String tension - Double Bass vs. Electric Bass

[Scott Pope]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

This is overly simplistic. When you increase the breakover angle beyond the "norm", it can have different effects on different instruments. For example, a bass with a lightly-wooded top table may feel choked if the breakover angle is acute. A bass with a long upper bout will by its nature have a sharp breakover angle and will often respond and sound stronger, with more fundamental and sustain if that angle is reduced, not increased. There is theory, and there is practical application. Basses are non-standardized, so the theory is rarely spot-on; issues of "tightness", as our esteemed host mentioned above, are related to many factors, and need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Yes, for double bass this is absolutely true. The OP was doing his initial experiments on electric bass, and that is where my comment was directed. My limited experience is that there is a "window" of the tension/break angle formula, which also applies any arch top instrument, from violins to arch top guitars to basses, where there needs to be enough tension to drive the top, but not so much it is choked, or in an extreme case, deformed, and that "window" is singular to the particular instrument in question.