<HTML> <TT>Richard,</TT><TT></TT> <P><TT>The first instance I've found of soundboards bent (lengthwise) into shape with heat was a 1982 article in Early Music called "Viol Construction in 17th Century England - An alternative way of making fronts;" the older Venetian viols often have soundboards bent widthwise across a crowned rib or two.</TT><TT></TT> <P><TT>William Fulton has researched the use of bent plates in violins and in his article in the Catgut Acoustic Society Journal, the bent plates are shown to have more desirable qualities...than carved plates.</TT><TT></TT> <P><TT>Clark</TT> <BR><TT></TT> </HTML>