FRAMUS D-SERIES PANTHERA SUPREME

The Warwick-owned guitar brand rolls out its new affordable single-cut…

- Amit Sharma

Though they’re perhaps better known for being the guitar brand owned by Warwick, the Framus legacy is one that stretches back all the way to violin making in the mid-40s. It was founder Fred Wilfer who cunningly realised that the Sudeten German luthiers expelled from Czechoslovakia following the Second World War could put their skills to use at a rival production base in Franconia (hence the first half of the company’s name). The 50s rock’n’roll revolution saw the electric guitar become their best-seller, and by the mid-60s Framus were the biggest manufacturers in Europe. A decade later, however, the company filed for bankruptcy and lay dormant for two decades until Warwick brought the name back. As well as usage by members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in their heyday, Framus instruments have been seen in the hands of contemporary artists including Simple Plan and Funeral For A Friend, with signature models for Alice In Chains’ William DuVall, Bon Jovi’s Phil X and prog-metal mastermind Devin Townsend.