Originally Posted by
StevenS
Now, many years after posing this question, I have come to think of the back as the "woofer" speaker component of the sound system -- that is, like bigger speaker components, the primary function is to pump air. As with these components, that means you are building for a mass in the center which is able to move with the sound energy because it is surrounded by a flexible perimeter.
To this same end, "thinner across the board" is not necessarily better. The mass in the center of the back takes energy to move and delivers that energy more effectively with the longer wavelength bass generation from the top. Backs which are thin all the way across, even if very thin at the edges, I believe can do more harm than good to the balance of response in the instrument.
While this is an over-simplification, the concept helps one consider how one might change mass, stiffness, or flexibility to areas of the back.
To this same point, if a mandolin has a correctly graduated back to be actively responsive to the top, one can see why the freeing cage of a Tonegard makes such a difference in power and balance.
Steve
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