Opening a Framus Cobra

killertone

killertone

Well-known member
How the fuck do you do it?? Is it me or is it a complete pain in the ass? I am trying to bias a buddy of mine's and it looks to only come out if you remove all of the knobs and switches...that can't be right, am I missing something?

:doh: :doh: :doh:
 
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Tnjpekar":c06ba said:
Hey J. no its not you, they are a pita
oh, BTW, Happy Birthday
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Thanks, Tom!

I figured it out, it just needed its ass kicked! :gethim: That has to be the absolute worst head box/chassis design I have ever seen. I know they have external bias points now and I hope they have revised the head box design because it blows. Great sounding amp though.
 
Yeah, I dont know if you remember but when I got my first brian moore I was raving about the tone from the cobra. killer lead and clean tones out of that box for sure
 
Yeah, it's a pain in the arse but it gets easier after the 5th time you do it :lol:
Just pull it through the back of the headshell but turn the Chasis sideways.
 
you really need two people to remove that chassis from the head box very well...it sucks when you go to retube it, but it's a bit of a testament to what the amp would hold up to
 
It's pretty simple when you finally get it right. This is how you do it:

Remove the screws from the bottom. Take the amp onto your lap, front facing away from you. Take a good hold of the trannys, tilt the amp a bit (lift the back of the amp) inside the headshell. Now just drop the headshell leaving the amp in your hands. (ie. hold the amp faceplate facing the ground, the headshell should just drop off pretty easily).

Of course before this can work you'll need to remove the screws from the faceplate and the wooden blocks from the back of the amp.
 
WTF!!!! It was my amp that Killertone was retubing and biasing yesterday. I couldn't believe the amount of bullsh*t we went through to get this bastard open.

While I love the way this amp sounds, I concur that it is undoubtedly the poorest chasis design ever. The only thing more retarded would have been for them to put the entire thing together using rivets instead of just on the corner guards which is retarded enough - considering that they inhibit your ability to slide the chasis out.

BTW, I hear that Framus has added an exterior bias pot on the latest revision of the Cobra. Okay, but unless they make the head taller - you will still have to remove the chasis from the shell to allow room for the bias probes and the tubes.

:loco:
 
on the new cobra the bias probes go right into the back (there are 4 points and a ground i believe on the back to allow for this)

the amp could be easier to tear down i agree, if they wanted to deter noobs who shouldn't be opening their amp (not saying anyon here is) tho...they did a good job
 
I was one of the first 4 or 5 Framus dealers in the US and remember when the first Dragon came in my store. It was nowhere near as difficult to open as the Cobra so i don't think they were trying to deter anyone from opening the amp and biasing it. Hell, I have been working on amps for close to 8 years and I had a hell of a time with it. I have never seen a design that is so flawed and I have opened up pretty much every readily available (and many boutique) amp out there. Good to know that they included 4 test points on the new Cobras. One test point is virtually worthless IMO.
 
I dont get it? It took less than five minutes...screws on the bottom, remove the corners..thats it. In and out no problem.
 
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ihave27frets":4c836 said:
I dont get it? It took less than five minutes...screws on the bottom, remove the corners..thats it. In and out no problem.
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The corners were riveted in on the amp I was working on. Believe me, I wanted to remove the corners but they weren't coming off without damaging the head box. :(

It's all good, though...I got the head out right after my initial post and biased it up no prob, it just took a lot more effort than any other amp i have worked on. :)
 
Does the newer rev' of the Cobra have screws in the corners? That is a simple change they could make that would save a lot of time and effort - or put on corners that don't protrude and wrap around to the inside of the shell...in the slide-path of the chasis.

I think that my amp might be from 2002. Perhaps Framus has seen the error of their ways, and have already made one or both of these changes. If so, that might put me in the market for a newer rev' of the amp.
 
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scottcrud":80b50 said:
you took my advice and shook it didn't ya?
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Actually, I beat the shit out of it! :lol:

Nah, I had to crimp down the part of the corner that wrapped around into the slide path of the chassis. Once I did that, I was able to wiggle the amp out. It still wasn't smooth but the amp came out.
 
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