Fraulini Ermida Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (2020), made in Madison, Wisconsin, serial # E-256, natural finish, maple back and sides, spruce top, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, Ameritage hard shell case.
We are always pleased to have one of Todd Cambio's wonderful Fraulini guitars in stock; this one has been played and used but not abused and is beautifully broken in with a fantastic sound. This blonde beauty is a custom Ermida model, with the somewhat unusual wood selection of a Sitka spruce top over flame maple back and sides. This is a 15" wide guitar with fancy wood purfling around the top and soundhole, a Larson style bridge and mahogany neck with a bound ebony fingerboard.
Todd himself describes this model as:
"A copy of a Stahl Style 6, originally developed and built by the innovative and enigmatic Larson Brothers of Chicago, Illinois. I used an original Stahl from 1929 and the original patent drawings from 1904, to build the Ermida. It features reproduction purfling made in house, (usually rosewood) back and sides and is X braced according to the Larson's patterns. The Ermida is 15" in the lower bout with a 25 1/2" scale. It is ideal for playing traditional ragtime."
This guitar is obviously a somewhat different species from the model's typical construction with its superbly flamed curly maple back and sides applied to the Ermida pattern. It is sort of a blend of the Larson's design with the woods of a Ciani/Galiano, a very rare 1920s New York-made instrument that Todd also builds re-creations of. This combination results in very upfront powerful but warm sound that excels at finger style but sounds great flatpicked, too. It has some of the sonic character of the much-admired Gibson J-185 in a slightly smaller package.
The mahogany neck has a soft "V" profile with an adjustable truss rod discreetly accessed from inside under the fingerboard; the bound ebony board has simple-pattern Larson style inlay. The guitar remains as built except for an LR Baggs Lyric installed for live performances. It is signed and dated to October 2020 by the maker under the top. Having handled a number of the original 1910s and 1920s Larson Brothers and New York Galiano instruments we can say that Todd's creations equal or exceed the originals in every way, especially the neatness of build and wood selections. This is indeed a great guitar. an exceptionally fine vintage styled piece yet unique, in our modern world a fantastic century old throwback playing experience. Many of the most discerning players working in traditional vintage styles have come to prefer Fraulini guitars to all others, new or old.
Overall length is 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm.), 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This 5+ year old guitar shows some wear from having been played, mostly strumming marks into the top finish in the usual places around the soundhole and below the stringline. It remains as built except for the addition of the excellent Baggs under-bridge pickup, endpin jack and control box discreetly placed hidden under the soundhole lip. This is a fine playing guitar with a HUGE sound, a testament to this unique builder's craft and dedication housed in a superb Ameritage touring case. Overall Excellent - Condition.
