Double Bass French basses

Only a little directly, but my experience has confirmed what I've heard others say: French basses are characteristically brighter and edgier sounding, sometimes described as a nasal quality to the sound—good projection, well suited for solo work. Alex Hanna talks a bit about his French bass in this clip and points out that it's a good instrument for a principal, because of its brighter sound and projection (see 4:45):

Chris
 
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The only one I've played is currently owned by Talkbasser PapaToad (Phil Maneri), when it was owned by Steve LaSpina. I thought it had a nice growl and didn't think it was particularly.Oh wait, I played Charlie Haden's Vuilliame too. That is DEFINITELY NOT a bass I would describe as "bright"...
 
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The only one I've played is currently owned by Talkbasser PapaToad (Phil Maneri), when it was owned by Steve LaSpina. I thought it had a nice growl and didn't think it was particularly.Oh wait, I played Charlie Haden's Vuilliame too. That is DEFINITELY NOT a bass I would describe as "bright"...
My teacher Darek Oles, who studied with Haden, always describes Haden's bass as sounding like a church bell.