Daniel Friederich – 1959

Description

Daniel Friederich was born on the sixteenth of January 1932. Although having the strong wish to play the guitar, he had to face a shortage of money. However, at the age of 23, Friederich solved this dilemma by building his first guitar himself: a copy of a Simplicio guitar. Daniel Friederich was helped by his guitar teacher Christian Aubin at the beginning around 1955. After having built tools and gathered some guitar making experiences, Daniel Friederich showed his fifteenth guitar to Robert Bouchet. Ever since, R. Bouchet inspired his work. He personally developed some ideas of R. Bouchet during his career. For decades, Daniel Friederich has been one of the most important active luthiers in the world. In 2015, he stopped building guitars and sold all his tools. He is now definitely one of the most respected and admired luthiers of the guitar history.

What a magnificent early guitar by Daniel Friederich. This is a beautiful single-sided spruce top instrument in excellent condition. On the back, there are only two small cracks about 2 cm long each. The rest of the guitar is absolutely crack-free. This guitar has been revarnished with traditional French polish and magnificent Rodgers tuners were fitted. The back’s middle bar is signed by D. Friederich and the date and inscription “Paris” are written.

This guitar has an absolutely delicious sound. The tone is soft and elegant, with an extraordinary richness. It is a model of subtlety and simplicity, in its best meaning. This guitar is perfectly playable and is a real pleasure to listen to. It is a concert model, before he adopted the sculpted head, and has all the charm and loveliness of Daniel Friederich’s finest spruce guitars.