1900's Manuel Ramírez "Santos" SP/MH

Dated to around 1898–1900, this deluxe Manuel Ramírez guitar with a spruce top and Cuban mahogany back and sides is attributed to Santos Hernández and was featured in Vintage Guitar Magazine.

It can be heard in two videos above: Laura Mazon Franqui, a GSI Foundation scholar, plays the Andante from Joaquín Turina's Sonata, Op. 61, and Adam Kossler plays Vladimir Morkov's "Prelude".

"A Masterpiece by Santos Hernández"

This guitar was featured in Vintage Guitar Magazine's "Guitars With Guts" column by Richard Brune (October 2004), in an article titled "A Masterpiece by Santos Hernandez". Besides praising its original condition, near-perfect craftsmanship and beautiful tone, Brune identifies Santos Hernández as its builder from several internal and external details, and dates it to 1898–1900 based on the label.

Cuban Mahogany and Mother-of-Pearl

It is a small-bodied, more deluxe model with valuable and rare materials, including Cuban mahogany for the back and sides (rarer and more valuable than any CSA rosewood), and intricate marquetry, most notably the mother-of-pearl in the rosette. It has deep basses, golden and vibrant trebles, and rich textures of sound interwoven with clear, bell-like fundamentals, and its feather-like weight gives it incredible volume and instant response.

Original Condition

As mentioned, it is in excellent, very original condition (including finish and tuning machines), with some tightly closed and very stable cracks in the body (glue only on the top cracks, small cleats on the back). A fantastic concert and recording instrument for any modern setting – its versatility beautifully accommodates virtually any style a player brings to it.

Manuel Ramírez (1864–1916): The Madrid Workshop After Torres

The Manuel Ramírez shop was undoubtedly the most important guitar workshop of the early post-Torres era. Brother and former pupil of José Ramírez I, Manuel committed himself to carrying the Torres design into the 20th century, and he gathered the finest builders of his day to do it: Santos Hernández, Domingo Esteso, Modesto Borreguero, Pascual Viudes and, very likely, Enrique García. Together they produced guitars that secured the legacy of Torres for every generation of makers that followed.

Segovia's 1912 Manuel Ramírez

The shop's most famous instrument is the 1912 guitar played by the young Andrés Segovia, built by Santos Hernández and today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, alongside Segovia's 1937 Hermann Hauser I.

The "Viuda de Manuel Ramírez" Label

After Manuel's death in 1916, the workshop went on completing instruments under the label of his widow ("Viuda de Manuel Ramírez"). His craftsmen later founded workshops of their own – Santos Hernández on Calle de la Aduana and Domingo Esteso at Gravina 7 – carrying the shop's sound and standards deep into the 20th century.