2004 Daniel Friederich

Top: Cedar
Back and sides: Rosewood
Scale: 650mm
Origin: France
Price: SOLD

This exquisite like new Friederich quickly found a new home, I may have another Friederich arriving soon, please contact me for details…

Daniel Friederich is one of the finest builders in the world by anybody’s account, just one of those irrefutable facts that everyone happily agrees with. The list of builders influenced by him is vast, in fact Matthias Dammann tells me Friederich was one of his main inspirations and he owned and played a 1968 Friederich which he dearly loved. A good friend of mine recently visited Daniel and tells me that he is in fantastic health, great spirits, and still has a lot of ‘spring’ in his step, so much so that my friend, who is much younger, really had to work to keep up with him during their walk about the city, so I think we can all look forward to hearing guitars from this legend hopefully for many years to come.

So it is really a pleasure and an honor whenever I have the opportunity to offer one of his guitars. Often they are ‘well used’ and while they sound wonderful, appearance-wise maybe they are looking a little tired. So this Friederich is a special treat, not only is it divine sounding, but it is in literally mint as new condition with the minor exception of a few very unobjectionable marks on the top, otherwise absolutely stunningly like new. The guitar comes in the original case, with a delightful little wooden ‘card’ signed by Friederich and three alternative saddles also original. Just flawless and as close to new as you could possibly hope for short of picking up a new guitar directly at his shop.

The workmanship is standard setting and flawless of course, it is just a stunning classical beauty, gorgeous and tasteful. She has a subtle but elegant carved headstock with Rodgers tuners as well. Tonally she is beguiling and intriguing with a supple elegant and refined voice that is complex and still very clear. I found myself really enjoying how the voice of this guitar presented its own unique tonal interpretation of some of the pieces I am familiar with. While not ‘loud’ guitars, they are certainly adequate in the volume department, but it is the exceptional character of the voices that I think has garnered Friederich so many fans.

Fans of fan braced guitars certainly have owning a Friederich at the top of their wish list, and with good reason. With his waiting list closed, owning a new or near new Friederich is an experience few people will be able to enjoy. This guitar presents an opportunity to realize that dream for some lucky player.