Attila Zoller
Attila Zoller (*1927 in Hungary +1998 in Vermont) was already a successful musician when he came in contact with Framus in the late fifties. The guitarist worked with pianist Vera Auer in Vienna till 1954, later played in Germany with Jutta Hipp, Albert & Emil Mangelsdorff, Hans Koller and Oscar Pettiford. Zoller moved to the United States in 1959, studied with Jim Hall, played in the bands of Chico Hamilton and Herbie Mann, and created a milestone in 1965 between cool and free jazz playing styles when he released the album entitled The Horizon Beyond (with pianist Don Friedman, among others). More, today legendary recordings followed: "Katz und Maus" (1966), "Zoller Koller Solal" and "Zo-Ko-Ma" (1968), two exceptional albums with Japanese pianist Masahiko Sato ("Duologue" and "A Path Through Haze"), a then contemporary electric jazz production with Herbie Hancock ("Gypsy Cry" 1971), the trio album "Common Cause" (1979, with Ron Carter and Paul Chambers), as well as several duos with Jimmy Raney ("Jim And I" 1979) and Wolfgang Lackerschmid ("Live Highlights" 1992).
There´s an early picture with Zoller and a HiFi-Six-Thinline. His first official Framus guitar, which he received from the boss Fred Wilfer himself, was the De Luxe 60 that had an additional De Armond pickup and no metal pickguard. This De Luxe 60 (model number 5/160) had an engraving on its tailpiece that read "Atilla Zoller", which made it clear that it was a signature variant. It was Framus" top model of the early sixties and had outstanding resonance characteristics. Later came the more modern AZ-10 and AZ-9.