I spent yesterday working on the two tops. I first glued up the bridge plate on top #1 (scalloped) and then I went to work carving the parabolic braces on top #2. It took a while to get them all carved and shaped but I think the time spent was worth it as they turned out pretty good. I then glued the bridge plate on top #2, and re-shaped the scallops on top #1 to a cleaner more peaked shape. Once that was done, and the bridge plates were both dry I was able to tap both tops for the first time. I was very surprised at the big differences in the tap tones. Both have a sustaining ring to them, but top #1 (scalloped) has a 'looser' sound to it with a lot of overtones. Top #2 (parabolic) has a higher pitched tone and is 'tighter' sounding. The odd thing is, the loose sounding top is actually stiffer feeling than the tight sounding top. I will make some recordings of the sounds before I glue them to the rims so you can hear what I am hearing. I am debating on whether to take a little more material of of the parabolic braces to try and get it to loosen up a little or not. It is all a huge learning curve here, so I am not sure what to do, or which one sounds better for that matter!
I also thinned the fingerboard blanks and slotted them.
Top #2 with parabolic bracing. This is after carving with a chisel, but no sanding has been done yet.
Top #1 getting the bridge plate glued on.
The fingerboards after slotting.
Top #1 after final shaping of the scallops.
Another angle of top #1
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