I am a guitar maker in Madison, Wisconsin who focuses on six and 12 string guitars from the early 1900's. This blog is a place for me to show some of the things I create, some of how I create them, introduce some of the characters who stop by the shop and who's shops I stop by. The blog is a little more user friendly and is easier for me to update than the Fraulini website.
My friend Dan Margolies has had an interest in Mexican music which has gotten more and more intense over the years. He started playing the bajo sexto a few years back and recently asked me to build him one. The process has been quite an adventure and I thought I'd share some of the photos of the process.
The bajo sexto is a unique instrument, it's main use is to accompany
accordion or fiddle players in Northern Mexican, Norteno, and Tex-Mex music known
as Conjunto. The bajo player provides the boom chang rhythm behind the
floating melodies, and fills in the space with bass runs. The
instrument has 12 strings, tuned down to the E of a bass guitar, across
the board in straight fourths, E-A-D-G-C-F. The string gauges start at
.026" and end at .092". And you thought the .066" for the 12 strings
were fat! This is not to be confused with the guitarra doble, which is a
different Mexican 12 string, the type which Lydia Mendoza played,
similar to the 12 strings I normally build. Here's a nice clip of Lorenzo Martinez on accordion & Rodolpho Lopez on the bajo quinto (the ten string version, which omits the low E string).
The man who defined the modern bajo sexto was the great Mexican American luthier Martin Macias from San Antonio, Texas. Macias bajo sextos and bajo quintos are much sought after by bajo players. The Macias family is still going strong with George Macias now following in the footsteps of his grandfather Martin and his father Albert. George builds beautiful instruments and makes fine strings.
At the start of this project, I didn't know much about the bajo sexto and I wanted to get my hands on an old Macias to see how they were made. My friend Steve James, one of the finest proponents and practitioners of American fingerstyle guitar, knew Don Martin Macias in San Antonio, used to hang out at the shop and has acquired a couple Macias instruments over the years. Steve graciously loaned me a late 1950's bajo quinto to use as a reference.
1959 Macias bajo quinto
One of the things that really appealed to me about Steve's Macias was
the use of all domestic woods. The back and the sides were walnut, as were the fingerboard and bridge, the top was white pine, the neck was
magnolia and walnut. The rope binding was made up of walnut and
magnolia. The guitar was built very sturdily, one of the reasons it was
preferred by working musicians, it can take a lickin and keep on
tickin. The neck joint was a Spanish heel, or slipper block
construction, where the neck and block are one and the sides fit into
slots in the neck. The bracing was a ladder/X hybrid. One feature
which seemed odd at the time was the lack of a saddle on the bridge.
The strings came out of the front of the bridge without going across any
sort of hard material like bone or metal.
The challenge for me was to build something that was respectful to the Macias instrument, and to make a
few changes that might improve the playability and put my own touch on
the guitar. For starters, I decided not to do a slipper block neck
joint. I have never done this before and I didn't want to start on an
instrument that was fairly new to me and one which was going to be
putting some fairly hefty demands on the neck joint. I went with a
dovetail, a joint that I'm intimately familiar with, and one which can
be reset at a later date if need be. Second, I decided I would fit the
bridge with a saddle, which I thought would improve tone and would give a
little control over the action of the strings. Third, I decided to do a
standard 12 string headstock, rather than one in which the fingerboard
ran beyond the nut as it did on the Macias. My friend Dan wanted an
instrument that was like an old Macias, built with domestic woods, hide
glue, varnish finish, etc, but was a little easier to play.
I started by making a plan of the Macias, mapping out the unique bracing style. Second, I had to make up the rope binding and the purfling to be used on the rosette. I used walnut and maple for this step. Making the binding was fairly straightforward, more so than installing it, which proved to be quite challenging. Steve James told me that Don Martin Macias would do the binding one piece at a time, and I was tempted to go that route after some of the frustration involved in the method that I used.
MAKING THE BINDING
Strips are stacked &glued
Maple and walnut strips for binding
Stack is cut into angled pieces
Angled pieces are glued together
Angled stack is cut
I used red spruce for the top and black walnut for the back and sides.
