French Bass full restoration

[Pino Cazzaniga]

Matt,
to my eye that bar looks short and stiff.
I like more longer ones, thinner at the ends and with double countercurve.
Also, I can't see the width from the pics, but it seem to be on the huge side. The wider I made was maybe 23mm, but my average is 21mm.
But.... the bar may be short if ends are glued on a thick area of the plate.
And, if the middle is thick, the bar may be low in height at the F holes area, with less countercurve.
About the "parallel" issue, it looks wrong.
A thing to consider is how the grain runs on the plate.
I can't see it from here, but if the grain is not parallel to the centre line maybe one has to put the bar more parallel than usual to the centre line just to avoid being parallel to the grain, that is dangerous especially at the lower part.
Just ideas for the new bar if you will decide to make one (you are the best judge for it as the instrument is in your hands).
My congratulations for the work you are doing, and thanks for this thread, I'm checking it any time I visit the forum.