One of the coolest things about my NAMM visit was hanging out at the Framus display and checking out the revamped Panthera line. Each Panthera is loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups, and each is aimed at a different type of player. Framus has been working on the new line for over two years and have managed to strike a pretty impressive balance of playability, tone and finishing, while maintaining an independent style. You see one of these babies and you know it’s a Framus.

Models include a natural satin finished Panthera with SH-2 Jazz and SH-4 JB humbuckers; the Panthera Supreme with AAA flamed maple top and SH-1 ’59 and SH-14 Custom 5 humbuckers; the Panthera Legacy, a Bigsby-loaded version with PH-1N Alnico II Pro and SH-PG1B Pearly Gates humbuckers; the bolt-neck Panthera Studio with APH-1N Alnico II Pro, APS-1 RW/RP Alnico Pro II staggered single coil and SH-5 Custom; Panthera Studio Supreme which adds a AAA flamed maple top to the Studio; and the Panthera 7-string, sporting a set of active Blackouts Phase I AHB-1N 7 and AHB-1B 7.

I was quite taken by the 7-string – the neck wasn’t too chunky nor was it too thin, and the fretwork was spectacular – Framus makes great use of the PLEK system to achieve this. Seymour Duncan Blackouts are pretty cool too! But as much as I dug the 7-string (and the Panthera Studio Supreme) I was also into the Panthera Supreme with Bigsby – anyone who’s read this site for a while or has talked guitars with me over a few beers will certainly know how much of a Bigbsy geek I am, despite my predisposition towards shreddy guitars.

I also checked out the Diablo series, again loaded with Seymour Duncans. The models include: the swamp ash Diablo (SSCR-1N Cool Rail, SSL-1 RW/RP Vintage Staggered Single Coil, STB-4 JB Trembucker; Diablo Progressive (mahogany body, TonePros wraparound bridge, AHB-1 active Blackouts Phase 1, AHB-2 active Blackouts Metal ); Diablo Progressive X with Floyd Rose, SH-2N Jazz Model, STB-6 Distortion Trembucker; Diablo Supreme (mahogany body with AAA flamed maple top, TonePros wraparound bridge, SH-1 ’59 model, SH-4 JB model; Diablo Supreme X (Wilkinson by Framus vibrato bridge, SSCR-1N Cool Rail, SSL-1 RW/RP Vintage Staggered Single Coil, STB-4 JB Trembucker; and Diablo 7-string (mahogany body, TonePros Tune-o-matic bridge, Blackouts Phase 1 AHB-1N 7, AHB-1B 7.

The Diablo Progressive X was pretty cool – I couldn’t resist a few hyperspeed runs, hehe – and I was blown away by the traditional-yet-modern feel of the swamp ash Diablo.

Check out these pics from the Framus website. From top to bottom that’s:

Panthera Legacy; Panthera Supreme; Panthera Studio Supreme; Panthera 7-string; Diablo; Diablo Progressive; Diablo Supreme; Diablo 7-string

For more info visit Framus’s website.