Topic: Opinions on Fraulini Angelina 12-string

[pete12string]

I'm real close to ordering a Fraulini Angelina 12 and I'd like to hear the opinions of others on the options that are available.  I'm most interested in what people think of the pin bridge vs. a tailpiece.  Also, the back and sides.  I think I would go with Mahogany.  Other opinions on Oak or Birch?  What would you choose?  Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[frankie]

If you like mahogany, then go with mahogany.  I have a Francesca 12-string with oak b/s that I love beyond all reason and a friend's Angelina 12-string, also oak, has been visiting for the past month or so.  Both guitars are tp models, although mine has the repro tp.  A friend has a mahogany Angelina/pin bridge - nice guitar.  I think the sound of the tp model have a little extra "something" at the expense of a little volume, maybe. The pin bridge models seem to be more direct...  depends on what your preference is.  Frankly, I think Todd's got a nice touch with oak, and I'm hoping to grub up one of his maple guitars someday.

[Parlor Picker]

Wait for Blueshome to get back from the Weenie Guernsey gathering.  He's got a nice example that he will doubtless wish to report on.  I think Natterjack has one too (also in Guernsey I believe).

[blueshome]

I agree exactly with what Frankie has said, having just spent the weekend with my own Angelina (tailpieace/oak) and Natterjack's pin bridge version. It was hearing the latter that convinced me to buy a 12-string Angelina when I had been going to order a 6!

I'm sure either would satisfy, but I made my choice and I'm happy to stick with it after a year's ownership and daily playing.

Speak to Todd about your personal requirements as to sound and volume, but I don't think you will make a mistake whichever way you go.

[Richard]

Yes, it was the official annual UK Fraulini owners club meet and very nice they sounded too (two?)....

[Bald Melon Jefferson]

I couldn't decide between a 6 and a 12.... so Todd and I agreed to split the difference.

[natterjack]

Well, I went for the mahogany and pin bridge and like Blueshome, I'm delighted and wouldn't change it. I've played a few old ladder braced six-strings and the pin bridge ones always sounded better to me.

Whatever you choose, I don't think you can wrong

[pete12string]

Well, I'm on Todd's list - the wait is 9 months (like having a baby!).  I haven't decided on all the details yet, but I have plenty of time to think about it.  Thanks to all of you who offered your opinions.  After all I've heard, I have a feeling that I can't go wrong with a Fraulini. 

[frankie]

My friend's Angelina 12-string has been visiting here, and I decided I wasn't taking enough advantage of the opportunity, so I made it a point to pick it up at least a couple times a week in between other stuff for the last few weeks, just to give it a chance to speak and to see what would come out.  This is what came out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoExsIM0m0

Not sure it'll really give you an idea what this kind of guitar can sound like, or that it's really the kind of tune that most folks look for or expect on a 12-string, but I (gasp!) kinda like it.

[Slack]

Just great - love the low end twang!

[Rivers]

Excellent work Frank. You got to have the right 12 string to make it work, even more so than a 6, I think.

[Mr.OMuck]

Puts me in mind of Miss Bozo herself! Though I think she was cranked up to standard pitch. Sounds to me like you're in Georgia Bill mode. Is Bozo still alive and making guitars does anybody know?

[uncle bud]

Nice job, Frank!

[frankie]

Thanks, guys.

You got to have the right 12 string to make it work, even more so than a 6, I think.

I'm not sure that the low-tuned sound is quite right for Rev. Davis's music, as Mr. O'muck pointed out - he usually tuned to pitch or even a little sharp.  I have one recording where I think he had borrowed a 12-string from Pete Seeger - there he was tuned about a whole step flat, maybe a little more.  I like the low-tuned sound for a few things because it makes me think a little more independently about his music and it puts my voice in a more comfortable range.

Plus, I have a schoolboy crush on my 12-string...

[Mr.OMuck]

You did a slammin' job on that song Mr. Frankie. A truly great and under performed song it is too.
Who playeth in F like unto RGD I ask thee? Fuckin' NO ONE thats bloody who mate! Lower tuning don't bother me at all, frankly, Frankie.

