. The Bass is the only one of the 4 that does not actually have a standard shape or design like the Violin, Viola or Cello has and has had for over 400 years. So, why not the Linings which may have been introduced to slow down 'twist' of the wider Rib depth used on Basses.

It is true that many of the old Italian Basses including Maggini and d'Salo have Rib depths approaching 9" but were made without the outer Moldings.

So, in this case, what is the oldest Bass you (anyone reading this) have seen with these outer moldings/Linings on the Ribs?

#5 is something I have never seen but then again, I am 'not' the person calls when they might come loose. I just haven't seen this happen, ever!

So, 2 questions remaining in my mind here;

1) What is the oldest example known of outer Linings/Molding on Bass Ribs.. and
2) What do you think the reasoning was behind this idea originally.

Arnold, tell them about the construction of the Ribs on my Cornerless Bass. Talk about something different entirely and the sound is something that's hard to come close to.