Framus Jumbo

I bought this acoustic guitar in about 1965 (I'm guessing on this) and I don't have the guitar now. What little I know about this guitar is from memory. I'm really writing this because I think the guitar was rather rare. The Framus name was stencilled in a handwriting style of script. It had a sunburst finish.

The sound was sweet, but not particularly loud. It sounded bright when I used one of those beautiful red Martin picks that you can't find anymore (the ones with the cross-hatched grip).

This guitar had the thinnest neck I have ever seen. I have small hands and I just loved the thin neck. Later models of this guitar had a bolt-on neck, but this one had the more common neck. The finish was good.

OK, here's the problem area. The neck had a scarf (angled) joint around the third fret that came unglued. I tried to fix it (couldn't afford a professional repair), but it was never the same. It may be that all acoustic guitar necks are made this way, but I have never heard of one coming apart this way. At the time I wondered if I should have paid more attention to humidity (or lack thereof), but my 23 year old Yamaha FG345II hasn't suffered from similar conditions. I think the neck on the Framus just wasn't robust enough.

Don't know.

I've been playing for 40 years, but I'm just a flat-picking campfire player who wishes he was Doc Watson. The Framus was my second guitar. The first was a black arch-top Harmony. The Yamaha FG345II is my baby now.

This Framus Jumbo Twelve-string guitar was made in Bavaria around 1970. Features: 21 frets on a bound ebony fretboard (has 0 fret); Fretboard has abalone inlays and binding has dot fret markers on the top side; Original strip tuning machines (some slip a bit); moustache bridge - adjustable; blonde spruce top with black screwed-on Framus pickguard; mahogany sides and back (which is arched); blond laminated neck bolted to body (neck is narrow - much narrower than on a modern 12); binding on sides and back.

As mentioned in another review, this guitar doesn't project much. But the sound is beautiful - put your ear to the sides or back and it really rings. I may get a pickup installed - probably a soundhole unit because a luthier thought he'd have to monkey with the bridge to put in an under-saddle - and I can't wait to see what it will sound like. The only complaint I have is that the B string, as on many earlier guitars, is hard to get tuned "right". I don't think the fretting is all that accurate. You have to come up with the best compromise you can get. At the same time, the jangling sound of a twelve-string can abide that slightly "off" tuning.

The action on this guitar is very low, especially at the top. The bridge is adjustable.

The guitar has stood up well but then again, I haven't played it much. That's why its in such good condition. However, normal string tension and atmosphere conditions have not harmed it. The laminated neck was a bit bowed but it adjusted fine 35 years after it was built. The finish is in excellent shape.

Never had any need for support.

My mom bought it for me when I was a freshman in highschool. I've been playing for 35 years but haven't really played this guitar much. I brought it out of mothballs after years of not playing much. I recently installed a pickup in my 1974 Guild D50 and that has gotten me back into playing so I plan on getting some 12-string specific music (Gordon Bok?) to try out. I like the narrow neck becasue its not an adjustment from playing the 6 but with older findgers it can cause some buzz problems. The B-string tuning is a problem but maybe a luthier could fix it. I'd like to keep it rather than get a new one if for no other reason thatn its in perfect shape, sounds great, and is definitly a curiosity.

I am pretty sure this guitar is a jumbo, I seen one like it on ebay. It is a large body acoustic with a bolt on neck ( I didn't stutter). It has an interestingly arched back. Originally the wood was a beautiful laminate, this guitar new was a work of art. It has a "mustache" bridge, I suspect it is a copy of a gibson jimbo. The fretboard looks and feels like ebony. The headstock is either painted or plastic laminated with very nice abolone inlay. The fretboard has very nice abalone inlays as well. I changed the original tuning machines around 1980 to Gotohs, so I am not sure what the originals were like. It has everything that an acoustic would be expected to have, then some. One other thing of note, the nut is made of metal, kind of like a tiny peice of angle iron that is slotted with one part of the angle bolted to the headstock and the other slotted. It also has a zero fret. Nice touch.........

This guitar, having a bolt on neck, does not project well, but has a nice rich sound. I actually keep this guitar more because my brother brought it back from germany years ago than to play it, although it has an amazing feel. I used ot to record some with a soundhole pickup, it did a fair job, soundhole pickups being what they are. I love the guitar. mostly because of having had it for so long and the fact that everyone that picks it up tries to talk me out of it.

it is a mess now, my brother brought it back from germany, and decided to disassemble it and sand it down and paint it (ugh!). He sanded through the veneer, and sold it to me for a bushenomics paycheck price.......... so, it was a deal for me. I had a laquer job tossed on it like it was and reassembled it. It is now well played and worn, the frets however, are still ungroved ( I play with real low action). Originally, as I say, this guitar was a work of art.

I have had it for nearly 25 years, and it has lasted, been through years of me treating it like an ugly stepkid. I learned a lot about music over the years by being able to have it hand all the time though, so, all things considered, I am still ahead of the game with it. It has no relglueing needs. The neck is like a Teisco neck, laminated thin peices of wood that are then cut into a neck, makes the neck look like it is made of guord. I cannot for the life of me understand why Fender does not start making strat necks that way, they stay straight as an arrow, those laminates each have grain running a different way, making the likelihood of the neck changing shape nearly nill. No fret buzz, slip a matchbook cover under the strings to measure the action............

who knows?

been playing since hmmmm I think I still have abe lincolns guitar pic, forgot to give it back after a gig.......... This guitar is unusual, and even though beat to hell, beautiful, and has action better than all but the best of the japanese guitars, I don't think I have ever seen a guitar with action as low as the Framus has, now that I think about it. I think I have leveled and recrowned the frets once years ago, but perhaps I just had to dress them. I could never replace it if it were lost or stolen, but I would try to outbid everyone on ebay to get another one in the unlikely case I ever seen one go on the block. I have a studio, and the guy that sings on my CDs begs me for this guitar, he is amazed at it's action. I told my wife when I am dead if he is still around he gets it, but he does not know that. I bought him a framus archtop on ebay and did the repair work on it, in appreciation for his hard work learning my tunes. but man, it is not the guitar the jumbo is, wish I could find a jumbo framus for him that I could afford. I have to rate this guitar on it's merits rather than it's personal value to me, which, make me an offer and watch me ignore you.