Topic: New Fraulini Angelina 12 string on the way!

[Slack]

Interesting article -- congrats Todd!

[Cambio]

Thanks a lot guys.  Tim's guitar was a lot of fun to build and I'm really happy with the way that it turned out.  I'd really like to hear it in about a year, after it's had a chance to open up.
The Acoustic Guitar Article was quite a suprise and it allowed me to meet Bob Hartmann, the grandson of Carl Larson and the author of Larson Creations, a history of the Larson brothers and some of their beautiful instruments (www.larsonscreations.com )  He came up to visit the shop and check out the Larson copy that I made.  He also brought a beautiful 30's era Prarie State, complete with the interior reinforcement rods, which had a really unique sound.

Lately I've been trying to get ready for the Newport Guitar Festival.  I'm building a copy of Leadbelly's 12 string.  A friend of mine did work on it a number years ago and made a set of plans while it was in his shop .  He was generous enough to share them with me.  I've also made a repro of the old Stella tailpiece, complete with the posts for loop end strings.  I'm currently trying to find a plating shop so that I can get them nickel plated.  I'll post some pics when it's done.

[Blue Poodle]

I've just been passing through Wisconsin on a business trip, and I got to visit Todd's shop at his home in Madison.  His workspace is a converted single car garage, and it's very clean and well organized, despite the economy of space.  He has a handful of cool guitars nearly completion, just in time for the Newport Guitar Festival.

Todd also showed me a small trove of old guitars, many of them in the queue for repairs and restoration.

If you're travelling through Madison, I recommend visiting Wil Bremer's shop, Spruce Street Music.  The shop is loaded with nice guitars, CDs, etc.  Wil was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

[waxwing]

And might some of us be seeing that nice Angelina, soon, Dr. Tim?

My 12, which actually contributed some info (I measured the brace positions for Todd) to his early pin bridge 12s will be there. I had hoped to see and hear Paul Geremia's Fraulini 12, which I think was the first one, but he didn't bring it last year as he was flying. Anyway, it would be fun to hear them together. Someday I hope Todd gets to see and hear the Soveriegn, too. Hmm maybe a road trip across the northern states is in order.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing you again this year, Tim.

All for now.
John C.

[Sweet Bone Willie]

For those of you who haven't seen the site, www.woodsongs.com/showlist.asp, there is a video of Paul Geremia playing what I think is the twelve string Fraulini mentioned earlier.  He plays Statesborough (?) Blues as an encore toward the end of the clip.  That guitar sounds awesome!!!  He also does a a few more songs from his newest album.  Go to the archives menu on the left hand side and scroll down to show 355.  The site also has video of Ernie Hawkins, Happy Truam, Guy Davis, John Hammond, Doyle Bramhall and a plethora of other performers.

[waxwing]

Yeah, you can see the label thru the sound hole. And notice the beautiful three color marquetry Todd has found a source for.
Does sound good, even if my computer speakers leave out the low bass growl. All the bite is there.

All for now.
John C.

[framus12]

Yes, Yes, Yes,
   Thank you so very much for the link Mr. Willie.
Very cool and so many good performers Odetta, Robert Lockwood
ect. I'll be watching the clips for weeks now.
Free guitar lessons

[Cambio]

Yeah, thanks for the link Willie.  That's a good one for the scrapbook. 
I just finished my copy of Leadbelly's guitar and snapped some quick shots of it.  The guitar is based on a set of plans that Dan Erlewine made of Leadbelly's guitar while he was doing some work on it a number of years ago.  Dan was generous enough to share the plans with me.  I filled in any gaps in the plan using an Auditorium sized Stella six string (which is identical to Leadbelly's 12) which I acquired sometime last year.  The guitar has a 40 year old German Spruce top, which came from the shop of the great lute builder Robert Lundberg and was handed down to me by a friend who was a fellow lute builder.  I made a replica of the old Stella tailpiece, complete with the posts for loop end strings and I had a special, custom set of tuners made for it.  It still sounds very new and fresh, but I'm interested in hearing how it opens up after a few days/weeks/years.  I made the guitar for the Newport Guitar Festival, which I'll be attending the first weekend in August, www.newportguitarfestival.com .  If any of you East Coast Weenies aren't going to Port Townsend, you should head on down to Newport.  There'll be a lot of great makers there, showing off their wares.

[onewent]

..real nice 12, Todd .. beautiful color in the top, looks 50 years old already, the binding purfling looks like a nice copy, and you did a great job on the tail piece (nickel or chrome, it's hard to tell by photo) .. I see you chose to move the dot to the 9th fret so as not to confuse 99.9% of 12-string players out there  compensated the saddle and strung the G w/o octive .. would have loved to taken it for a spin at N-port ..

.. I came this close to attending Newport, but family plans just didn't allow, I'll be there the week after -- day late and a dollar short 
Good luck at the show and thanks for the pictures ..TomW

[dj]

Thanks for posting, Todd.  It looks like a beautiful instrument.  What are the back, sides, and neck made of?

[Cambio]

Thanks guys.  I'm very happy with the way that it turned out.  The back and sides are mahogany.  The purfling is identical to the stuff on the old Stellas.  The tailpiece is nickel plated brass, same as the old ones.  I had it plated at a hot rod shop in Missouri that one of my uncles works with.  They did such a nice job that it's hard to tell whether or not it is chrome.  It should dull down rather nicely over time.
Regarding the marker on the 9th fret, that's how Leadbelly's was.  I've seen a few Stellas with a marker on the ninth fret, as well as plenty of other guitars with markers on the 10th.  Unless people request otherwise, I always put the marker on the 9th as the 10th fret really does tend to confuse people.

[Blue Poodle]

I guess that I've had this guitar for about 6 months now.  I have to say that it grows on me more and more each day.  Todd really does a super job....my guitar is a very definite keeper!

[Sweet Bone Willie]

Glad to hear it!  Because of this post and others on different forums, Todd's reputation, and also because of that Woodsongs/Geremia clip I mentioned earlier I decided this past summer to order an Angelina myself.  I'm the first on the list of the new batch of guitars that Todd will start making after the new year, I can hardly wait!