Quote Originally Posted by Simon Barden View Post
It's mainly down to the arch top removing (or reducing) the need for bracing. An arched surface has far more strength under load than a flat surface has, as it is able to spread and re-distribute a lot of that load to the sides.

I was previously told by a friend that knows about these things that linking the back and front with a post was a good idea, but so far have failed to find any examples in archtop construction (maybe I need to look at violins & cellos etc.)
Yes, I believe the violin family uses the "sound post". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_post