[Nicolas Dussart]

I'm not sure that the low-tuned sound is quite right for Rev. Davis's music, as Mr. O'muck pointed out - he usually tuned to pitch or even a little sharp.

I agree with that, but I like to play some Gary Davis tunes played on a low tuned 12 string, e.g Keep your Lamp, Let Us Get Together,etc.
Stefan Grossman has recorded also Gary Davis tunes on his low tuned Stella 12 string (Twelve Sticks, Don't Let My Baby Catch You Here,...)

Puts me in mind of Miss Bozo herself! Though I think she was cranked up to standard pitch. Sounds to me like you're in Georgia Bill mode. Is Bozo still alive and making guitars does anybody know?

I believe Bozo is still building guitars. There's a website, apparently not updated since 2006 :
http://guitars.net/Bozo.htm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
For the benefit of curious cheapskates on dial-up, like me, what song did you play, frankie?  I try to keep an open mind about Rev. Davis on a 12-string guitar, but it has always seemed like a bad idea to me, especially with his approach to tuning.  I don't care where it's tuned as long as it's in tune.
All best,
Johnm

[frankie]

I played "I Decided To Go Down (In His Name)."  I think youtube just started supporting higher resolution videos, so that makes it even harder to view anything using dial-up.

I double up on the 3rd course instead of using an octave string, which de-jangles the 12-string sound a little.  That and tuning in the basement.

[frankie]

Who playeth in F like unto RGD I ask thee? ****in' NO ONE thats bloody who mate!

You got that right.  I like the gnarly stuff in F - the ragtime stuff is nice, but the crunchy ones are better.

[uncle bud]

Yes, YouTube's gone widescreen. More Frankie to love.  That's quite a Steve Earle beard you got going there, Frank.

On a slightly more serious note, one thing that occurs to me re. personal preferences for RGD on a 12-string is that some stuff works better than other stuff. Less so the ragtime material, moreso the gnarly stuff. There was a tune I was listening to recently played by RGD on a 12 that I thought worked even better than on a six-string. Damned if I can remember what it was.    One day, the brain cells will revive.

UB

[Mr.OMuck]

I'm gonna crunch yez some Maple Leaf Rag one day soon,crunchy as ya wanna be, raggy too.

[frankie]

That's quite a Steve Earle beard you got going there, Frank.

Who's Steve Earle?  A senator?  C'mon...  clearly, the beard has dual inspirations:  Claude Monet and Sam Chatmon.

There was a tune I was listening to recently played by RGD on a 12 that I thought worked even better than on a six-string. Damned if I can remember what it was.   

Children of Zion on Rainbow Quest sounded pretty cool on 12-string.  I think he was tuned a little low there, too.  On the other hand, the performance is so intense that if he'd played it on a toy koto, it would have had much the same effect.

All getting off topic - what I meant to say a few posts back was that when I first started playing the Fraulini I bought, I stuck to things like McTell, Lead Belly and Jesse Fuller - some other stuff in there, and generally shied away from other material.  Over time, I did find other material that I felt comfortable with and, in the process, found out a little something about my own "voice," which was, y'know, pretty exciting (to me, anyway).

[Johnm]

Hi frankie,
Thanks for filling me in on the tune you played.  "I Decided to Go Down"--oof, that's a great piece!  I'll have to get on a computer where I can hear it.

Re what sounds good on a 12-string, I think lots of times, thumb lead stuff, like Leadbelly's version of "House of the Rising Sun", seems really flattering to the instrument.  Bill Jackson, who is being discussed over in discographies, had a really nice way with a 12-string.  He never seemed like he was knocking himself out, or attempting the musical equivalent of trying to fit five gallons of oil into a quart container, which can sometimes happen on the 12-string guitar.

As for playing in F, the only player I can think of with comparable command in that position to Rev. Davis would be Snooks Eaglin, but Snooks' time, harmonic approach, and sound are so different that there is almost no basis for comparison except to say that he and Rev. Davis are similarly strong at playing in F.
All best,
Johnm