2019 Thomas Dauge "d'après Daniel Friederich" CD/IN

This beautiful instrument was built by French luthier Thomas Dauge, who works in the Bordeaux region of southwest France. In addition to his personal "concert" and "flamenco" model, Thomas also builds guitars that pay tribute to several of his guitar-making heroes - Antonio de Torres, Robert Bouchet and this guitar we offer here - to Daniel Friederich. In particular, this guitar is based on a technical drawing of a Friederich from 1986 that Thomas had in his workshop to inspect and measure. And as far as we can tell it is more-or-less a pretty strict bench copy of the original in every way. Structually, it features Friederich bracing, the sides are lined internally with mahogany and the aesthetic touches are quite exacting - the carved headstock, "overlapping bean" motif in the mosaic of the rosette (and tie-block), even the thin fine herringbone inlays on the inner and outer layers of the rosette - every tiny detail is extremely authentic. It is also fitted with Rodgers tuning machines as were used by Friederich. The sound is powerful and responsive with rich basses and thick trebles with a distinctive velvety and silky tone. And much like Dauge's "concert" model, the sound has a big (almost "husky"), overtone-rich firmness in every note. Rather than producing partials that scatter uncontrollably and "blur out" the fundamental of each note, the overtone content is packed densely and evenly within every note across the register, retaining great clarity to each fundamental. This hearty and thick sound makes playing legato a breeze thanks to the excellent sustain and clear separation. It also has great dynamic range and responds beautifully to the slightest of adjustments in hand position and attack. Sound- and playability-wise, this is a strong concert guitar that could be played in any professional setting, whether in solo or ensemble in any venue regardless of size. On top of all this, it is meticulously built with great class and style, and is a sincere and heartfelt tribute to one of his great influences. Although a second-hand guitar, this instrument in virtually new condition with only slight signs of prior use. This is overall a guitar that combines great lyrical beauty with a big, robust sound to satisfy the needs of any modern concert and recording artist.

Orfeo Article on Thomas Dauge