Got another Framus

[polara]

In my revolving door (is it a collection? A shop? I seldom keep anything) of fiddles to flip, a few stay. Namely, any German-made Framus. 
 

This is the brand that’s replaced Hamer as my “buy without needing to try” thing. Mike S of course carries the true Hamer torch, but I won’t stumble across an underpriced Shishkov at Guitar Center. Framus has that “don’t tell anyone or the prices will go sky high” thing as well as the Hamer “man this is well built” thing. 
 

This one is a custom shop creation from 2011. One-piece mahogany body, carved maple top, Fender scale, medium (hidden ends) frets, big ol’ ‘maple neck. The pickups are noted as “SD CU” on the build sheet. Five-way pickup selector and “blower switch”, Framus-branded vibrato and locking tuners. 
 

I like it because the single-coil settings are useful, the neck is chunky - about like a Hamer vintage carve - it stays in tune for a 45-minute set, and it’s built like a brick house. I suppose it’s vaguely like a PRS but I like this neck - the normal Franus necks are slim with jumbo frets - and it was significantly cheaper than a Custom 22. It’s also nicely broken in: the first owner was a cat from LA who said he toured with it for ten years and he’s also sold some other custom Framus so maybe he was a pro. 
 

It’s also kind of uglyI know. A lemon-colored guitar with with maple fretboard and black headstock is just odd. Anyway we’re playing at the Virginia Highland Porchfest on the 20th and I’ll use this because it does everything I need. If you find a German Framus you might want to check it out. 

[DaveH]

Rik Emmett seemed to favor Framus in the earlier days. Nice axe.

[RobB]

It’s not ugly, just, “unique.” I like the European design aesthetics of Framus. The local GC had this 60’s model for $1400:

I didn’t demo it because it most likely was missing the OHSC. I would have probably taken it home, anyway  

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by RobB