Where the fingerboard meets the soundboard

Hello all. I have started making my dulcimers with fingerboards that have a  very deep channel on the underside, for extra resonance. I have taken ken hulme's suggestion and now relieve the sides of the fingerboard in arches such that it is only in contact with the soundboard directly under each fret. The homesteading book that i learned to build a bulcimer from recommended cutting out the section of the soundboard that would be directly under the fingerboard, but this was for a fingerboard with no arched reliefs on the sides. For my fingerboard which has very little actual contact with the soundboard, does it make more sense to leave the soundboard intact, or cut most of the wood out from under the fingerboard before i glue it one? Thanks for any input!