Thinline

The first Framus thinline guitar was designed in 1953 in collaboration with Billy Lorento, aka Bill Lawrence. It was not only the first signature model coming from Franconia, but also the first electric guitar with a thin resonating body, set neck, and no sustain block inside - very characteristic of Framus-manufactured guitars. Successor models in this segment were among others the Hi-Fi-Six, and of course classics like the New Sound and the Fret Jet.

Guitar manufacturing started in 1954 with the inauguration of the Bubenreuth factory and quickly developed into a production with industrial characteristics. The widespread use of solid woods became more infrequent, therefore manufacturing with partly solid materials or utilizing only laminated manufacturing. Overall there were more than 40 different thinline and semi-acoustic instrument models till the beginning of the seventies; one of the last ones being again a guitar sporting the name Billy Lorento and with the model number 07301.