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A wonderful Daniel Friederich guitar from his very first period (1961): he was 29 years old at the time and had only recently opened his first workshop. The story began a few years earlier, when as a young classical guitar student he was told by his teacher that his guitar was not good enough. Since his pupil couldn’t afford to buy a better one but had trained as a cabinetmaker, the teacher suggested that he should build his own guitar and offered to help him. He knew a luthier he could turn to for advice on construction methods. The teacher’s name was Christian Aubin, his friend's Robert Bouchet and the pupil's Daniel Friedrich. Nobody could then have imagined that this novice guitar maker would become one of the greatest luthiers of his time. Another factor played a decisive role in this somewhat improbable success story: Christian Aubin's Torres guitar, restored by R. Bouchet, is said to have had a sound of exquisite beauty. This instrument provided them with a reference : a field of exploration, a model and a goal to be approached. The three of them would study and scrutinise it to try and find out the reasons for its exquisiteness. What was it that gave this guitar such a soul ? Robert Bouchet would alter the construction design of his guitars as a result of his scrutiny of Christian Aubin's Torres guitar, thus entering his second period — the one considered to be his best.

The guitar presented here demonstrates Friederich's early ability (at least on some occasions) to reach the very highest level: it has sound qualities of breathtaking beauty. It is a powerful, lively and responsive instrument, with deep basses and vibrant highs. The notes end in a kind of natural reverberation leading to a harmonic halo that spreads through the air, radiating fabulous lyricism, poetry and emotion.