Topic: Fraulini Annunziata 9-string, 7-string and 6-string guitars

[Bald Melon Jefferson]

I'm sure Todd would rather have someone like Paul Geremia demo'ing his guitars...but I did my feeble best...just for fun.


A little first-take demo of my Fraulini Annunziata 9-string guitar set-up as a "normal" 6-stringer. A very lively and big sounding 0-sized guitar from the talented hands of Todd Cambio. The song is an approximation of Carroll County Blues from Mike Seeger's Early Southern Guitar Styles recording. The nut and saddle are slotted for 9 strings so the string spacing with only 6 strings is less than perfect....but "less than perfect" fits my so-called playing style just fine.



The Fraulini Annunziata 9-string guitar set-up as a 7-string guitar, with a double course on the high e. An especially nice set-up when you have a song with a single string melody line run. . The ubiquitous Keep on Truckin' progression. This one i first picked-up from a Kenny Sultan arrangement....other stuff thrown in from Stefan Grossman and/or...RGD...?, etc...who knows? Never play it the same way twice; and never play it cleanly. That's my motto. Easy and fun to improvise around on.




Custom Fraulini Annunziata 9 string from the talented hands of Todd Cambio. Open D tuning. Started-off as John Fahey's My Prayer...but i haven't heard the original in a while...so i kinda went off on my own and broke it up with a little progression up the neck on the 5 and 3 strings that I learned from Scott Ainsle. Just an idea of what the 9 string sounds like in open tuning

[Pan]

Hi BMJ

Thanks for your post.
I'd never thought of how versatile a 9 string guitar could be!
I've always thought that the Annunziata on Todd's webpages is one of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard, and your playing certainly won't change my mind on this! 

Cheers
Pan

[Johnm]

I only saw "Carroll County Blues" posted, Gary, but you and the guitar sound really good on that.  Nice time!  You've been working!
All best,
Johnm

[Lyndvs]

Gorgeous guitar,love the "batwing" pickguard.Really great picking too.

[uncle bud]

Nice, the guitar sounds great, even cuts through the YouTube-ification process. Like that Carroll County.

You should do some Barbecue Bob on that thing!

[LB]

Really enjoyed that. Thanks for posting. Your playing and the tone was excellent. I've always loved the 9 string concept and with a thumbpick you can really romp on the bass without worrying about bass string octaves flobbing around like a 12 can. I'm just surprised the small body size still has so much fullness. That's a plus in itself.

[onewent]

Thanks for posting this, nice guitar and I think it sounds fabulous in the open tuning, nice, full resonance..especially given its small-ish size..Tom

[Bald Melon Jefferson]

Thanks all very much for your kind words and encouragement.

 I've been doing dozens of videos of myself to watch, listen to, cringe over and learn by. I posted these 3 only because I wanted to give Todd a shout-out and some recognition for the work he does.
I didn't post these fishing for affirmation and validation of my so-called playing....but I'll take it, and I appreciate it.
The whole design-build process with Todd was great fun, and the end product is a sweet little monster.

So John, maybe all that mind-numbing spirt-crushing repetition IS stating to pay-off...? but hey, I was just barely getting my right thumb to submit to my will when first/ last we met.

Thanks again,

[nobocaster]

Todd sure builds a mean guitar!  Thanks for posting this.  It's fun to hear the comparison.