general question about extended soundboard vs straight soundboard

[mike-c]

What does it actually mean for a harp to have an extended soundboard ? Sure, I know what it looks like: the soundboard has nice round “child-bearing” curves at the base, but what does it mean for the sound ? How does it vary from a straight-soundboard harp ?

I’m still just a n00b with my 46 string Venus ( that I’m very happy with ) which has an extended soundboard. Intuition tells me that it should only have to do with the lower octaves, since the curves only appear near the lower register. But on the other hand, I know that

[william-weber]

Your extended soundboard results in a more bulbous soundbox: more resonant cavity volume. The sound slots provide enough coupling to the outside air to damp and broaden resonances, so it should not be favoring any particular tones through air column or cavity resonance. Soundboard shape should also have been designed to not emphasize any vibrational frequencies.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

The expanded sound of the bass provides greater support to the higher registers as well, so the entire harp has a rounder, softer quality. Straight-sounding board harps can have a more piercing quality in some cases, generally less bass resonance, resulting in a greater emphsis on the lower middle register. Hopefully, there are no holes in your sounding board.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Hugh removed the spam, so this isn’t as funny as I thought it might be.

[eliza-morrison]

My straight soundboard harp sounded a bit “plinky.” When you switch to a harp with an extended board, you’ll notice more fullness and richness of sound overall, and particularly a more resonant bass.

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