back bracing technique?

[Brenton Carter]

hey guys,
my regular luthier has told me about some bracing on the back of my 200 year old french instrument on the inside. it was done by a luthier in england (J. Reiger of Arnes String Shop, Inc.) in the early 1960s so i'm betting techniques have updated since then. i'm told these huge bars (more like large planks) are muting the sound quite a bit and i should have them replaced with some new ones which would be much thinner, thus allowing a bigger sound

i am also told that my top will have to come off and i know that a small portion of your top wood is sacrificed every time it is seperated. is this correct?

my bass isn't monstrously loud, but has great volume and incredible tone. would this be worth the money and wood or should i wait until it is a necessity for the top to come off or should i do it now? the whole point would be to increase the volume and help the overall tone. how much would one of you charge for this type of procedure?

thanks!

p.s. i'll try to get pictures...