Pierre Jaffré – Luthier

A shop for violin, cello, double bass and guitar players. See the photos that I posted.
Guitarists be aware that the only instruments here are Patenotte flat top gypsy guitars. They are well made in central France, yeoman instruments that range in price from 700 to 1,200 Euros. The guitars have Django Rhienhart tone and vibe. Ergonomics can be challenging for a novice player (high string tension, blockish neck profile). If you are looking for a guitar for folk music strumming, this is not an ideal instrument for that purpose. There are other musical instrument shops on Rue de Rome that sell good quality Czech guitars which are great for folk strumming.
Pierre Jaffre staff are friendly and musically wise. When I visited no one on duty spoke English. Be a French speaker or bring a translator if you want in depth information about your prospective purchase.

Pratique commerciale trompeuse et mensongère!

J’ai eu une très mauvaise
expérience avec cette boutique. L’année dernière ma fille a commencé les cours
de musique et on cherchait un instrument à louer. Dans le magasin Pierre Jaffré Luthier on
nous a convaincu d’acheter un alto en
nous assurant qu’ils reprendront
l’instrument à moitié de son prix au bout d’un an, et que dans ce cas le
prix d’achat sera égal au prix de location de l’instrument. Cette année nous avons décidé d’arrêter les
cours de musique, et j’ai appris en téléphonant à cette boutique qu’ils né
reprennent l’instrument qu’en cas d’échange contre un autre instrument de la
taille plus grande. Je trouve cette pratique mensongère et trompeuse qui n’est
pas digne d’un commerçant.

Last year I stayed in Paris for 3 weeks. I did not bring one of my 40 guitars from home. I’ve been playing guitar since 1960, I’m quite good at it. After 3 days of not playing guitar I feel a bit out of sorts.
So I spent the day in the musical instrument district just north of Gare St. Lazare looking to buy a hand made French or Italian manouche (gypsy style) guitar. I went into at least 10 shops to audition at least 20 instruments.
My choice was to purchase a Patenotte guitar that is made in central France. Pierre Jaffre had just 5 guitars in the shop, all were made by Patenotte. It’s a loud, bright, solidly built guitar. Perfect for Django Rhienhardt tunes. Price was 570 Euros. If you could find this same model guitar in the USA the price would be over $ 900.
Cadre in the shop were helpful & humorous. Be aware that only French is spoken here.

Meine lange, intensive Suche nach einem Doppeletui für Violine/​Viola führte mich auch in diesen Laden. Zwar hatte man nichts vorrätig, hat mich aber nicht mit gibt’s nicht, haben wir nicht fortgeschickt, sondern mich an ein Geschäft in der unmittelbaren Nachbarschaft verwiesen.