My Framus 03000 guitar

[Anseau]

Honorable society, good day

My english isn't perfect. I lack specific vocabulary about music instruments. Sorry in advance if some of what I write isn't very clear.

The basic question is , "is the standard procedure for cleaning a guitar like shown in their video about cleaning a guitar http://www.warwick.de/en/Framus---Su...l-Support.html , applies to that guitar I got?"

Sorry , I tried to change the thread title, and I don't know why it makes an other message in the main topic. I didn't want the message with just the photoes. I don't find how to remove it.

I have this second hand framus guitar my Dad oferd me, since he knew I was looking for a guitar. I am a total beginner. He got it from a second hand goods dealer. I don't know in what conditions this guitar was kept. It was stored in a home that was recently sold by its heirs in the south of France, along with all the stuff that was inside. It is likely this guitar was left untouched on the last floor of this house for years , maybe decades.


On the sticker, the model is 74D 03000.
I found the 03000 series described on this page

https://www.framus-vintage.de/en/030...3000.1-Studio/

My Dad got it restaured by a stringed instrument fixer/maker.
It is fixed, it rings good. But as you can see on the photos, it has some dirt left on it.
I am not sure if it's unprofessional from the artisan to have left the dirt. From what my Dad told me, this person had covid, and was unable to work for a few weeks, shortly after my dad left this guitar to him. He had lots of work paused. I believe that's the reason he didn't clean it good, to save some time for big clients.

As a beginner, my concern is to remove the dirt as carefuly as possible with the apropriate soaps to avoid damaging the guitar or removing the varnish. To avoid problems if it's and old generation of varnish that isn't cleaned the usual way or any other traps like that.

The varnish seems to be slightly off next to the side close to the bottom of the heel. I am not sure if it's bad for the cleaning I want to do.

I found this procedure explained in a video on how to clean a guitar on the framus website.

https://www.warwick.de/en/Framus---S...l-Support.html

Since I know nothing of the different type of woods, of varnishes, before I try doing like in this video, do you think this procedure applies for this guitar without any risk?


Thank you very much for taking the time to read my long message.


Cheers
Anseau

[rain-air]

Well, people are different. After dropping a line for the fellow member with his slightly pitted steel guitar nut I had a closer look at my avatar picture and was shocked how rusty my nut was (but I didn't mind at all,, I sold the guitar because the space up there wasn't like I'm used to and the sound was nothing special). Sometimes, heirs like every trace their lost relative left on their instrument preserved. Dirt buildup on the fretboard has to go, that's consensus for repair persons.
Peole on fora often recommend basic cleaning with a cloth lightly dampened with soap water. 70s varnish shouldn't be too critical with chemicals, but it's a very good starting point.
cheers,
Rainer.

[Anseau]

Halo! Danke schön, Rainer

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and to answer everyone here like me who got a vintage Framus guitar.

I read on the net that there are some different types of (I am not sure what is the name in english) covering /layer /finition /spray. (The most outside layer).
Some are lacquer/lacker , some are varnish, some are something else, (I find something named “polis français” (“french smooth” or “french polish” if I translate correctly).

All of these possibilities are a bit confusing. I don't need to know every single type, just the one on this framus Studio.

But my dad told me he saw someone today (probably either the music shop of his town or the artisan who fixed the guitar himself).

He got for me a bottle of Dunlop formula n° 65. I meet him this saturday. I supose it's good then. If I apply it acording with the correct procedure explained in that framus page I link in first message.

What do you think?

cheers


Anseau

[rain-air]

Hello Anseau,
a nice coincidence: a dear old friend called me and offered to get some potions and meet up to clean and polish some guitars. We used to do this when we were young, while waiting for the gig. Off course, we had to have American guitars, which were just becoming "vintage" at that time. what worked well for the delicate old finishes was the stuff marketed by Gibson. I'd expect the Dunlop one to be similar. (best to try it first for a spot at the back or so) Some years later, the good stuff was gone and I've played dirty since.
At offsetguitars forum, the topic has been discussed recently, with suggestions to use naphta (benzine) for cleaning (https://www.offsetguitars.com/forums...?f=42&t=121373)
Luckily, very few luthiers used french polishing (shellac) for high grade instruments, which is the most sensitive finish.
have a nice weekend!

[Anseau]

Here are the photos of the action I have now in January 2024 of the action of the guitar

[Anseau]

Honorable society. Good afternoon.


I continued my music adventure. I play far better the accordion than the guitar. But I am getting a better understanding of the guitar now.

I have a nylon strings guitare that I bought before I got the steel strings framus.
I trained and played guitar more than 90 % of the time on the nylon guitar. It is less painful.

2 months ago, I had enough calus to try the steel string guitar.
I played some the Framus. It felt compfortable on the first 4 or 5 frets but past this point, the guitar felt hard and painful even with the calus on the finger tips.

So I took it to the same lutier. He changed the acction and the strings.


It feels better but I discover that it doesn't sound as it should. The notes don't match when played on different octaves. For exemple, the E (Mi) of the 2 open strings, doesn't match it's one octave conterparts on the 12 th fret. THeir pitches are something like a quarter or a third higher than what they should be on the 12 th fret. It makes playing the guitar dissonant. It is heard stronglly despite not seeming that much on paper. I didn't notice this before and there can be multiple reasons for this.

Maybe it was because I wasn't trained enough on guitar to pay attention to this details as I trained only on the first 5 frets on any of the two guitars I own, or the action adjustment made by the lutier changed something .

I don't know the reason.

So I hope you do understand it is not about the tuning. If I tune correctly to MI LA RE SOL SI MI

or E A D G B E , (the same notes) , I get a slight deformation of the pitch the further I go the the center of the guitar. Tuning won't solve as it only moves the problem somewhere else on the fret board.

Is it maybe the piece on which stand the strings in the midle (I think it's called a bridge but I am not sure) that is not correclty adjested ? Can I change this whole problem with just adjusting the truss rod so the strings are slightly more apart near the center of the guitar ?
This lutier takes 50 euros for each adjustments so I'd like to save a little that is why I ask here first


THank you very much for reading.

[Anseau]

Good afternoon.
I thought the diapason could be off because of the bridge's position. It was that indeed. The bridge isn't glued or stuck to the guitar. I didn't know that. I saw a video on how to readjust it and now it sounds all good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMJArBBxLME

Cheers. I wish you well
bis bald