Brentcgp wrote
X-rated Bob wrote
FRAMUS acoustic.
Tell us lighties more ? Where these THE guitars? why are they special? they not around anymore?
Framus are still around. The guy in question was given this guitar. It's hardly ever been played, 40 odd years old. He checked and found the factory is still going - in Germany. It's not a case of somebody buying up the old name and slapping the logo on Korean guitars. So he was able to write to them, give them the serial number etc and they gave him a whole lot of history about his guitar.
In the 50s and 60s there were a lot of European guitar brands. I think they were viewed as being a bit second class relative to the American brands. But if you didn't have the cash you bought a Burns or a Hofner and waited until you could afford something better.
There's a comment from Thompson's web site about this recently unearthed photo. He says he hadn't had that guitar long when the shot was taken. That was 1967. By the end of the year Fairport Convention had a recording contract and Thompson was playing a Gibson.
I don't see any reason really why the European brands of the day shouldn't have been good guitars - though it may be that they didn't have access to some good quality components.
Brian May's famous home made guitar has Burns pickups.
Some players still use these less-famed guitars just to get a different sound. I'm thinking of Buddy Miller and David Lindley. I found out this morning that Chris Rea owns and still uses a Hofner V3.
