Double Bass Faceted Arch?

[mheintz]

Can someone explain to me the concept of the faceted arch? (See, e.g., http://www.lamario.ca/index.php?lang=english.) Why place the arches along Mode 2? Would the facets inhibit other modes of vibration? Anyone ever experiment with faceted arches? Anyone play an instrument with faceted arches? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Your thoughts?

They sure are pretty:

 

[Pentabass]

Absolutely fascinating. This drive of humans to try and improve things. All the time. I find it wonderful.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Wow, check out the other stuff on Lamario's site. Beautiful.

 

[reedo35]

That's pretty neat. That looks kind of like the pattern you get when you do the glitter test on a top to check the distribution of vibrations.
I just found the link that explains it better:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/chladni.html

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Wow, check out the other stuff on Lamario's site. Beautiful.

No kidding. The Curly Walnut back of the 'Venus' bass is drop-dead gorgeous! And the front is beautiful too.

 

[mheintz]

Definitely impressive to say the least. I'm very curious as to how the faceted arches work. I've read the articles on the Chladni patterns and I wonder how the facets affect vibration in modes other than the mode on which they are modeled (in Lamario's case, mode 2). He is obviously doing something right.

 

[Eli_Upright12]

Not to derail, but the Venus bass has to be seen in person, it is so amazingly stunning and beautiful sounding. I was blown away by how great it sounded for such a young bass.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

+1 about Venus. I've heard her too and she sounds even more beautiful than she looks.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

I can't see how they can be anything other than decorative. If they really have a function, Mario would be using them on all his basses, surely? As far as I know, that was a one-off.

The mode 2 pattern is only good for a free plate. Once fastened to the ribs, everything changes and the soundpost throws everything skew.

But I like how they look!

 

[bejoyous]

In the ballroom scene in the recent Get Smart movie (filmed in Montreal), you can see a couple of glimpses of one of Mario's beautiful scrolls/extensions. I wonder who the bassist is?

 

[mheintz]

I can't see how they can be anything other than decorative. If they really have a function, Mario would be using them on all his basses, surely? As far as I know, that was a one-off.

It is interesting that his most recent basses don't have the arch. But perhaps his clients simply didn't want to spend the money for the extra work.

The mode 2 pattern is only good for a free plate. Once fastened to the ribs, everything changes and the soundpost throws everything skew.

But I like how they look!

I completely agree.