MUSIKMESSE 2012: Bigsby
I’m way too much of a Bigsby fan. One of these days I’m probably going to get drunk and wind up with a big ‘ol Bigsby vibrato bridge tattooed on my back or something. This year Bigsby expert Adam Seutter is at Musikmesse to detail each step in the vibrato installation process. Guitar models to be included in the demonstrations are a Framus Earl Slick Signature and a Framus Mayfield (you might remember this model from Devin Townsend’s recent custom). Stop by Hall 4.1 booth E12 to check out the process and get your questions answered.
REVIEW: Framus Diablo Supreme X
Framus was founded in Germany by Fred Wilfer in 1946, and although its guitars found their way into the hands of players like Bill Wyman and John Lennon, before going bankrupt in 1975. The brand was resurrected by Hans Peter Wilfer, son of Fred, as part of Warwick 20 years later.
The body of the Diablo Supreme X is made of US swamp ash, and the top is AAA grade flamed maple which dances in a satisfyingly 3D way when you tilt the guitar from left to right. The carve is optomised for ergonomics but it also leads the eye purposefully to the cutaways. Pickups are a trio of Seymour Duncans: SSCR-1N Cool Rail in the neck, SSL-1 RW/RP Vintage Staggered Single Coil in the middle and STB-4 JB Trembucker in the bridge. The pickups are hooked up to 500K volume and tone pots, the latter serving as a push-pull coil splitter. Interestingly the coil split also works as a coil tap on the middle pickup, dropping its output a little for further tonal variety. Nice touch! There’s a 5-way pickup selector, but when you consider the extra sounds created by the coil split/tap, there are 10 pickup selections lurking in the Diablo. The Wilkinson/Framus bridge is of the 2-point fulcrum variety, and does the Floyd Rose-style ‘so low that the E string flaps off the fretboard’ thing with ease, returning to pitch easily with help from Framus locking tuners and a Graphtech Black Tusq low friction nut.
Check out Devin Townsend’s new Framus Mayfield Custom
If you’ve caught Devin Townsend live lately, you might have noticed him playing this beautiful Framus Mayfield Custom. Devin is using this guitar for his open C tuning (CGCGCE). It has a Bigsby B7 tremolo, passive MEC electronics, EMG Devil Signature set, a Graphtech Black Tusq nut, it’s made of AAA grade flamed maple body and neck, and it has a tigerstripe ebony fretboard, and check out those cool illuminated inlays on the 12th fret, headstock logo and fretboard side dots.
I had a chat with Devin backstage at the Soundwave Festival yesterday and he mentioned how he loved combining the 50s look of the hollowbody shape and the Bigsby bridge, with the EMG active humbuckers and low tuning. He’s also got a Sadowski Telecaster on the way, which I think will be really cool – I loved the ESP Telecasters he used in the Infinity era.
Wait a minute. [Record Scratch]. EMG Devil Signature Set? Check out the logos on the pickups. Cool!
Now, this is a Framus Custom Shop instrument rather than a commercially available signature model, and it’s a great example of what Framus can do. Check out their site for more info and a gallery of beautiful customs.
Oh and he’s a video of the guitar in action at Devin’s show here in Melbourne the other night.
And here’s a great interview with Soundwave TV about Devin’s next album, Epicloud, which he’ll be recording in Perth, Australia after Soundwave wraps up.
COOL GEAR ALERT: Framus Hollywood
Remember the ultra-cool Framus Earl Slick signature model I posted about a couple of weeks ago? Well here’s an equally cool Framus, the Hollywood Double Cut.
PRESS RELEASE
Framus started crafting solid body guitars in 1958. The original Hollywood grew to be one of its most popular models being available in both single and Double cutaway. Production of these classics ceased in 1966.
We are pleased to presnt the original FRAMUS 5/131 Hollywood back in the market again in 2011 with all Vinatage Correct features. Available in Single or Double Cutaway.
Set Neck
Inlayed head stock on Double Cutaway Model
Original Fingerboard Engraving
Vintage Correct Switches and Knobs
Framus Vintage Machine heads
24.75″ Scale length
21 Nickel Silver frets
Rosewood fingerboard
Dot inlays
Mahogany neck
Mahog Plywood Top and Back / with wooden rim in the middle of body as per the original
Framus Vintage Correct Single Coil (Neck and Bridge) Pickups
Volume/Treble/Bass/ Rotary switch
Framus Vintage Correct Bridge with Framus Vintage Tailpiece
These guitars are distributed in AUSTRALIA by Dominant Music and are available from dealers all over the country and they can ship to any location globally.
Prices start from under $900 AUS. More info
http://www.dominantmusic.com.au and http://www.facebook.com/framusaustralia
You can learn more about amazing Framus history here: http://framus-vintage.de/
COOL GEAR ALERT: Framus Earl Slick signature
Earl Slick is one of the Coolest Guitarists In The World. I’ve been fortunate to be in his immediate presence twice in my life (including bumping into him in the gents’ at Ding Dong Lounge when he did a gig with Gail Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson and Gerry Leonard), and I’ve been 58% cooler as a direct result ever since. Framus has honoured Slick’s unstoppably rockworthy guitar playing in the form of a cool new signature model, which you can see here. I took that photo above at NAMM while Slick himself hung around telling people about the new axe and looking impossibly cool.
The guitar is kitted out with a Graphtech Black Tusq nut, DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary or P90 pickups, TonePros bridge (Bigsby optional), passive MEC electronics, swamp ash body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard. One thing I think is particularly cool is the control layout (see below). Retrotastic! By the way, you can connect with Aussie Framus distributor Dominant Music on Facebook.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com