Interpreting Framus Acoustic Labels

[Styles Bitchley]

Thank you to Fee K. for offering some clarity on the dating code in another thread, noting that there is often stamp on the label marking the year in numbers, followed by the month alphabetically (A=January, B=February, etc.). Mine was there in plain sight (70E) but I had not realized what it meant. I had noted in this other thread that my label had fallen off and revealed an exact date of manufacture beneath that was stamped directly on the wood.

Also thorough my research I discovered that "L" refers to natural finish - were there other letter suffixes that note different finishes.

It sounds like there is little information to be gleaned from the serial numbers. Were these just randomly assigned?

Many of these acoustics I've seen online appear to be tested by someone named Müller. Was he (or she) the main tester for a certain period. Mine appears to be tested by someone else. And what about these model numbers 06011, 06111, etc. that are stamped on some but not all labels.

I also discovered that "EX" refers to those guitars that were shipped to export markets. Are there any other codes or details that offer useful information about these guitars.

Thanks to all the experts who make your knowledge available.

[Fee K.]

Hello again,
on the framus-vintage.de website there is this "Dating help" page, which few posters on here know. In English it reads:

Dating made easy

Since the end of 1959, semi-acoustic and full-resonance guitars show a plate in their body, which contains all necessary information to determine a Framus instrument:

Model number

Example: 5/59
= Sorella

Serial No.

Example: 35062

doesn't contain any statement concerning the sequence of production; it is not possible to derive any information from this figure

Tested by

Example: Müller
this is "in most cases" the signature of the master guitar-maker and final inspector of Framus, Richard Müller

Stamp of the year of production

Example: 61I
= 1961 September
Months are denoted from A-L, the letter M was partly used for the month of December

Here's the link: https://www.framus-vintage.de/en/nav...036f4476f2f9e9


Yes, a suffix could give information about colour, but it doesn't appear to be consistently used. With the new model number system, it is integrated in the number.
You can find lots of guitars with the EX stamp in Germany btw. There are no differences in construction.

[Styles Bitchley]

Hello again,
on the framus-vintage.de website there is this "Dating help" page, which few posters on here know. In English it reads:

Dating made easy

Since the end of 1959, semi-acoustic and full-resonance guitars show a plate in their body, which contains all necessary information to determine a Framus instrument:

Model number

Example: 5/59
= Sorella

Serial No.

Example: 35062

doesn't contain any statement concerning the sequence of production; it is not possible to derive any information from this figure

Tested by

Example: Müller
this is "in most cases" the signature of the master guitar-maker and final inspector of Framus, Richard Müller

Stamp of the year of production

Example: 61I
= 1961 September
Months are denoted from A-L, the letter M was partly used for the month of December

Here's the link: https://www.framus-vintage.de/en/nav...036f4476f2f9e9


Yes, a suffix could give information about colour, but it doesn't appear to be consistently used. With the new model number system, it is integrated in the number.
You can find lots of guitars with the EX stamp in Germany btw. There are no differences in construction.

Thanks so much for this. Unfortunately, Google wasn’t much help in finding that page!