This is the brand new "Auditorio" model - essentially the famous "1a", but featuring a modern double top (a "nomex-sandwich") soundboard design. While the tone itself is still classic Ramirez, the "Auditorio" adds tremendous power, projection and response in all registers. It also features a slightly elevated fingerboard with a 20th fret and unique headstock design. A truly explosive and fun guitar to play, and a perfect compromise between traditional and modern.
In the words of Amalia Ramirez:
The Auditorio guitar was born, as a project, in 2006, when we made the fist prototypes. I was making my experiments with the called double top using nomex, and I knew that the first luthier who ever started using this material was Gernot Wagner. For this reason I contacted him, and he was very kind helping me since the very beginning to let me know how to work with it. He even came to my workshop to make a top with us. After this,my guitar makers and me have been making some changes to adapt this system to our own criteria, techniques and design, until we got what we were looking for.
The double top helps get a better projection and sustain. However, it does not improve the quality. If the guitar has a good sound, then it will give it more power, but if the sound of the guitar is not good, then it will be more powerful but with a poor sound.
My intention was to keep the personality of Ramírez guitars, and we have really done it, so we have the sweetness, depth and richness, as well as the balanced sound that is characteristic of Ramirez, adding more power, wideness and sustain. The best things of our guitars are even more noticeable with this new technique. It takes much more work, because building a double top is very delicate and takes a long time, but it is well worth the effort.
Amalia Ramirez
A hardshell case is included with this guitar. This guitar is brand-new, but old stock from 2009.
For more information on Ramirez, be sure to read The Ramirez Family: Masters of the Guitar, as well as information on the Ramirez family members, from Amalia Ramirez back to Jose I.
