The origin of the Framus brand dates back to 1946, in Erlangen, a small town in Franconia (Germany), under the unpronounceable name of Fränkische Musikinstrumentenerzeugung. Its founder, Fred Wilfer, born in what would now be the Czech Republic, decided to relocate a group of Luthiers from the Schönbach region whose profession was in jeopardy due to the Second World War.

Two decades after its foundation, Framus already had more than 300 workers. Among its first customer in the 1950s there is a certain Paul McCartney, from The Beatles, who composed his first songs with a Framus Zenith model 17 that is still hanging in his studio today. A friend of his, a certain John Lennon, would buy a Framus Hootenanny guitar for his part in 1965, today an authentic relic difficult to obtain and highly searched by collectors.

The company continued to grow throughout the 1960s and built a reputation for making good instruments at an affordable price. Another notable user during this decade was Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, who played a 5/150 Star Framus bass.

Today Framus belongs to the Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG group and remains true to its reputation as a company that makes very good instruments at affordable prices.