1974 (?) Framus Strato 6

[Firecat]

I bought this cool Framus Strato 6 yesterday. The seller said he thinks it's from 1974, but he wasn't sure either.

It has some mods: tuners & string trees, CTS tonepots (it came with the original knobs, but they don't fit), a weird strap button on the heel of the neck (I'll remove that). I'm not sure if the pickguard is original or not, but I like it.

The bigsby-style trem is actually string through, which I think is genius. The spring is a bit soft, but it works well.
Great design for the bridge as well. The rollers move individually. The high e-string was way too close to the B string, but it was very easy to adjust.

Pictures!:

[crianlarich]

1974 could be right. Then it would be one of the last with the multilaminate neck.

I need to plug mine (avatar) in eventually.

[antisymmetric]

Congrats!! Nice guitars, these.

[BoringPostcards]

I love old Framus guitars. This model looks great. Good score!

[Firecat]

I've been playing this guitar for a couple of days now and I'm really happy with it. The pickups sound really really good, warm and clear with great low end.

[CorporateDisguise]

Cool guitar! Are the pickups actually humbucking, or just pretending to be?

[Firecat]

Cool guitar! Are the pickups actually humbucking, or just pretending to be?

I'm not sure, but there's almost no hum, so I guess they are bucking

[antisymmetric]

Nice clip of one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJQvkUhz4Sw

[DrippyReverbTremolo]

That's pretty cool.

After seeing the pics I was already wondering if it has a laminate neck. How's the weight?

[Firecat]

That's pretty cool.

After seeing the pics I was already wondering if it has a laminate neck. How's the weight?

Yeah, it's a laminated neck. Weight is around 3.4 kilo.

[crazyzeke]

Fuck this thing is gorgeous and quirky... the corduroy neck alone is massively cool and yeah the modified Bigsby is brilliant, why aren't they all built with the extra innovation on top like that? The pseudo-mini-WRHBs look unique too.

I agree about the neck strap button though, that's gotta go, it's not an SG and even if it were that's on the back of the body not the neck. With some replacement knobs and screws etc this could be a killer guitar.

[ohm-men]

Great guitars. Somewhere between a Jag and a Jm.
24.75" scale, eastern grown hard pine bodies, laminated maple neck, very sturdy. (the stripped body actually looks like a 70's kitchen door... )

Pu's are Schallers version of the notorios WRHB. (Typical 70's) Thru Humbuckers and their construction does not differ that much from the real thing. Although I don't think they used CuNiFe magnets.
The neck PU is one of the best HB's I ever heard. Bridge can get a bit thin as they are wound at about the same specs (if I remember correctly)
These sound fantastic. I used to own a blue '73 wich I stupidly sold many years ago. It was made in the year and month I was born...

Guitars need some TLC though. The trem is also very cool, but you have to able to find the right spring for it (hard to obtain in case it's missing)

I remember I bought mine for € 60,- it was defretted and the trem was missing some pieces.
Did a full restoration on it but sold it purchase a(nother) Jazzmaster.
I found the neck quiet thick (more a flat U then a C shape) and for some reason I don't get allong to well with the 24.75" scale.

[crazyzeke]

I used to own a blue '73 wich I stupidly sold many years ago. It was made in the year and month I was born...

That's so much cooler than a newspaper from your date of birth, or knowing which song was #1 in your home country when you were born*** I'm gonna guess "needed the money" or some variation would be the reason, but was it?

---

***(for me it's I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder... this scene from High Fidelity kinda sums up my feelings about that to an extent, as well as being classic Jack Black chicanery despite the 15 year old YouTube potato video quality)

[ohm-men]

I used to own a blue '73 wich I stupidly sold many years ago. It was made in the year and month I was born...

That's so much cooler than a newspaper from your date of birth, or knowing which song was #1 in your home country when you were born*** I'm gonna guess "needed the money" or some variation would be the reason, but was it?

---

***(for me it's I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder... this scene from High Fidelity kinda sums up my feelings about that to an extent, as well as being classic Jack Black chicanery despite the 15 year old YouTube potato video quality)

Not really. I didn't get allong with the scale lenght and the neck. I sold it for a really good price to a guy who loved it... So it didn't go to waste
And I learned lot by restoring it. first refret, etc...
But yeah.. it's not like I'm gonna find a guitar that was made in the same month/year that I was born.
I'm currently working on a quiet simelar Bass project that's also from '73...

Really cool guitar though....

[Kinx]

this is so cool! I've always wondered how do these mini humbuckers compare to WRHBs. I used to have a Framus Nashville from the same era (it was made in november 74 according to markings in the pickup cavities) and it sounded great, but it had a strange eq to it : totally different midrange than all of my Fenders or Gibsons, yet very interesting. I loved using it for layering guitars.