| I'm usually more concerned with the relative hardness of the soundpost rather than the number of grains per inch. Wide grain soundpost do tend to be softer than narrower grain posts, but not always. Of course, every bass is different, but generally carved basses need a soft post. However, many plywoods and some carved respond better with a harder post. I try to keep several different hardnesses of soundpost blanks in my shop (I make my own). Finding what sounds best is sometimes just a matter of experimenting till you find what hardness works best for a particular instrument. I once replaced the soundpost on an old Kay bass with a nice soft European spruce post. It took all the life out of the sound. After that, I stopped wondering why Kay put what looked to be maple or basswood as the soundpost in some basses when they were originally made.
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95% Retired Mid-Western Luthier
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