2008 Thomas Fredholm CD/IN (ex John Dearman)

This 2008 Thomas Fredholm is a classical guitar from Göteborg, Sweden, with a cedar double top, Indian rosewood back and CSA rosewood sides – kept for nearly two decades by John Dearman of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

A Swedish Classical Guitar from John Dearman's Collection

Swedish guitar maker Thomas Fredholm has been making instruments for several decades, all beginning with an infatuation with a Martin steel-string guitar. His classical guitars have been played by several famous artists over the years, including David Russell, Mattias Jacobsson and even Andy Summers (of The Police). This example from 2008 has had only one owner to date – Grammy award-winner John Dearman of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. See below for his reflections on this instrument.

Cedar Double Top with Indian and CSA Rosewood

This guitar features a double top made of cedar, lightly braced internally. Indian rosewood was used for the back, but curiously… CSA rosewood for the sides. We've only ever seen dual use of these woods once before, in a 1986 Miguel Rodríguez that had CSA rosewood for the back and Indian rosewood for the sides. It is trimmed out with snakewood inlays.

Sound and Condition

The sound is typical of a modern instrument – powerful, responsive and deep with a quick, punchy attack. Overall, a very well-made instrument, easily capable of concert use. There is a very thin hairline crack on the outer soundboard that is stable thanks to the reinforcement of the double-top system below it, and apart from some wear from nearly 20 years of regular use, the guitar is otherwise in concert-ready condition with easy action and excellent playability.

In John Dearman's Words

I first met Thomas at the Iserlohn guitar festival in 2007. Often at Iserlohn there is a phenomenon where there will be a certain buzz amongst the attendees and performers and teachers. And in that year, the buzz was about Fredholm. Several players ordered guitars based on the guitar that he was showing at the festival, including David Russell, who I believe did some videos playing his Fredholm. I ordered a six string and a seven string and I played the seven string with the Quartet for about six or seven years, including a few recordings. Although I never performed on this six-string, I hung onto it because I always found it a very satisfying guitar to play. Great playability, and a warm and focused sound.

– John Dearman, November 2025

Thomas Fredholm: Guitar Maker in Göteborg, Sweden

Thomas Fredholm builds his guitars in Göteborg (Gothenburg), on the west coast of Sweden. He started out in the 1980s making steel-string acoustic guitars, then turned to the classical guitar, which became his main focus for some twenty years. Largely self-taught in the traditional Spanish approach, he spent time in Granada and found an important contact in the English maker Jonathan Hinves, himself a student of Antonio Marín Montero. Over the years he has built a reputation for powerful, responsive concert instruments, including double-top guitars, and he now also builds steel-string guitars again, inspired by early C.F. Martin instruments.

A Buzz at Iserlohn

Thomas's classical guitars caught the attention of the guitar world at the 2007 Iserlohn guitar festival in Germany, where several leading players ordered instruments after trying the guitar he was showing – among them David Russell and John Dearman of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, who went on to play a Fredholm 7-string with the LAGQ. Fredholm guitars have also been played by Mattias Jacobsson and Andy Summers – and, on the steel-string side, by artists such as Steve Earle and Zac Brown – and Thomas was one of the makers featured in the Scandinavia issue of Orfeo Magazine (No. 19).