bmusic - Product News and Reviews

The full range of exciting Framus amps from Germany are now available online and in-store at bmusic. The Framus name is one which many will recall from years gone by, and the company has been resurrected by Hans Peter, the son of it's founder Alfred Andreas Wilfer, and the man behind another famous German maker, the Warwick bass and amp company.
We've not been this excited about a new amp range to hit our floor in a long, long time but, after seeing these things in action again at the Frankston International Guitar Festival, there was no question we had to have them as another part of the alternative range we offer at bmusic.
Each and every Framus amp is a boutique, no-nonsense beast capable of an incredible array of high-quality tones. Take a look at the available range below and check out the interesting Framus history lesson at the bottom of the page.

Framus Dragon 100 Watt Head Hand-wired construction, all tube, 3 swithcable channels, integrated MIDI.		Framus Dragon Angled Quad Dragon 4X12 cabinet, the best way to reproduce the tone of the Dragon head.		Framus Dragon Straight Quad Acoustically tuned cabinets are loaded with 4 x 12" Celestion Vintage 30s.		Framus Cobra 100 Watt Head Take the Dragon head and hot-rod it to the max. Result - the Cobra all-tube head!		Framus Cobra Angled Quad Framus worked long and hard to design the perfect cabs to augment the Cobra amps.		Framus Cobra Straight Quad Capable of reproducing the wide range of high-quality tones that the Cobra generates.
Framus Carlos Santana Head Uncompromising boutique amp with acute, clear clean tones and closely saturated overdrive.		Framus Carlos Santana 2 x 12" The 2 x 12 Carlos Santana - perfect supplement to the Framus Carlos Santana head.		Framus Santana Bubinga Head The stunning bubinga cabinet version of the Carlos Santana Signature Framus head.		Framus Santana Bubinga 2x 12" Santana 2 x 12" box complete with stunning Bubinga cabinet and Celestion V30s.		Framus Ruby Riot Classic Combo Framus techs designed their dream combo amp, with no restrictions or limitations at all.		Framus Ruby Riot Ruby Red Combo Ruby Red tolex version of the incredible Ruby Riot 30 watt class A valve combo.

When Fred Wilfer returned to his hometown of Walthersgrün at the end of the Second World War he was quick to realize that the Sudetenland, still under American control but soon to be handed over to the Russians, offered no future. With the help of the Americans he succeeded in the somewhat hazardous venture of bringing the first violinmakers from Schönbach to Franconia, laying the foundations for their resettlement in the district of Erlangen.

In the early postwar years from 1945 to 1947, Fred Wilfer was primarily occupied in finding new homes and gainful employment for the Schönbach violinmakers. Somehow he found lodging for them as well as tools and raw materials at a time when there were really none to be had. He was forever in the offices of the administration in Munich fighting his way through the red tape, obtaining ration coupons, planning permission, arguing the case for this or for that. Meanwhile in 1946 he founded the "Framus" works... the name being an acronym of FRAnconian MUSical instruments and designed to draw attention to the fact that the celebrated violinmakers of Schönbach had made Franconia their new home.

The first workshops were established in a disused community work camp in Möhrendorf near Erlangen. The firm soon grew out of these premises, and Framus moved to a sometime brewery building in Baiersdorf. By a lot of hard work, coupled with a talent for getting things done, Fred Wilfer managed to get the firm off the ground in those most trying of times. By 1954, even the Baiersdorf plant was not big enough and Fred Wilfer had to build a new factory. 1955 saw the official opening of the new works in Bubenreuth. By this time there were some 300 employees on the payroll, most of them resettled Schönbachers, but joined now by a fair number of workers from the local area. It was mainly guitars that Framus built and exported all over the world, but the firm also made zithers, basses and banjos. By this time the Framus name enjoyed world-wide recognition.

In 1966, a second factory was established in Pretzfeld in the area known as Fränkische Schweiz, as even the Bubenreuth plant was now too small. 100 people were employed in this facility. In 1971 Framus celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Fred Wilfer's work and commitment to the music industry were honored by statesmen such as Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard and Theodor Heuss, to name but a few. The next year, the Municipality of Bubenreuth awarded Fred Wilfer an "Honorary Citizen Medal" for his services to Bubenreuth and in recognition of his role in the resettlement of the violinmakers.

In the Seventies, price dumping by companies from the Far East began seriously undercutting the established brands and the market became brutally competitive. The effect was to force a number of firms into bankruptcy, among them Framus in 1975. For Fred Wilfer this must have been a bitter experience. He had the consolation, however, of living to see his youngest son, Hans Peter, make a new start in the business, establishing the firm Warwick in 1982 and ultimately reviving and bringing new honor to the name Framus.

Alfred Andreas Wilfer died in Markneukirchen December 29th, 1996. He was born in Walthersgrün in the Sudetenland on the 2nd of January 1917. He founded Framus and led it to world renown. In the process he made a huge contribution towards the development of the instrument building industry in Germany.

Hans Peter is keeping the memory of his father alive by bring Framus back to life. Built in his Warwick factory in Markneukirchen in the Saxon Vogtland, the new breed of Framus guitars and amps represent some of the finest handcrafted musical products available in the world.