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Acquired my Grandfathers Framus Plectrum Banjo some years ago. I am in the midst of having it refurbished and trying to identify the model of it. I believe it may be a Texan line? There are no stickers or stamped serial numbers that I can find anywhere on it. I do have the original head that has the Framus logo on it but it is cracked. Head tension screws are on top using an Allen wrench. It also has a fret wire just after the nut. And why the nut is marked out with 6 slots is baffling to me. It also has an old pickup wired in there with quarter inch jack mounted on the flange. It does have a coordinator rod. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
To me it also looks like a Texan, maybe from around 1970. Perhaps you could find it in the Framus museum . Yours has the heavy archtop tonering which makes it a fine instrument.
Furthermore:
The nut should have just 4 slots, someone has been tampering with it.
The screw at the tailpiece end is for adjusting the neck angle and thereby the action.
The fretwire just after the nut is a so-called zeroth fret. Crudely said, instead of at the nut, which is more common, this is where your fretboard starts. Works fine.
The serial number at the back of the peghead, covered under glossy lacquer, is easily overlooked. The number is followed by a group of 3 caracters, 2 number for the year, and a letter for the month of production, e.g., 74c indicates march 1974.
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Originally posted by lucas73bTo me it also looks like a Texan, maybe from around 1970. Perhaps you could find it in the Framus museum . Yours has the heavy archtop tonering which makes it a fine instrument.
I'd think it is from the 'Solist' series -one like this, I started my 'career' with-, the Texan had a bent, ~5 mm wire tailpiece not a machined one like on this banjo.
The black peghead (paint?) overlay suggests a top-of-the-line Solist, but those had planetary tuners, so...
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Originally posted by schuylerj"Frankenstein" is the first thought that popped into my head when I saw the Inside pot picture.
This was the way they were built.
In the reverb link is one of the same model I believe, which tells you the head has been changed and that the nut was changed (somewhat crudely) and replaced by the person who loved this instrument before. If the framus-vintage.com website is accurate, then it looks most like the 200 series with a different tailpiece than what that website shows, but yours is still a standard tailpiece for Framus'.
reverb.com/item/97706039-framu...o-vintage
framus-vintage.com/6-274-Stand...0-Series/
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Originally posted by KirbyInKentuckyIn the reverb link is one of the same model I believe, which tells you the head has been changed and that the nut was changed (somewhat crudely) and replaced by the person who loved this instrument before. If the framus-vintage.com website is accurate, then it looks most like the 200 series with a different tailpiece than what that website shows, but yours is still a standard tailpiece for Framus'.
reverb.com/item/97706039-framu...o-vintage
framus-vintage.com/6-274-Stand...0-Series/
Correct. Having owned two Framus's over the years, the heads were frosted on the underside and marked with the word 'Framus' on the top. The nut is a real bodgy job. Everything else is stock standard with it.
Mine did not have the Framus brand name anywhere, neither on the headstock, nor on the head. If you really want to know what exactly you have you will need a warranty card with serial number like the one below.
As Wayne suggested, for a replacement, a bottom frosted head will give you that authentic looks. On a glossy surface, a Remo logo can just be whiped of with a tissue wetted with a few drops of acetone.
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Originally posted by lucas73bMine did not have the Framus brand name anywhere, neither on the headstock, nor on the head. If you really want to know what exactly you have you will need a warranty card with serial number like the one below.
I can't find my card right now, it has to be somewhere ( I traded the banjo -for a guitar, as I didn't have one yet- after I just got my Iida 233, now I'd wish I still had that Framus too...)
Anyway. mine was a 13100 and bought only a few months later and a few kilometers from yours.
Sept 1st 1973 from Sacksioni Guitarshop in the Ruysdaelstraat...
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