The walnut that I used came from a tree that I cut down back when I was a
carpenter. The tree was on the site of a house I was building and I
had it milled up by a local farmer. I've used it for various projects
over the years and had reserved a couple pieces for a guitar. I was
glad to finally put them to use on this project.
Gluing linings
Bracing the top
Unique bracing pattern
Dan wanted a full bodied bajo, as opposed to one with a cutaway. He also wanted a single pickguard, rather than the three that are on the Macias. I was able to get some great mother of toilet seat material for the pickguard (old stock) which gave it a nice vintage look. As I stated earlier, I fit a saddle to the Macias bridge, which presented some design challenges, but worked out great. I finished the guitar with a spirit varnish applied by French polishing. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. A fun project with many unique challenges. I'm tempted to build one for myself.
I recently finished a fun project, a fancy black Fenezia, aka. "The Black Madonna", with multi layered purfling, inlaid pickguard, faux tortoise headstock veneer, whale tail bridge and an ebony finish. This guitar is similar to the Ernest Stoneman models that I've made in the past, and it's fitting that it has a black finish as Stoneman painted his Galiano black at some point in the 1950's. I like to think that I did a cleaner job than Ernest. The black finish makes all the details on the guitar pop, the purfling and the pickguard really come to life.
The best part of the project was that it was made for a great player and great guy, Josh Smith, an L.A. based guitar player who is currently playing with the Raphael Saadiq Band. It was great to work with Josh and I look forward to hearing him play it some day.
I recently finished an X braced Annunziata which was inspired by a friend's O sized Martin from the 1890s. The Martin was made for gut strings, but I wanted to make something lightly braced for light gauge steel strings. I was curious about X bracing one of my existing models and the Annunziata was very similar in size and shape to the old Martin. I also wanted to try a 24 1/4" scale, rather than the 24 7/8" scale that I typically use on that model, thinking that the slightly shorter scale would make it a little more loose and fun to play.
My goal wasn't to make a copy of a Martin, but rather to make a Martin inspired guitar. I was trying to imagine what one of the early Italian immigrant luthiers may have built if they were copying a Martin. Though the majority of them never built in that style, there are a few examples that have survived. They would typically add a few Italianate touches, but I wanted to keep things a little subdued.
Red and green Herringbone
I used some old German spruce for the top, and Honduran mahogany back and sides. I also made up a special batch of red and green herringbone for the guitar's purfling. Martin used to use something similar in the 1800's, and I thought it had a very distinct look. Keeping with the Martin tradition, I used an ebony fingerboard and bridge. The finish is a French polished spirit varnish.
I'm very happy with the way the guitar turned out. It's very light in weight, it came in under 3lbs, and has a nice loose sound due to the short scale. The look is nice and understated (compared to some of the other things I've been building lately).
The guitar is currently for sale at Spruce Tree Music,
an excellent vintage guitar shop here in Madison. Wil Bremmer, the
proprietor, has been a great teacher to me over the years and I'm happy
to have had the chance to make something for his shop.
I've had a few requests for some X braced, 14 fret guitars over the past few years. I've built a few X braced, 12 fret Larson copies, but for the most part what I do is ladder bracing. I've also made a few 14 fret ladder braced guitars. I've been wanting to build more X braced guitars, figuring that there are enough things that I do differently (hide glue, varnish finishes, domestic woods, relatively light bracing etc), and I've been curious as to how those things would apply to X braced guitars.
I've also been gradually moving away from making copies of things and letting my different influences melt together (the same approach that I take to playing music), figuring that I'm ready to start making instruments that are my own. There are some folks out there making great reproductions of vintage Martins and Gibsons, and it would take me a while to get to where they're at, and I don't want to be stepping on anyone's toes. As a result, I've started taking some of my existing models, comparing them with great vintage guitars, and coming up with something new.
The first guitar like this that I built was a 14 fret Anunziata. I had a request from Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops for something that was comparable to an old Kay that he had been playing. The Kay was similar in size to the Annunziata, and it was ladder braced. Hubbie wanted 14 frets to the body so I started drawing up some plans until I came up with something that I was happy with. I gave it an inlaid pickguard and a whale tail bridge to make it look distinctive. I used some nice flamed birch for the back and sides hoping that it would give it a dry sound with lots of bite. It came together wonderfully.
