Jeremie Geffroy, 2026

This 2026 concert model is our first encounter with the work of French luthier Jeremie Geffroy, who builds in Brittany, and it made a strong impression. His name was new to us, but a few minutes with the guitar and a mirror told us plenty. Beneath the cedar top is a radial bracing system, the approach pioneered by the Australian luthier Simon Marty, with slender braces fanning out in every direction. There is no double top here and no lattice, just a beautifully executed take on one of the more exciting structural ideas of the last few decades. Elsewhere you can see the influence of other very well known makers, always with Geffroy's own touch laid over the top.

From the first notes this reads as a fundamental-forward guitar, much as Simon Marty's instruments do. It will not drown you in a sea of overtones. It tells you the truth about wherever you are playing, and you hear the actual pitches rather than the halo of sympathetic vibration around them. On some guitars that honesty can come across as abrasive, and some players do feel that way about instruments of this style. Here it does not, and we suspect the cedar top has a good deal to do with it.

So does something we found while testing the instrument. The main air resonance sits just below F, unusually low for a radial-braced guitar, and it gives the whole instrument a deep, rich foundation. You feel the punch in the basses, and the sixth string in particular has real bite and depth to it. The fourth string is genuinely hot, powerful enough that we had to back off a little. Best of all, the clarity never costs the guitar its sustain. Notes are pure and chimey, and they stay put.

A word about how new this guitar is. When it first arrived it felt tight, and we were not sure about it. Then we changed strings, put real hours into it, and it woke up. It now sounds like the opposite of tight, and the balance and volume are seriously impressive. It is loud enough that we kept glancing over at the audio interface while filming to be sure we were not peaking the microphones.

The neck is a thin C-shape with a low action, and the guitar is ultra responsive to touch and overall very easy to play. The pleasure of a fundamental-forward instrument is that you are not dealing with a middleman, you are dealing with the boss. You shape the line directly, in vibrato and in dynamics, and you get back exactly what you put in. That is the kind of relationship with a guitar that stays satisfying for a very long time.

The rosette deserves its own paragraph. It is genuinely difficult for a maker to come up with a design that stands out in a sea of rosettes without tipping into the tacky, and Geffroy has managed it. Natural wood colors, a red and black motif that crosses over itself, and at nearly every crossing a lighter piece of wood that reads almost like a moment of sapwood. Beautiful and classy at the same time.

The back and sides are a lovely set of Madagascar rosewood. Nothing flashy, but it has a glow that radiates in toward the center. A decorative center strip runs down the back carrying the same motif as the body purfling, outlined by two red lines, and a fine wheat purfling frames the instrument. The ebony armrest is seamlessly integrated into the side, and a raised fingerboard puts the 20th fret within easy reach.

The ebony fingerboard carries a light streak that travels down from the bass side toward the treble and settles in the center, a small piece of figure we rather like. The neck feels oil finished, smooth under the hand and never sticky. The bridge uses the routed-away ends originally developed by John Gilbert, sleek and clean. The back of the headstock wears an ebony veneer, and down its center runs a beautiful inlay that nods toward the great Daniel Friederich, which feels only right for a maker working in France. The label is simple and handsome: his name, concert model, 2026, with his address and signature.

Specifications

Finish: French Polish

Air Resonance: Just below F

Fingerboard: Ebony, raised, 20 frets

Armrest: Ebony, integrated

Condition: Brand new

Jeremie Geffroy builds in Brittany, in the northwest of France. His approach draws on both traditional and modern methods, keeping the fundamental principles of acoustic instrument making that have been proven over centuries while taking on contemporary ideas that improve an instrument's performance, durability, playability, and tone. That balance is exactly what comes through in this guitar: a deeply traditional sense of craft and refinement, French sensibility in the details, and a thoroughly modern bracing system underneath. This is our first experience with Geffroy's work and it will not be our last. For a player after a serious radial-braced, modern-leaning guitar that still carries a great deal of the sound of a traditional instrument, this is an outstanding choice.

This guitar is in brand new condition, pristine throughout, with a flawless French-polished finish and no signs of wear.