I have played music my whole life, with a focus on traditional American blues, rags, and old time. As a teenager I used to play blues with old timers in Chicago. I spent quite a bit of time in my 20’s as a street musician playing country blues and ragtime. Later I started playing guitar and singing ballads with fiddlers. I’ve always had a fascination with old instruments, how they were made and the sounds they produced. I started my training as a luthier in my early 20s, working with an old violin builder. For the most part, my education has come from reading old technical manuals; talking with other traditional luthiers; repairing, restoring, and measuring hundreds of old guitars; and building new instruments for over twenty years. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the best musicians in the business, and I’ve incorporated their feedback into my building. While many luthiers are about embracing advances in technology, I’m about reviving traditional techniques that have been lost to modern generations and becoming effective and efficient at using those techniques. I’m fascinated by varnish, the properties and combinations of different resins and the methods of application. I still carve my own necks, cut my own inlays and make all my own parts.

Fraulini Guitars offer an authentic vintage vibe and tone for the player seeking a modern classic. They are built in the style of the revered guitars of yesterday.