Tell me all about the framus cobra

LunatiBSW

LunatiBSW

Active member
Heard it's a beast?
Who has experience with one? Heard the loops are iffy? What's that about? do they suck or just like line level?
Found a good condition one I may score.

Thanks guys
 
I miss my Cobra. Awesome amp but needs specific things to not sound awful: channel volume at least 3 oclock, fx loop at 12 oclock (even with nothing in the loop)
Clean channel was amazing....but who cares lol The crunch and Lead are so wonderfully brutal. I want another one
 
it needs band volume to sound great
also, it works better with greenbacks than v30's
the crunch channel sounds huge and tight
you just gotta watch out for the bass and deep controls, or you might swallow the bassist
 
Definitely a beast. A picky one, though. You'll find a sweet spot on each channel and probably never leave it without the introduction of certain pedals, as it's just not an amp that consistently kills while sweeping through EQ settings. It's true that the loop is a bummer. As you sweep through the range of the loop pot, there's a considerable volume swell at 12:00, with 0% and 100% wetness being the lowest points, volume wise. Some people have the loop modded to run 100% wet all the time and leave the setting stationary at noon for volume.

There's a common complaint of a 'fuzzy' characteristic around the notes on channels 2 and 3 that is more or less noticeable when swapping various pre's, but is always present. I came across a tip around here a few years back that if you run the channel volume full tilt and adjust the master to taste, the fuzz is noticeably mitigated. People thought that sounded ludicrous, but I have noticed the difference and run it that way, myself.

I always preferred greenies with the cobra. Absolutely kills in an Überkab. They're not joking about the low end. The bass and Deep in the power section will rattle the teeth out of your head. But I know that Adam D ran it with V30's in a Mesa cab for his lead tones on the Times of Grace project and I thought it sounded incredible.

And yes... Surprise, surprise, it sounds best when cranked. If you have any use for a clean channel, it's absolutely pristine and can be driven into gnarly breakup. Unfortunately, if you don't have the time or patience to sit down with the amp and take note of the intricacies - or tediousness that is the cobra, it'll be hard to appreciate it. But if you give it some time and experimentation, it'll slay. Guaranteed.
 
The Framus Cobra is an manimal, must obtain a permit to own in some states. It will bang your woman, steal your ride, and flip you the bird while driving off.

Run the channel volume on ch2 and 3 at full volume. This cleans the fizz up considerably. KT77's will further clean up the wet saturated (fizz) gain the amp has. My buddy runs EL34's in his still, mine sounds cleaner and more defined with 77's, his sounds a bit angrier in the mids with 34's. You want the Cobra cab for two reasons. It's front loaded and it has greenbacks. Last is run a boost, that amp pretty much requires a clean boost like an 808, with that on CH2 gain dimed, it's a death machine.
 
Is it true that they break down and are made like cabbage ?

Always heard this about these amps. Wanted one so bad but passed just from hearing that a little too often.
 
You guys are fucking great!
No where else can I ask about an amp and get so many first hand experiences and great tips, much appreciated! I'm gonna snag the one at my local Gc tomorrow. Worth a shot!
With reliability I heard it was actually the cab jack:jackplate that was weak and made the amps see no load. So I read that's the issues lamb of god and killswitch were having, but the actual amp was good to go? But I just read that.
Anyone with one have any issues?
More feedback welcome, keep it coming
 
I was NOT impressed with the front panel and grill build quality. (Did not open up the chassis)
Requires too many eq "tricks" and dial turning to get enough of a usable sound to justify the price as well.
 
LunatiBSW":16v1icuz said:
You guys are fucking great!
No where else can I ask about an amp and get so many first hand experiences and great tips, much appreciated! I'm gonna snag the one at my local Gc tomorrow. Worth a shot!
With reliability I heard it was actually the cab jack:jackplate that was weak and made the amps see no load. So I read that's the issues lamb of god and killswitch were having, but the actual amp was good to go? But I just read that.
Anyone with one have any issues?
More feedback welcome, keep it coming
Click to expand...
Rumor has it, that the Cobra does not like having no load on it and will pop the output transformer in a matter of seconds with no load, compared to something like a recto or 6505 that are sturdier and can survive minutes with no cab plugged in. Combine that with stage chaos and half drunk rodies, shit gets unplugged/not hooked up right a lot, lol.

But, on the other hand the jack on my Cobra cab went all fucky and it took me a minute or so to figure out what was going on (amp went silent while a buddy was running through it) until I hit the standby switch. Mine survived just fine. Other than that I have not had trouble, nor has my close bud that also has a Cobra. Only thing though, is those wires on the footswitch Y are kinda tender and easily pulled out.

I love the Cobra, it's a violent crushing amp, and if I played out and in a band I probably would go to it first as my "live" amp.
 
It's true that the external build quality is dog shit. The tolex may as well be diseased rat hide, the front panel corrodes to the touch and the wood construction itself is pretty flimsy. For these reasons, it's rare to find one in great condition. There are reasons people flip them, for sure. But there are reasons some miss them when they go.
 
Ah, the tolex isn't that bad I don't think. What is nice is if you can find one for a good deal with good tolex but a stained faceplate, just dye it with Cymbal cleaner and it will look new like it came from the factory black. Last Cobra I found was like that, stained face but clean tolex, got a decent deal because of that and I had the intention to dye it black anyway.
 
I've always found it damn interesting that this head prefers green back (never played one myself mind you). Generally heads with these levels of gain are popular with V30s or even G12-75's, but not green backs. Given that I always come back to GBs, makes me wonder if this is the ridiculously high gain head I should own.
 
Sometimes it's in the way the builder tailors the preamp too, you know. Framus must have just found a combo of that speaker, with certain preamp setups that just worked, and work it does.

Diezel is a good example, supposedly all the EQing and preamp testing/developing is done while playing through a V30.
 
I love my Cobra. This is my second one. Love the nasty tone this beast makes. I run the loop at noon for optimal tone. I agree that it needs the matching cab or at least greenbacks to be ideal. Not to mention it looks cool. :)

It's the perfect toaster oven for metal! :D

 
Oh, and I never had issues with either of mine. Ran KT88s in both of them. If you guys have ever seen the chassis they are a really minimal inside.

The FX loop does suck balls. I never use it. Thought about having the loop modded but never got around to it.
 
The matching greenback cab does sound mean as hell but I'm going to give my vote for best cab to the VHT/Fryette 412 FatBottom with p50e speakers.
 
There was one sitting in a GC near me a few months ago DIRT cheap. It was a little scuffed up but I think it was going for $600.
 
danyeo":1z2dk9zf said:
There was one sitting in a GC near me a few months ago DIRT cheap. It was a little scuffed up but I think it was going for $600.
Click to expand...

OMG!! For 600 I'd just get it even if I didn't need it!!! Wow!!
 
I bet it would sound good through my fl k100 cab also. That thing is a beast. I'm liking it waaaaay more than my uberkab
 
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