Framez Ribbon

Framez were an Italian brand related to Meazzi - the name is a contraction of Fratelli Meazzi (trans. Meazzi Brothers). Framez / Meazzi also made some cool oddball guitars, and were associated with Wandré Pioli.

In the UK, the Framez brand was registered by Jennings Musical Industries Ltd, to protect their business which imported many Italian musical instruments, including those from Meazzi.

This small ribbon microphone has a beautiful metallic blue hammertone finish to the lower body, and nice chrome grills that are reminiscent of the RCA 74B.

From the Xaudia blog:

This looks very much like a copy of the RCA 74b 'junior' microphone, but is physically somewhat smaller. And it is a pretty good microphone in its own right. The magnets have retained their strength over the years, measuring a healthy 4500 gauss between the pole pieces.  It has a hefty transformer with taps for both low and high impedance, making it suitable for either recording and PA use.

Wired for balanced, low impedance operation, the sound is clear with a strong output, just lacking a little of the low end proximity boost that you find with many ribbon microphones. The 'low' impedance tap is 1:45 ratio, which gives around a 450 ohm output with a new 2.5 micron ribbon.

The Xaudia blog post on this Framez ribbon microphone.

Another Xaudia post comparing Framez and Meazzi ribbons.

The Vox AC30 website discusses Meazzi and Framez products.