| Flatsawn top wood near center joint
Seeing Jeff Bollbach's photos of a bad top reinforcement repair that he has to correct made me think and wonder once again about why some old Italian basses were made with tops that have the grain running 90 degrees away from vertical in some areas. Most often I've seen photos of the grain turn completely around about halfway from center to the top edge. Two that come to mind are F. Posta's Grancino and one of the basses found in the group "Bass Gang". (Where is that copy of Double Bassist from last year?) Posta's Grancino has the bass bar running near the flatsawn top area, but it always looked pretty scarey to me!
Where other makers would make up a top from 3-6 pieces, why would these makers tempt fate by having the grain run in its weakest orientation? I would think that the flatsawn areas of these tops would be much more subject to cracking and sagging from fatigue. What do you think?
Steve Swan
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