1913 José Ramírez I SP/CSAR (Romero collection)

This 1913 José Ramírez I is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar from Madrid and the collection of Pepe Romero – built in the Ramírez shop by Julián Gómez Ramírez, who later inspired Robert Bouchet in Paris.

Built by Julián Gómez Ramírez

This is a beautiful classical guitar from the shop of José Ramírez I, built at a time when he had already been an independent guitar maker for over 3 decades. This particular guitar was built by one of the workers, Julián Gómez Ramírez, who would later achieve great fame after leaving Spain for Paris and establishing the foundation for the French school after befriending Robert Bouchet. Aesthetically the guitar shows the strong influence of José I's teacher, Francisco González – particularly in the head shape, the wide bouts of the plantilla, and the bridge shape with tapered wings.

Restored for Pepe Romero

Its most recent phase of restoration was carried out by Rafael Moreno Rodríguez of Granada, Spain, who installed an internal "dedication label" to its current owner, Pepe Romero: "Me restauró en Granada Rafael Moreno Rodríguez para su amigo Pepe Romero – junio de 2010 – Guitarra construida por Julián Gómez Ramírez". Soundwise, this is powerful and rich-sounding, with an abundance of harmonics in every note. 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