Mystery 'Stanley Clarke style' Framus solid bass - maybe a prototype, c.1971 - 1973 ?

[QsDuesBlues]

Just received this mysterious short scale Framus solid bass from E-Bay Germany - neck and headstock seem identical to the Framus 5/153 semi- acoustic bass (with more recent Schaller tuners) but solid body is presumably authentic Framus also (?) - although no serial number on neck or body. The neck pocket is a nice tight fit and the 4 x screws and bracket are typical Framus; neck in that multi-laminate style of the early 70's. The body could be a non-Framus one of course, but then why use an old Framus neck and not a more modern one? The body shape is reminiscent of some Alembics and Westones also - but this is NOT a recent bass - there are decades of wear on the frets and the body is not recent either. Both were covered in a nasty yellow/brown stain of some kind - took me 2&1/2 hours to clean wood and metal thoroughly! There are filled holes where a pickup cover in the bass position may have been positioned, and a few other 'plug' marks. The 2nd large cavity must have been for some sort of early active bass circuitry - and those large pickups could be some sort of low-impedance experiment ?






Maybe this is a Framus prototype bass c. 1973 - when Stanley Clarke appeared on the scene with Chick Corea's 'Return To Forever' band - everybody wanted a 'Stanley-style' bass - and maybe Framus experimented with this one, which never proceeded beyond the one-off stage ?

Or - since the neck at least was sold through 'Musikhaus Barth' (label remnant on headstock) - it could be some kind of home-made hybrid ?

I'm most grateful for any info./ opinion from forum members or Framus employees - danke !

Ich bin sehr dankbar für jede Info./ Meinung von Forenmitgliedern oder Framus-Mitarbeitern - danke !

[QsDuesBlues]

Well, no one seems to recognise the body as Framus-built - and I'm grateful to Herr Hans-Peter Wilfer for his similar opinion - so it's looking like perhaps it's a custom hand-made affair from way back when (early 70's), made as a 3-piece 2" deep mahogany block. I'll fit it with new Gotoh tuners and graphite nut, give a nice re-fret to that straight old multi-laminate Framus 'Caravelle' bass neck - and replace the horrible metal bridge with its flesh-tearing corners ('adjustable' - but actually non-adjustable without removing it!). If the pickups don't perform, then I've got 2 x Bartolini passive pickups that should sound good. My first (and probably last) bass ! Will post up some pics when the job's done later in 2023...........

One small addition 8/7/23: - I've just seen two Framus Strato De Luxe / Strato Golden 6-string bridges that are clearly of very similar design to this bass 4-string one - and the contours of this bass body are so beautifully sculpted - if it's not by Framus, then surely it's a factory-produced body from somebody....?

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