Todd Cambio

I recently finished the first batch of guitars for the new year.  It was a fun group, Gibson inspired more than anything.  I’ve really been getting into the hand rubbed sunbursts of some of the early Gibsons and got to try my hand at it again. The most unique of the bunch was a seven string that I made for my friend Adam Kiesling.  Adam is a great musician in Minneapolis.  He mentioned to me a while back that he […]

The great artist Robert Crumb just drew a new logo for me which has a portrait of my grandmother, Angelina Fraulini-Cambio.  I just had some100% cotton, U.S.A. made t-shirts printed with the new logo and they are available while supplies last.  $20 plus shipping.  Sizes from Small to XXL.  Any color you’d like, as long as that color is black.  Send me an email if you are interested: todd at fraulini.com.      

I’ve been going through some of my old guitars and have decided to sell off a few.  Please contact me if you’re interested or if you have questions todd at fraulini.com.   1920’s Stella Concert Guitar – This is the first Stella that I’ve seen with this type of bridge.  The bridge was likely made in Germany, along with the inlays and purfling.  I’ve had this guitar for a number of years.  The original bridge had been broken at the […]

I just received a shipment of fresh 12 string sets in light and heavy from the good folks at La Bella.  The Mari family has been making strings for a couple hundred years and they know their stuff. The heavies are my standard sets which I’ve been using for a while.  They are great for getting a Leadbelly sound.  The lighter sets were put together by Frank Basile and myself for more of a McTell sound.  They have a certain […]

I’ve been curious about sunbursts for some time, but have had a few obstacles in my way.  For starters the guitars that I normally make don’t always seem suitable for sunburst.  Second, since I don’t spray my finishes, I French polish, I’m not really set up to spray a sunburst.  Third, a lot of sunbursts don’t really do it for me. For the most part, the bursts I like are the very early ones, especially early Gibsons, when Orville still […]

I have a love for Italian music, which has become more intense over the past few years.  In addition to collecting Italian 78 rpm records, I’ve been listening to more Italian folk music and my interest in traditional instruments like the friscalettu (cane whistle), zampogna (Italian bagpipes), and the chitarra battente has continued to grow.   Much of what I’ve learned about traditional Italian music has been passed along by my friend David Marker.  David is an Italian American who […]

This Saturday, March 19th, we’ll be having a shop concert featuring Paul Geremia.  There will be plenty of other musicians including Catfish Stephenson and the Five Points Serenaders.  Come one come all.  See the shop and hear some great music.  Festivities start at 7:30.      

Eight years ago I left a good job as a carpenter and project manager to build guitars full time.  Like anything it’s had its ups and downs but I’ve had no regrets. It was rather fortuitous that this past weekend had a few Fraulini customers pass through town.  My old friend and oldest customer Alvin Youngblood Hart came through to play a gig.  Alvin has the third guitar that I built, an oak Angelina 12 string.  He’s been playing it […]

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 […]

  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.  […]