It seems incredible to me that the varnish on the wood has a bigger effect on the sound than the shape. It seems counter-intuitive at first, but the more I think about it, the more it seems that the shape of the resonance chamber at the edges doesn't really matter. Interesting takeaway!
This is also part of why many older guitars sound better than newer ones. Back in the day all they had for spray-on finishes was nitrocellulose, which is nasty stuff and a pain to work with but dries quite thin. These days most lower end instruments are sprayed with some sort of poly or other heavier laquer.
