When I tap the soundboard of my lute, the sound is deeper and more bassy on the side where the bass strings are. This is not surprising, and presumeably is due to details of the interior construction, say bracing.
I wonder why details of the exterior construction are not also used to give the bass side more bass sound. For example, one might make the lute's overall shape asymmetric, or move the rose slightly towards the bass or treble side. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
