2025 Jean-Noël Rohé SP/CSAR

This 2025 Jean-Noël Rohé is a new classical guitar with an aged spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Strasbourg, France, almost entirely from tonewoods that came from the workshop of the late Daniel Friederich.

A Refined French Classical Guitar with Double Sides

This is an incredibly refined instrument in all ways. The craftsmanship is second to none – not only is it extremely tasteful but it is perfectly executed to the minutest of details. Sound is uniquely Rohé’s, but there are some influences that can be detected, such as the “cathedral-like” dimensionality emanating from the box, which we believe is strongly influenced by the Friederich-like use of double sides.

Aged Tonewoods from Daniel Friederich’s Workshop

Normally Jean-Noël uses cypress for the internal side wood; however, for this guitar he used pre-cut mahogany lining from Friederich’s old stock. Actually, almost all the woods used for this guitar were obtained from Friederich (everything except the cedar neck and some of the material on the inside of the box). Notably, the aged spruce used for the soundboard was sourced in the 1970s when Friederich traveled to the Jura (Risoux forest). The CSA rosewood for the back and sides is very old (forgotten) wood that was only discovered in Friederich’s shop when he was closing it down and emptying it out – what a fantastic find this was, as it is premium, aged, high-quality material.

Asymmetrical 8-Fan Bracing and a Perfectly Balanced Sound

The bracing pattern is Jean-Noël’s asymmetrical 8-fan system – with two off-center short braces instead of a central fan running under the center seam, flanked by 3 full-length fans on the treble side and 3 shorter ones on the bass side. To us this seems like a variation on the treble-stiffener approach combined with the García/Simplicio asymmetrical 8-fan system that seeks to normalize or balance out the lower voices with the upper. The resulting sound is that of perfect balance and a relaxed, warm quality of sound without losing firmness to the core of each note for definition. This unique sound has great style; all who hear and play it are won over by its charm.

Guitar Making as Wine-Making

Rohé likes to compare the making of a guitar to wine-making, in that the vintner’s personality is present in the final product in much the same way as the luthier’s is. Grape varieties and scents blend in a similar fashion as do wooden framework and sound structure, and one can appreciate the tonal qualities of a note as one can appreciate the complex taste of a particular wine. For the connoisseur of fine guitars, this maker’s work does for the ears what the finest wines do for the palates of the most discriminating wine aficionados.

Fine players of Rohé guitars include Pablo Márquez, Vojin Kocić, David Jaggs, Adam Woch, Philippe Mouratoglou and Baptiste Ramond, among others.

Photos of this guitar taken during construction

Orfeo Magazine #7 – French School Luthiery

The Leading French Guitar Maker of His Generation

Based in Strasbourg, France, Jean-Noël Rohé is considered to be the top French maker of his generation – not just by all those who see and play his instruments, but also by none other than the late Daniel Friederich and Dominique Field, who have been among his most avid supporters.

Meilleur Ouvrier de France, 2004

Jean-Noël Rohé receives his Meilleur Ouvrier de France medal from President Jacques Chirac – a photo signed by Chirac “À Jean-Noël Rohé avec estime et amitiés”, June 21, 2004.

Jean-Noël trained in instrument making at Sherwood College in Newark, England, under Tony Johnson and Roy Courtnall. In 2004 he was awarded the title “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” (M.O.F.), receiving the medal from France’s then-president, Jacques Chirac – with Daniel Friederich as president of the jury and Dominique Field as a member. (We later had the actual prize-winning guitar here at GSI.) With Field’s advice, he established himself as an independent maker that same year.

One Rohé Guitar a Year for GSI

We are delighted to be Jean-Noël’s only dealer in the USA – bringing in one guitar per year, particularly since his private waiting list is now 8 years.