Topic: Fraulini Angelina 12 string - it finally arrived!

[pete12string]

Well, I finally got my Fraulini Angelina 12 string.  Thanks Todd!  I went with the pin bridge, mahogany back and sides, and ebony fingerboard.  Todd is extremely patient and helpful during the building process.  I really didn't know which way to go on a lot of the specs, but with Todd's help, I ended up with just what I was hoping for.  The sound of this guitar is absolutely fantastic.  If you are looking for that old time blues sound, here it is.  Search no further.  It has a varnish finish that is super thin - almost nonexistent in some spots.  It just rings like there's no tomorrow.  Right now I have the heavy gauge strings that Todd ships his guitars with and I am tuned down to B.  Anybody ever try a lighter gauge and tuning a bit higher?  I've been playing this thing almost constantly since it arrived.  Anyway - here's the pics.  Enjoy!

[Richard]

Congratulations, I hear (literally) they are very good  Why don't you talk with Blueshome who has tuned his guitar to all sorts of things.

[Norfolk Slim]

Very nice....

Im jealous- but hopefully not for too long!

[Stuart]

It looks like a real beauty, Pete. Congratulations. Thanks for the post and the photos. Good luck with it and may it bring you decades of happiness. I like the choice of southern yellow pine flooring to set it off.  

[Slack]

Congrats Pete!  Looks gorgeous... good choices all the way around!

[waxwing]

Wow! Nice work, Todd!

Congrats, Pete. Good choice on the mahog. Just like my Sovereign. Only thing I'd do different would be a 6 pin bridge, which can be made from a somewhat smaller piece of wood. (Altho' the replacement one for my cracked original was made wider to cover the scar from how far the bridge had to be moved to get the intonation right. Oh, well.)

But what a treasure. Beautiful decoration. Not too much.

Wax

[unezrider]

congrats again, pete!
beautiful looking (& from the sound clips i've heard on todd's website, good sounding too) can't get an original for that price, either! out of couriosity, does she have a truss rod? i didn't see a cover for one on the head stock.
chris

[pete12string]

Yup, Fraulini's have truss rods.  I haven't looked too closely, but I suspect it is accessible from the inside (of the sound hole).  Todd builds these guitars based on the specs of the originals but, where appropriate, he brings them up to date (e.g., truss rods, better finishes).  He tries to stay as close to the originals as possible but when it makes sense he uses modern advances, turning out a much higher quality guitar than those of the early 20th century.  These guitars are much more stable than the early Stella's and should last a lifetime with very little maintenance...

[blueshome]

Well done Pete!

I have indeed tried different string gauges and tunings on my Angelina, going down to 10's and tuning to D - an experiment that ended pretty soon as I didn't like the sound at all.
I now stick to B mainly using strings Todd supplies (13-66). I do tend to switch between having a unison or an octave 3rd according to mood and the style I'm playing.

I've also tuned down to A with an octave 2nd which was ok.

Open tunings I use Bb for Vasterpol and Eb for Spanish, still plenty of tension to slide.

[pete12string]

Phil (blueshome), thanks for the info.  Based on what I have been hearing, that seems to be the consensus on string gauge.  These guitars are meant to have the heavy strings on them.  The heavy strings seem to draw the sound right out of the wood and the lighter strings just don't cut it.  Heavy gauge it is...  

[BottleneckJohn]

Wonderful guitar!!!!!!
I love 12-stringers!