Visiting the Friederich Workshop

This November, David Collett (president of GSI) traveled around Europe visiting with our various guitar friends, so of course he had to pay a visit to the great master luthier Daniel Friederich while in Paris. While the trip was planned – we were picking up our 2013 guitar, after all – and David usually visits Friederich each year anyway, the experience this time was particularly memorable. Read on to hear more about it, as well as check out some photos of the legendary workshop.

The small workshop was as orderly as ever, albeit with every square inch covered with guitar-related things and walls decorated with pictures of players who’ve played his instruments over the years (as well as some fascinating framed paintings by none other than Robert Bouchet). It’s a pretty special place to set foot in, to say the least. David had traveled there with his friend and exceptionally talented Italian luthier Andrea Tacchi, who has been visiting Friederich regularly for 30 years and counting (as he discusses in the two pieces he wrote for our blog earlier this year: Rue de la Guitare and his Friederich interview).

Our new guitar, numbered 837, is nothing short of a masterpiece. Based on the same specs as the famous “David Tanenbaum” guitar, it created so much excitement in its maker that he had to play it for everyone then and there. Needless to say, it was quite a special moment to hear Friederich play his own guitar, in the hallowed workshop where so many legendary guitars were created.

The conversation moved to other Friederich guitars we’ve had at GSI this past year, and amazingly, Friederich remembered and reflected on each one in vivid detail. To verify his impressive memory, he pulled out his record book and sure enough, all the details matched.

He then proceeded to excitedly show everyone the latest installment of Orfeo Magazine by Alberto Martinez, which features Friederich and his instruments, complete with one of his unmistakeable headstocks right on the cover.

All in all, it was as wonderful a visit as ever, and everyone here at GSI can’t stop fawning over the incredible guitar David brought back. We’re already looking forward to the 2014 trip.

A special thanks to Andrea Tacchi for the use of his photos.