Topic: Fraulini Guitars

[Roscoe]

hi. i got one of Todds restored parlor guitars a while ago and he really does a great job. it has a great old timey tone. here is a pic.
roscoe

[Slack]

Very cool - did Todd add the 'Mother of Toilet Seat' fingerboard and pick guard?

[Blue in VT]

Sweet...love those white fingerboards...!


Blue

[Roscoe]

Very cool - did Todd add the 'Mother of Toilet Seat' fingerboard and pick guard?

no....its original. might have been around the time the gibson century came out.
roscoe

[Roscoe]

hi. since i posted this i am verry sorry to have been forced into a situation where im having to sell this guitar and a few more in my collection. there is an add in the classiffied section.
thanks
roscoe

[Cambio]

I'd had an itch to make a nine string for quite a while now, mostly inspired by the photo of Daddy Stovepipe that was in the Old Hat Minstrel Compilation that came out last year.  I also had Lonnie Johnson and Miles Pruitt on the mind, both of whom played with nine or ten strings at times (I think).  Anyway, after finishing up the last batch I decided that I'd put one together.
I had an old Regal Hawaiian which had been the victim of a hot attic.  Both the top and the neck were badly warped and beyond repair.  Since the nine strings that I had seen were made by Regal, or Stromberg Voisenette, I decided to salvage the birch back and sides from that guitar.  I put a new spruce top on the back and sides, and made a neck out of poplar.  I put a few quick coats of varnish on it, a pin bridge and retrofitted some new tuning machines.  The end product is rude, crude and lewd. 
I have it tuned up to E with single strings for the E, A & D, and pairs for the G, B and high E.  The G is an octave course.  It's a real blast to play, great for fingerpicking.  I played it tonight with a couple buddies who were playing fiddle and banjo.  It worked out very nicely for playing back up guitar on some old time stuff.  It was nice and punchy, but not too jangley.
Here are some pics.
Todd

[Johnm]

Boy, you really do beautiful work, Todd.  Any chance you could record something on it to post to the Back Porch?
All best,
Johnm

[Slack]

A Relic Regal! 

Very cool guitar Todd, love the headstock, simple appointments (bound sound hole!) and recycled birch back and sides... adds a lot of appeal for me.  Would love to hear the guitar as well.

[Cambio]

Hi John,
Thanks.  I'd love to put something on the Back Porch, but I'm a bit of a ludite when it comes to recording.  It's something I need to figure out.
I was reminded of some of your earlier comments about the 12 string,John, in that a 12 isn't right for all music, and that notes can sort of stumble over one another on there way out of the soundhole.  The nine string is nice because the single bass strings don't put out too much sound, while the trebles have just enough of that echoey weirdness to keep it interesting.  I put the octave on the G just to mix it up a little bit, and to give a hint of that Pruitt sound.

 love the headstock, simple appointments (bound sound hole!) and recycled birch back and sides...

One of the goals of the project was to re-make a cheap guitar.  I didn't sweat any of the finer points (like sanding braces).  I tried to put it together as closely as possible to how it would originally have been made.  Another reason why I did the poplar neck, which is a great neck wood by the way.  For the finish, I brushed on 2 coats of violin varnish with a $.89 chip brush from the hardware store.  I buffed it out with 600grit and then French polished over it.  The finishing took about 1 hour and it is almost the perfect cheap old guitar finish that I've come across yet.
Todd

[waxwing]

Yeah, I love the look of the finish, too. And the simple look.

I wasn't really aware that any guitars were actually made as 9 strings, I assumed they were 12s with strings removed, or, as in the case of Big Joe Williams, tuners added to a 6 string. Very cool.

All for now.
John C.

[Cambio]

Hey Waxy,
Here's the picture of Daddy Stovepipe that got the wheels turning.  There's one like this for sale at Retrofret in Brooklyn (retrofret.com).  There's also a very nice ten string Washburn for sale at Palm Guitars in Amsterdam (www.palmguitars.nl/).  I've seen ads for eleven and ten string guitars in some of the old catalogs, but they seldom turn up.
Todd

[waxwing]

Thanks, Todd. I've seen that pic before but was so focused on the recording megaphone I never noticed the guitar neck. Looks like you got it pretty good.

All for now.
John C.

[dennje]

I was at Todd's shop today picking up my Angelina 12 and got to check out this 9 string. What a neat guitar! Plenty of room for the thumb to work the bass strings. Half 6 string and half 12 string. I like it.
Todd, is there a name for this one yet?
Joel

[Bald Melon Jefferson]

It  looks great Todd. I like everything about it aesthetically. Austere yet elegant. You can make mine look just like that.

Cheers!
Gary


(fixed, for now anyways, the 13th fret on the Harmony with pressure only, no glue, and no buzz. thanks)

[nonsectarianblues]

So beautiful.  I expected something like a Big Joe Williams 9 string guitar, then I saw the pictures.  Wow!