Mike, to answer your specific question, it wouldn't be an easy thing to adjust the spacing between the ribbons. It would require a change in the radius of the curves. The Scale tool could be used to squash things flatter but it would make the ribbons thinner, too.
Are you thinking of a sort of panel of woven wood strips? If so I think the idea from the Parisian Fence is good. Make a small section that you can repeat and make that a component. Then copy that into an array. I do that for grilles. Here's a simple example.
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6023/5979597868_808f4b6fcc.jpg
This grille is made of three different components, shown on the right. The faces that fall in the seams are deleted (magenta is the back face color for this example) and the seam lines on the horizontal surfaces are hidden.