A beautiful,small English viola c. 1800 by William Forster. The bass bar is crucial to the lower registers resonance. It has two functions. It helps support the top against downward string tension exerted through the bridge .It also acts as a conduit through which the vibrations are spread out over the whole spruce top. The soft spruce of the top flexes widely giving the lower register its “growl”. This viola is a higher arched model which means the bar can and should be slighter since the higher arching needs less support. Few bars are correct in terms of placement and heft. I make sure all my instruments have a proper bass bar.
