Framus Lap Steel -a Curious Design

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 11 Jul 2011 9:14 am

A few years ago I bought a Framus S8 laptop. I like it a lot, and it's become one of my favorites. Apart from it's excellent tone, the ability to switch tunings at the flick of a few levers is very useful.

The curious feature is its sandwich construction, which we will come to in a moment.

The top part is in excellent condition, but the bottom part needs to be restored. I removed the bottom part to work on it and it became immediately obvious that it fulfils no purpose.

The top part is the entire lap steel. Without the bottom part it plays and sounds exactly the same. The bottom part is purely cosmetic. Now the leg sockets screw into the bottom part, but that's only because it's there; they could equally well screw directly into the top part.
So, what is the purpose of the bottom part ? It increases the weight of the instrument, and here is another point: the only other person I know who has ever owned a Framus lap steel is Basil Henriques, who owned the three-neck version, which he eventually sold because it was too heavy and wouldn't keep in tune. No wonder it was too heavy, with three of these lap steels screwed to an unnecessary baseplate.

The underneath of the actual lap steel part is unfinished, because it was never intended to be seen. I'm thinking of finishing the underneath and putting the bottom part away in storage. It could be screwed back on in a few minutes if necessary.

Frank James Pracher · Post by **Frank James Pracher** » 11 Jul 2011 7:15 pm

That looks great! Love that bridge. Does it work well?

Kekoa Blanchet · Post by **Kekoa Blanchet** » 11 Jul 2011 8:13 pm

What an interesting design! Like Frank, I'm curious as to how well the bridge works.

One important function of thickness is that is determines the stiffness of the body (especially the neck). If you cut the thickness in half, you'll have only 1/4 of the original stiffness. This might lead to the neck warping over time or, when one or more strings is re-tuned with that bridge changer, the other strings might change slightly in pitch. Did you see any evidence of that with the slimmed-down guitar?

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 12 Jul 2011 5:27 am

Cool! It reminds me of the Hipshot Trilogy bridge.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 12 Jul 2011 3:46 pm

I haven't observed any warping yet, but then, the bottom part has only been removed for two days so far. The instrument has only eight strings. I've built lap steels with more strings than that with wood no thicker than the top half. The instrument is very heavily built.

The levers on the bridge work well. For normal playing I have all the levers in the central position, and I've adjusted the travel on each lever to go up or down to preset pitches. I don't notice any strings changing their pitch other than the one intended: that would be the equivalent to cabinet drop.

I have a Hipshot Trilogy on one of my other lap steels. The two mechanisms do the same job, but they're designed differently.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 12 Jul 2011 4:02 pm

cool alan..i always thought i wanted one of those. can they be found for a reasonable price?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Jul 2011 9:38 am

They were made in Germany. I don't know how common they are in Europe. I bought mine on eBay a few years ago from a seller in Germany. Since I retired I've stopped looking on eBay: on a reduced budget I don't want to be tempted by the goodies.

http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/site/site.php
Check out the above website.

As an aside, I have a Framus long-necked banjo which I bought in Birmingham, England, in 1965.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 13 Jul 2011 9:50 am

there's a steeler by the name of Tam who resides in Belgium who plays a double neck Framus like that one
y'all can check him out here :
http://www.myspace.com/tamlealoha

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Jul 2011 9:55 am

Thanks for that link, Crowbear. I've seen Tam's playing before, and it's impressive.

Check out also these links...
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ght=framus

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ght=framus

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ght=framus

basilh wrote: (from an earlier thread)...This was mine for a while..

The single neck model is probably worth between £250-£350 DEFINITELY not more.. The changers are NOT as accurate as the Hipshot ones, and relatively difficult to set up..
I should know, I WAS that soldier!

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 13 Jul 2011 10:18 am

So the single was set up just like the multi-necks, even though it doesn't need the modular base.

Maybe you could rout a secret compartment for smuggling microfilm inside?

Tom Campbell · Post by **Tom Campbell** » 13 Jul 2011 12:20 pm

Get a piece of 3/16 aluminum and have it cut to the configuration of your guitar...mount it on the bottom. You could probably use the same holes that are used for your current base. The aluminum should improve your tone and sustain. Also, it would give the guitar added support.

I have two Sierra laps (8 string verison) that have the aluminum (type) base.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Jul 2011 4:28 pm

Darrell Urbien wrote:So the single was set up just like the multi-necks, even though it doesn't need the modular base.

Maybe you could rout a secret compartment for smuggling microfilm inside?

They seem to have set up to produce one size of body and they bolt as many identical bodies together as they need for the configuration. So, for the triple neck model they're using six bodies, and, presumably, for the four neck model they would use ten bodies.

This goes along with what Basil said years ago about the three-neck model being too heavy to carry around. You would need to be a weight-lifter to handle the four-neck model.

Yes, you could hollow it out and put all sorts of things inside.

Microfilm went out when they invented fax machines. Nowadays most espionage is just sent over the internet.

Maybe a coffee maker.

Tom Campbell wrote:Get a piece of 3/16 aluminum and have it cut to the configuration of your guitar...mount it on the bottom. You could probably use the same holes that are used for your current base. The aluminum should improve your tone and sustain. Also, it would give the guitar added support.

I have two Sierra laps (8 string verison) that have the aluminum (type) base.

I've liked the idea of working with aluminum for some time, but I don't have access to the material or the tools. In another thread I showed how I was building a lap steel out of stainless steel, using a computerized laser machine, but since I retired I no longer have access to a machine shop: I just have my carpentry tools.