Soundboard belly

[ctregan]

How does the amount of swell effect the sound? If a bass has a large rise is that a good sign? Some basses look like the belly barely projects 3/4", wile i have seen some nice carved bass tables that seem to rise up 2".
A cellist once told me his cello was prized for its large arched top, somehow this made it sound more beautiful.

What is the good and bad high with high arches on basses (with solid wood tops)?

[RCWilliams]

arch height is just one of several factors which will affect sound. the key is a combination of arch height, shape, graduations, bass bar, model, ground and varnish.

an reasonable violin arch height is 16mm or so, a bass is about 3 times bigger hence 48mm is to scale. frequently there are lower arches neccessitated by available wood. the fullness of the arch is also important. a fuller arch is stronger than an arch with more recurve, so thicknesses may need to be different for different shapes. sorry no easy answer

[drurb]

Of course, linear scaling from a violin to a DB does not generally work. For example, scaling up from the thickness of a violin top to a bass top would mean the latter would be inches thick. As RCWilliams said, it's a complex issue.