Main back brace too high?

[stefaniw80401]

On my 2003 Baranai Gyorgi (Romanian) flat back, my sound post is set about 1 SP diameter south of the bridge foot. This puts it almost on the bottom edge of the back brace. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the back brace located such that the SP comes closer to the center?

Also, I think that maybe the back brace(s) may be too thick, and/or too wide. What is the effect (on tone/volume) of thinning these things down some? Right now my bass seems like it's holding back in the upper register. Is a reworking of the back an expensive proposition worth doing?

[JoeyNaeger]

A friend of mine had her Tyrolean's bracing redone by an experienced luthier to very good effect, but you really need to have someone who knows what they're doing take a look at it to answer your question.

[wayne holmes]

I have seen this on more than one Romanian. You might check the top plate also. It might also have braces on both the north and south ends. On one Romanian, I took the top off to do some repairs and discovered cross braces on the top just past the ends of the bass bar. I removed them and the sound was better in every respect. I agree that it would seem more logical to install the brace where the sound post would be closer to the center. However, my guess is that it wouldn't really matter unless the SP is hanging over the edge. A lot of people look at the braces on flat backs of all makes and think that they look too big. My guess is that unless they installed a 2by6 in there, it is probably the standard 1by or something close to it. My guess also is that if green wood is used, then the maker would probably use large braces. This is probably the reason for the cross braces on the top-if your bass has them. I'd suggest that you take it to a bass luthier in your area to get a hands-on mirror look at it. I know that my answer is a lot of guessing- I'll look forward to hearing what others have to say. Good Luck with your bass.

[uprightben]

I would experiment w/strings and fuss with the sound post to get the sound I'm looking for before I thought about messing with bracing. Also, being built too heavy or thick usually makes a bass lacking in the low end, not the high.