2025 Tobias Berg CD/IN

This 2025 Tobias Berg is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in Germany with a thick, overtone-rich voice.

Friederich's Woods, Berg's Design

Since his recent guitars have taken on a "cathedral-like" tone reminiscent of the late Daniel Friederich, Tobias chose the woods Friederich used most in the last decades of his career: a beautifully cut, quartersawn Western red cedar top with Indian rosewood back and sides. The result is a spectacular guitar with a thick, "meaty", overtone-rich quality across all registers - powerful, very sturdy basses and smooth, creamy trebles. The response is especially nice in the trebles, where notes seem to "pop" at the slightest touch of the right hand. The slightly compact body makes it very comfortable, fun and easy to play.

Aesthetics

The look is unmistakably Berg - bold and unique, with a headshape, rosette and bridge that reveal his fondness for traditional Japanese architecture and its understated elegance of perfect lines and sharp edges, delicately woven into a design all his own.

Construction

Like his other recent guitars it has double sides, a method Tobias has been refining for years - our blog post tells the full story. Tonally, the doubled sides lend a deeper, almost "cathedral-like" presence to the sound, which we had only heard before in modern Friederich guitars. The neck is reinforced with two square titanium rods and hard rock maple, hidden inside (unlike many Madrid-school guitars), for a stable neck and noticeably longer sustain. A fantastic concert guitar by any standard - bold and beautiful in sound, unique and classy in looks.

Photos of this guitar taken just after being built

Tobias Berg: From Sweden to Germany

Tobias Berg was born in 1972 in Helsingborg, Sweden, and grew up in the fishing village of Viken. After building his first classical guitar in 1995, he set out to learn the art and craft of guitar making, with courses and diplomas in Canada, England and the USA and time spent with top luthiers including Robert Ruck and Jeffrey Elliott. In 1998 he settled in Germany, where he worked for six years at Lakewood Guitars before earning the German master title (Meister) in Mittenwald in 2004 and opening his own workshop. Today he works in Kirchhain-Anzefahr, in Hesse.

Light, Compact Guitars with Double Sides

Tobias builds traditional, lightweight guitars with a slightly compact body, in the spirit of the Spanish makers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and since 2011 he has built them with double sides - a practice known from Madrid builders and from Daniel Friederich, whom he holds in very high esteem. His headstock, rosette and bridge designs reflect a fondness for traditional Japanese architecture. GSI has been working with Tobias since 2005, when he sent us his 20th guitar; in 2026 he built his 50th guitar for us.