1897 José Ramírez I SP/CY

This 1897 José Ramírez I is a smaller-sized spruce and cypress guitar from Madrid – the guitar on the cover of the hardbound edition of "The Classical Guitar – A Complete History", from the Russell Cleveland collection.

In the videos above, Shane Parish plays D. Boon's "Cohesion", Grygorii Koval plays Llobet's "Romanza", there is a short presentation of the guitar, and the Mela Guitar Quartet plays Frank Bridge's "Moto Perpetuo" on four José Ramírez guitars, this one included.

Russell Cleveland's Favorite

This instrument comes from the Russell Cleveland collection – it was one that Russell Cleveland was particularly fond of, and it was prominently featured on the cover of the hardbound edition of the book "The Classical Guitar – A Complete History", as well as on pages 20-21.

Fifteen Years after the Workshop Opened

This is a beautiful, smaller sized cypress guitar from the shop of José Ramírez I, built at a time when he had been an independent guitar maker for 15 years (his workshop was established in 1882). Aesthetically the guitar shows the strong influence of his teacher, Francisco González – particularly in the head shape, the wide (and ornately decorated) rosette, and the pointed bridge. The early label reads "José Ramírez, Constructor de Guitarras, Concepción Jerónima No. 2, Madrid". It has had a number of repairs, primarily to the soundboard and an inlay on the back, and yet the sound and playability are all still there – absolutely charming and elegant in every way.

José Ramírez I: Founder of the Ramírez Workshop

José Ramírez I (1858–1923) founded the José Ramírez workshop in Madrid around 1882 – the family business that has dominated Spanish guitar making ever since. He joined Francisco González, the leading Madrid maker of the day, as an apprentice at the age of 12, and once he had established a style based on González's guitars he stuck to it throughout his life. In 1890 he took his famous premises at Concepción Jerónima No. 2.

Concepción Jerónima No. 2 and Its Apprentices

There he trained a remarkable series of makers: his brother Manuel Ramírez, Enrique García, Julián Gómez Ramírez (who later settled in Paris and befriended Robert Bouchet) and his own son José Ramírez II. Flamenco players came to him for more projection, and he created the Ramírez tablao guitar for them – a large but shallow cypress body with a domed soundboard.

José Ramírez in "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size"

A 1905 José Ramírez is among the historic guitars shown in Orfeo's book of life-size guitar portraits:

Orfeo – 34 Classical Guitars in Life Size