French Bass Brace advice

[Ken Smith]

[QUOTE I like the fun part , and the excitement of the unknown / Im going with the 3 braces.[/quote]

My Mougenot is about as French as it gets as far as the Tradition goes. Full sized Vuillaume model (7/8th by our standards), flatback and it had a single wide center brace. Like my Hart bass, the back never cracked but opened up in the center seam, 3/4's its length, both basses. The Hart has a very stiff & strong back so it got a center and lower brace only and studs and linen I recall at the angle break ( I will have to look inside to make sure). The Mougenot is still on Jeff's bench getting the C-extension but I think we agreed on 3 or 4 braces, 1 or 2 upper (I will have to look as I forgot what we discussed). French basses usually bend gradually from the upper corner block and never a direct angle break. Both basses got an added center strip most of the way up which is a good thing because it shows that rather then the back splitting over time, the center just opened which looks much better repaired than a bunch of back splits.

So, depending on the length of the back, just the upper bout in the center would be fine unless the back is thin and needs more support. Like I said in my last post, you have the best view of this and must decide what it needs.