Daniel Friederich 1968 – France

This guitar is one of the last examples of the Récital range that Daniel Friederich made. Daniel Friederich achieved recognition and fame at a relatively young age thanks to his talent and his close association with the luthier Robert Bouchet. His prices soon skyrocketed. To appeal to a less affluent group of guitarists, particularly conservatoire students, Daniel Friederich developed a range of guitars known as the ‘Récital’, which required less work and, above all, were more affordable. The ‘Récital’ range is characterised by the use of Indian rosewood instead of the Rio rosewood used for his concert models of the time, the absence of carving on the headstock and the absence of serial numbering. In terms of construction, these guitars are generally lighter and more similar to Robert Bouchet’s guitars.

The Récital models have evolved over the years to become more similar to the concert models.

From 1969 onwards, Daniel Friederich devoted himself exclusively to the production of his concert model, making widespread use of Indian rosewood and introducing cedar as a substitute for spruce.

About Daniel Friederich:

Daniel Friederich was born on 16 January 1932 in Paris, into a family of cabinet-makers, and grew up in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine district of Paris, where the capital’s cabinet-making workshops were located. It was here that he learned the art of guitar making. In 1948, he bought his first guitar and took lessons with Christian Aubin. At the time, Aubin, who was both a guitarist and a luthier, was putting the finishing touches to a guitar based on a model by Antonio de Torres. It was this model that inspired Friederich’s first guitar in 1955.

At the end of the 1950s, Friederich opened his first workshop at 21 rue Ramponneau, where he developed mainly three models – the Arpège, the Récital and the Concert – as well as a few flamenco models. In 1966, he moved to rue Sergent Bauchat, in the cabinetmakers’ district, where he remained until his retirement.