There’s a luthier up in Madison, Wisconsin that you probably don’t know about. He is making vintage inspired guitars, but not the vintage you are thinking of. Sure he loves old Martins and Gibsons like all guitar geeks do, but this luthier derives his inspiration from old department store type guitars… think old delta blues guitar players… yep those guitars…
This luthiers name is Todd Cambio. Now you might be thinking, “That name doesn’t ring a bell.” But let me ask you this, does the name Fraulini Guitars ring a bell? I ask because Todd Cambio is behind Fraulini Guitars. Todd has been a musician for a large portion of his life. He’s busked on the streets of Chicago, played with a handful of the old time blues players, and he of course demos his guitars on Youtube.
He has extreme passion for old school department store style guitars. Think of any old blues musician that you see pictured with a funky guitar; that’s what Todd loves and lucky for us guitar geeks, that’s exactly what Todd makes.
Todd specializes in these vintage inspired, ladder braced guitars. These guitars are barky blues machines. The guitars that come from the Fraulini shop excel in that rag time, finger picking, old school blues style.
Todd has a whole slew of models available and they are gorgeous. He makes everything from standard style parlor guitars to more oddball guitars with fancy, funky shaped inlaid pickguards. These instruments are simply beautifully made, even the label on the guitars is gorgeous. Some of his models he even completes with those old vintage style decals, a crucial detail when trying to mimick these guitars from yesteryear.
Last time Charlie Parr was through Bozeman I heard him play one and that’s what perked my ears up to Fraulini Guitars. Charlie plays a Fraulini 12 string that is modeled after bluesman Lonnie Johnson’s 12 string. Fraulini Guitars also has created a Leadbelly inspired 12 string that is a spitting image of the guitar that he is most associated with.
All right, so I want to encourage you to check out Fraulini Guitars. If you have any kind of interest in getting a custom guitar made and have something in mind, Todd is likely up for the challenge. From everything I have read and seen Todd is a definite guitar geek and has a knack for detail as well as infusing tons of mojo into each and every guitar so make sure to contact him.
Fraulini Guitars Links
