The term "sistema francese" refers solely to the treble side of the instrument. It indicates a standard C system CBA, and nothing else. I used to think it referred to the couplers being situated on the back of the treble keyboard, but the following info has proved me wrong on that score.
The Italian sentence referred to in the last post translates as "The system,which in Italy is called the French system is known in France, with good reason, as the Italian system". This is a bit confusing, but in France they refer to the C system CBA keyboard as "italien" and the B system as "belge". Until now I wasn't aware that the Italians called the C system "sistema francese", and was of the belief that it referred only to the coupler arrangement. Mind you they call the B system "sistema russo", so I suppose I should have worked it out before now.
I put a whole load of previous posts making reference to the rear mounted treble couplers as being the definition of "sistema francese", and got it all wrong (again).
The 60 bass spec for French instruments comprises a standard stradella arrangement, and is essentially a standard 72 bass without the dim7 row. Working from the bellows outwards you have two counterbass rows, then major, minor, and 7th chords.
The instrument shown has the standard bass buttons, whereas the French spec instruments usually have mushroom headed buttons arranged in stepped rows.
A little caveat if you're thinking of buying. The trend these days is for most of these small lightweight instruments to be manufactured in a country where labour costs are lower. The parts may be Italian, but they won't necessarily be top notch.
Some manufacturers clearly indicate whether they have outsourced the manufacture of any particular model, but I see that Cavagnolo are advertising their "Top 80" model without any such reference. Some sellers declare that they are made in Asia and quality checked at Cavagnolo's French factory, but Cavagnolo's web listing makes no reference to that fact. In any case it doesn't appear to be much of an instrument for a whopping 2197 Euro.
I cannot say whether Giustozzi do the same, but it might be worth enquiring.
I recently bought a Hohner Nova 80 Fun lite which I knew was made in China, but I bought it on the strength of the Hohner name badge. It does everything it should, but the build quality isn't up to much.
