1980 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" CD/IN

This guitar was built in the famous Jose Ramirez III workshop, which for over half a century has produced instruments performed on by countless professionals from Sting to Segovia, Chet Atkins to Sabicas and Lee Ritenour to Christopher Parkening.

Popularized over the years by host of great players including Narciso Yepes, Vincenzo Macaluso and Goran Sollscher, the 10-stringed guitar has proven to be a versatile instrument for particularly for performing repertoire that does not quite "fit" on the range of a normal six-string guitar. Baroque lute music - most populary Bach and Weiss - requires most 6 string players to transpose bass notes up or down an octave in places that break the original musical flow intended by the composer. The 10-string guitar resolves many such inconveniences, and also makes it possible to perform arrangements of larger pieces originally written for the piano and orchestral settings. The tone has that essential warm, mysterious and moody quality that made Ramirez famous in the great recordings made by Segovia and Parkening from this time. The condition is excellent for its age - it has only the slightest amount of playing wear with only a few minor dings and scratches. An excellent example of a fine Ramirez for either collector or concert player.

For more information on Ramirez, be sure to read The Ramirez Family: Masters of the Guitar, or for information on the Ramirez family members, from Amalia Ramirez back to Jose I and for some interesting fact-checking on myths and facts about this legendary workshop.