Hi,
A few years ago I emailed Framus/Warwick and asked them, if they would consider releasing a re-issue of the 5/150 Star Bass as used by Jet, the Warwick custom shop (who own the Framus brand) kindly replied informing me that the re-release of the Star Bass was to be released the following year... jump forward a year... and although it is a nice instrument, the current Warwick Star Bass shares nothing in common to the original 5/150 other than the name. Jump forward to the present-day and after scouring the web for the best part of three years I have come to the conclusion that most of the Framus 5/150's must have suffered a similar fate to that of Jets i.e., damaged in the early 60's and binned due to a lack of repair shops.
In light of the fact that the 5/150 Star Bass is so elusive, I intend to have a go at making a replica from scratch incorporating as many original or re-issue parts as I can find.
I have found a few pictures of the same model Jet used, though not enough to draw scale plans from. Therefore if anybody in the Shadows community knows of any Framus 5/150 Star Bass for sale (in need of restoration or otherwise), has any decent pictures or technical specifications of the Framus 5/150 Star Bass, it would be most appreciated if you would let me know.
Below are a couple of links that most of you will have already seen, the first is a link showing the Framus Star Bass Jet is most associated with (I am reliably informed he used two different models the 5/150 and a white smaller bodied model... perhaps a 5/140?), the second link is an earlier model that shares the same finish as Jets bass, I think Framus are calling it brown shaded?
http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/mo ... D=83&cl=EN
http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/mo ... =83&cl=EN#
Any comments most appreciated.
Mark.