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Repair Q re old Framus 12 string


Pine Apple Slim

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My bandmate bought this old 12ver off CL. He said it was tuned 1/2 step flat so he tuned it up to standard and after strunning it just a few times, there was a loud popping noise and the action came way up. Its not really playable now up past the 1st few frets. He brought it to band practice for me to look over. We took the strings off and looked inside w a mirror. Appears its a bolt on neck. The neck sticks thru a hole in the body, like a tenon, and there appears to be a bolt of some sort securing it. Hard to see really well because of a big old top brace in the way. The joint seems solid, ie no wiggle or play. I cant really tell if its moved or not because I didnt see it before the movement, but it looks normal for tolerances on something like this. He asked me to take it home and see if I could figure out what happened.

Im gonna remove the truss rod cover and see if the truss rod works. It doesnt appear to have failed as the neck looks to have normal relief.

When I get the time to get it out, I'll post some pics. Ill try to get the inside and exterior neck joint, put a straight edge on the neck and capture that, and whatever else anyone might like to see to help me out.

Anybody have any other ideas? If the neck joint has moved, how hard is it to re-set these things?

 

 

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Slim, do you have any idea where the sound came from (neck, bridge, somewhere inside, etc?).   I can't think of any reason any thing would pop simply by tuning up to concert.    The Framus that I remember seeing had a really funky bridge - as I recall it was several pieces and adjustable - could something have moved there?

I also recall Framus having a weird arched back - not the normal bracing like most guitars.   That tells me that it is going to be really hard to diagnose the problem without actually seeing the guitar but for the purpose of the forum, post the normal neck angle shots (straight edge on the frets pointing to the saddle) as well as pictures of the bridge.    Measure the action at 12 and the relief at 6/7, and the height of the strings off the top of the guitar in front of the bridge.  Measure to at least 1/64 of an inch, use feeler guages if possible (definitely for the relief).

I have a friend with a Framus 6 string - I'll try to get him to let me look inside at the neck joint if it seems like yours needs a reset.

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Thanks Freeman! I was hoping you'd chime in. He couldnt say where the noise came from. The bridge is a weird thing. The base plate is shaped kinda like a big ole Gibson Mustache.  Half a doz screws holding the thing to the top. Its really heavy duty and looks like it would take a John Deere to pull it up. But there are other parts involved. I think the saddle is adjustable, and theres this metal plate that holds the strings.

Ive never seen a neck joint like this. Looks really screwy but possibly pretty easy to disassemble and re-set if you know what your doing. I dont think theres any glue involved.

I'll take the pics you asked for and string it up(prob w just 6 for now) and take the measurements as soon as I get the time, might be a day or 2.

Thanks for your help. 

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Pine Apple Slim wrote:

 

Yea the laminations are kinda cool. I've never done inserts so I'm gonna pass on that and do it just like I've done a Tele or two.

 

Slim, I like Freeman's idea of threaded inserts. They'll certainly work better and last longer than reusing the screws it has now. Threaded inserts are a piece of cake.....you owe it to yourself to at least check 'em out.

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Well, I wound up shimming with one thickness of credit card, which was only a hair thicker than the old shim. I should have done 2 layers, but the angle was so high I was afraid it would buzz under tension. No such luck. This neck and attachment system sure has a LOT of flex in it. Action is still a little high but still very playble cause I left it a whole step flat and put a capo on it to be safe. This thing is a bugger to string, and I dont want to ustring it and try again. I'm just gonna tell him to keep it this way until he decides to change the strings on it. Then I'll hunt up some bolts and inserts and shim it some more.

Anyway, now he can play it. Thanks all for the help!

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