I built a second one at the same time with all the same features, but with a black top instead of natural. The black top made the red and green purfling pop, as well as the pickguard. Taking a trick from Orville Gibson, I left the flamed birch back and sides unpainted and decided to stain them a deep cherry red. In my mind, the look of that guitar takes the cake. They both look great, but the black one really does something for me.
The second 14 fret model that I've built is the Angelina. I've had a couple requests for L-00 type guitars, as well as for a Martin 00-18. I have a 00-17 in my collection, and a friend lent me an early 30's Gibson L-00. I've done a lot of comparing of the two of them, picking things I like about each, as well as things I didn't like. I drew a dozen or more sets of plans until I came up with something that I liked. I recently finished the first one and I'm very happy with the way that it turned out.
For this first one I used red spruce for the top and Madagascar rosewood
for the back and sides. It has an inlaid pickguard, whale tail bridge
and red and green mosaic purfling. It also has a solid peghead, which
is a first for me. I'm looking forward to hearing it open up, but so
far it sounds great. I can't wait to make more of them, experimenting with the bracing and different tonewoods.
I'll be heading to the Milwaukee Ukulele Festival this weekend with a new uke and some guitars. If you're in the area, come down and say hi. There will be a lot of great players there and it promises to be a good time.
I've been cleaning out my shop and clearing space for new guitars and equipment. I've pulled out some things to sell. If you're interested in anything, would like to see more pictures, or have any questions, please email me, todd at fraulini dot com.
Angelina 12 String- I made this guitar earlier this year to bring to summerfestivals. The top is Sitka Spruce, the back and sides are paduk. The neck is mahogany and the fingerboard and bridge are Madagascar rosewood. The pickguard is inlaid into the top. French polished varnish finish, Golden Age tuning machines. The lower bout measures 14 5/8" with a 26 1/2" scale. It is 2" at the nut and the action is currently set to 1/8" on the bass and 3/32" on the treble. It is lightly built and was intended for lighter gauge strings (.011"-.060"), tuned to C#. With my standard set (.013"-.066"), I'd tune it to A. It has a great sound. SOLD
Erma buit by my apprentice- My apprentice, Cyrus Brown-LaGrange, built this guitar in 2010. It is a copy of an Oscar Schmidt made Galiano. It has a red spruce top, birch back and sides, poplar neck, Madagascar fingerboard and bridge, Golden Age tuning machines, varnish finish. It is 13 1/2" at the lower bout, 1 3/4" at the nut. The action is 3/32" on the bass and 1/16" on the treble. It's a well made, great sounding little guitar.SOLD
30's Stella Decalomania Concert guitar- All birch with a tailpiece, 13 1/2" at the lower bout with a 24 7/8" scale. It is 1 3/4" at the nut. The action is 1/8" across the board. It is a sturdily made guitar, fairly clean.
SOLD
1930's Slingerland Guitar- Made by Regal. Spruce top, mahogany back and sides. X braced, repaired top crack, replacement bridge, new frets. 24 7/8" scale. Great sounding guitar. The case was painted up by the original owner "Texas" Eddie Gabe of the Red River Ramblers. $700
1920's Bluebird Guitar- Most likely made by Harmony. All birch with a crystaline finish. Very clean and all original. 2 repaired back cracks. It is 12 5/8" at the lower bout with a 24" scale. The action is 5/32" across the board. SOLD
1920's Slingerland Decal Guitar- Most likely made by Regal or Stromberg Voisinette. Spruce top, birch back and sides. Painted fingerboard, replacement ebony bridge. 13" at the lower bout, 24" scale, 1 13/16" at the nut. Action is 3/32" on the bass and 1 /16" on the treble. New Golden Age tuning machines. 3 repaired top and 2 repaired back cracks. Plays well, sounds good. SOLD
1940's Harmony mandolin- All birch flat top and back with f-holes. Two repaired top cracks. Clean shape, all original. Action is 1/16" across the board. It is sound, plays well and sounds good. SOLD
